October 27, 2023

Daylight Savings Time in Canada

27 Oct. 2023

What is Daylight Savings Time? (DST):

While some international students may be familiar with daylight savings time from their home countries, new students to Canada may be curious about its specifics. In any event, in Canada, the clocks are adjusted twice a year: once in the fall and once in the spring. The purpose of this time shift, which may appear pointless or archaic to others, was to extend our daylight hours during the warm summer evenings and to optimize light during those gloomy winter mornings.

This simple tip can help you remember which way to update your clock: our clocks “spring forward” one hour in March and “fall back” an hour in November (officially at 2am, so make sure to change the time before you go to sleep!). Computers, tablets, and smartphones will all do this automatically for you. However, this will need to be done manually if you have any clocks that aren’t online, such the one on your stove or microwave, the classroom and building clocks at Niagara College – Toronto, or even the vintage alarm clock at your bedside table.

The History of Daylight Savings Time:

For many Canadians, the conclusion of Daylight Saving Time—often mispronounced as Daylight Savings Time—means an extra hour of sleep.

Twice a year, on the second Sunday in March and the first Sunday in November, we retroactively set our clocks one hour forward and one hour back.

Although the idea of moving the clocks forward and backward has been around for generations, how did Daylight Saving Time come to be?

A two-hour time shift was first suggested in 1895 by New Zealand entomologist George Hudson, who wanted to increase his summertime after-work sunshine hours. Although Hudson’s proposal resulted in no changes, the concept reappeared in Germany a few decades later.

The German government started planning strategies to conserve energy for the First World War’s combat in 1915. They wanted their inhabitants to conserve finite resources, such as fossil fuels, and cut back on artificial lighting during this period.

They decided to move the clocks forward one hour in the spring to increase the amount of daylight during working hours. It was thought that changing the clocks would incentivize people to save vital resources for the war and consume less electricity to light their homes.

Two years into the First World War, Germany formally imposed Daylight Saving Time for the first time. Nearly all of the other nations that took part in the war, including Canada, the United States, and most of Europe, adopted this practice once Germany did.

To boost output during the war, the Canadian government legally instituted Daylight Saving Time in 1918. Daylight Saving Time was discontinued by the federal government at the end of World War I, but it was reinstated during World War II. In Canada, Daylight Saving Time was used year-round during World War II.

Although the idea behind Daylight Saving Time was to conserve energy, some argue that there are still other ways to use energy in the modern world, such as when driving, using heaters, operating fans, and watching TV. Critics assert that these energy-intensive operations will take place whether or not an hour of daylight is preserved.

Not every jurisdiction in the US and Canada observes Daylight Saving Time these days. This practice is not accepted in Saskatchewan, the Yukon, Arizona, and some areas of Northern British Columbia.

Yahk, Creston, and Crawford in the Creston Valley-Kootenay Lake region of British Columbia observe Mountain Standard Time (MST) year-round.

Even now, British Columbians from all around the province frequently argue about the time change, and the province’s NDP government has even promised to do away with it. The United States has also become embroiled in the debate over permanent year-round Daylight Saving Time, which is being considered by some west coast states.

If Daylight Saving Time is here to stay, that will only become clear with time.