Most residents of British Columbia will make their final clock adjustment this Sunday. The province has decided to permanently switch to daylight time, with Premier David Eby confirming that the upcoming “spring forward” on March 8 will mark the last time change. Eby emphasized the negative impacts of clock changes, citing disruptions to sleep schedules for children and their parents, as well as an increase in car accidents and confused pets.
The transition to the new time zone, named “Pacific time,” will take place by November 1, 2026. Communities in eastern British Columbia following a mountain time system will be exempt from this change. The legislative groundwork for this decision was laid in 2019, and the province is now moving forward independently without waiting for neighboring U.S. states like Washington, Oregon, and California to make similar adjustments.
The move to permanent daylight time has garnered support from a majority of British Columbians, with a 2019 public engagement report revealing that 93% of respondents favored year-round daylight time. However, concerns have been raised by business leaders, such as Bridgitte Anderson of the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade, who expressed worries about potential disruptions to cross-border business operations.
While the decision has been met with some skepticism and calls for alignment with other jurisdictions, B.C. is set to join the Yukon in adopting permanent daylight time. The hope is that neighboring U.S. states will eventually follow suit to create a uniform timekeeping system across the region.
