Government seeks input on daylight saving time

The government is launching an online survey to gather feedback about the observation of daylight saving time in Alberta.

“We know people have strong opinions about changing their clocks twice a year, and we want to hear them. As more Canadian provinces and territories and some American states are having discussions about this, it’s important that we hear from Albertans.”

Under the Daylight Saving Time Act, Albertans set their clocks forward one hour to observe daylight saving time from the second Sunday in March until the first Sunday of November. This puts the province in the same time zone as the Northwest Territories and Montana year-round.

“The practice of changing our clocks twice a year is largely done only in western Europe and North America. Earlier this year, the EU voted to abolish seasonal time changes by 2021. In North America, we’re seeing provincial and state governments table and pass legislation to do the same. It’s time for Alberta to have a serious conversation about this.”

The online survey will be open until Tuesday, Dec. 10. Albertans can visit alberta.ca/daylight-saving-time-engagement.aspx to share their opinions.

Quick facts

• In October 2019, legislation was tabled in British Columbia to move to summer hours all year.
• Legislation has also passed in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Nevada, Oregon, Tennessee and Washington to move to summer hours permanently. However, in the United States federal approval is required to enact the change.
• In March 2019, the European Union voted to end the seasonal time change by 2021.
• Saskatchewan, Arizona and Hawaii do not change their clocks twice a year.