Time in Canada

Last updated
Time zones in Canada
Standard
DST
Time zone
UTC-08:00
UTC-07:00
Pacific
UTC-07:00 (year round)
Mountain
UTC-07:00
UTC-06:00
Mountain
UTC-06:00 (year round)
Central
UTC-06:00
UTC-05:00
Central
UTC-05:00 (year round)
Eastern
UTC-05:00
UTC-04:00
Eastern
UTC-04:00 (year round)
Atlantic
UTC-04:00
UTC-03:00
Atlantic
UTC-03:30
UTC-02:30
Newfoundland Canada time zone map - en.svg
Time zones in Canada
StandardDSTTime zone
UTC−08:00UTC−07:00 Pacific
UTC−07:00 (year round) Mountain
UTC−07:00UTC−06:00Mountain
UTC−06:00 (year round) Central
UTC−06:00UTC−05:00Central
UTC−05:00 (year round) Eastern
UTC−05:00UTC−04:00Eastern
UTC−04:00 (year round) Atlantic
UTC−04:00UTC−03:00Atlantic
UTC−03:30UTC−02:30 Newfoundland

Canada is divided into six time zones. Most areas of the country's provinces and territories operate on standard time from the first Sunday in November to the second Sunday in March and daylight saving time the rest of the year. [1]

Contents

The divisions between time zones are based on proposals by Scottish Canadian railway engineer Sandford Fleming, who pioneered the use of the 24-hour clock, the world's time zone system, and a standard prime meridian. [2]

Official time

National Research Council laboratories in Ottawa In front of National Research Council Canada Laboratories.JPG
National Research Council laboratories in Ottawa

The National Research Council (NRC) maintains Canada's official time through the use of atomic clocks. [3] The official time is specified in legislation passed by the individual provinces. In Quebec it is based on coordinated universal time. [4] The other provinces use mean solar time. [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] The NRC provides both coordinated universal time and mean solar time in its signals. [15] It makes time servers available for direct synchronization with computers. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation aired a daily time signal, the National Research Council Time Signal , beginning November 5, 1939. [16] The signal was discontinued on October 15, 2023. [17]

Time notation

Canadian National timetable from 1975 using the 24-hour clock Canadian National timetable 1975-04-27.jpg
Canadian National timetable from 1975 using the 24-hour clock

The Government of Canada recommends use of the 24-hour clock (e.g. 13:38), which is widely used in contexts such as transportation schedules, parking meters, and data transmission. [18] Speakers of Canadian French predominantly use this system, but most Canadian English speakers use the 12-hour clock in everyday speech (e.g. 1:38 pm), even when reading from a 24-hour display, similar to the use of the 24-hour clock in the United Kingdom.

Zones

Pacific Time Zone

Pacific Standard Time (PST) GMT−08:00 and Pacific Daylight Time (PDT) GMT−07:00:

Mountain Time Zone

Mountain Standard Time (MST) GMT−07:00 and Mountain Daylight Time (MDT) GMT−06:00:

Mountain Standard Time (MST) GMT−07:00 year-round:

Central Time Zone

Central Standard Time (CST) GMT−06:00 and Central Daylight Time CDT GMT−05:00:

Central Standard Time (CST) GMT−06:00 year-round:

Eastern Time Zone

Eastern Standard Time (EST) GMT−05:00 and Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) GMT−04:00:

Eastern Standard Time (EST) GMT−05:00 year-round:

Atlantic Time Zone

Atlantic Standard Time (AST) GMT−04:00 and Atlantic Daylight Time (ADT) GMT−03:00:

Atlantic Standard Time (AST) UTC−04:00 year-round:

Newfoundland Time Zone

Newfoundland Standard Time (NST) GMT−03:30 and Newfoundland Daylight Time (NDT) GMT−02:30:

Former time zones

Daylight saving time

Four Canadian cities, by local ordinance, observed daylight saving time in 1916. Brandon, Manitoba, adopted it on April 17. It was followed by Winnipeg on April 23, Halifax on April 30, and Hamilton, Ontario, on June 4. [24] Port Arthur, Ontario, was the first place in the world to introduce it, on July 1, 1908.

Daylight saving time is currently observed in nine of ten provinces and two of three territories, with exceptions in several provinces and Nunavut. Most of the province of Saskatchewan, despite geographically being in the Mountain Time Zone, observes year-round CST. In 2020, the territory of Yukon abandoned seasonal time change and moved to permanently observing MST year-round. [25] Under the Constitution of Canada, laws related to timekeeping are a purely provincial matter. In practice, since the late 1960s DST across Canada has been closely or completely synchronized with its observance in the United States to promote consistent economic and social interaction. When the United States extended DST in 1987 to the first Sunday in April, all DST-observing Canadian provinces followed suit to mimic the change.

In 2019, the legislature of British Columbia began the process of eliminating the practice of observing daylight saving time in the province. On October 31, 2019, the government introduced Bill 40 in the legislature, which would define "Pacific Time" as "7 hours behind Coordinated Universal Time (UTC)". [26] In a press release, the provincial government stated an intention to maintain alignment of clock time with Washington, Oregon, California, and Yukon. [27] The move follows a consultation earlier in 2019, in which the province received over 223,000 responses, 93% of which said they would prefer year-round DST as compared to the status quo of changing the clocks twice a year. [28] [29] [30] The premier of British Columbia discussed the issue with Yukon premier Sandy Silver, who said in October that he needs more consultation with Yukon stakeholders, and with Alberta and Alaska. [31]

The latest United States change (Energy Policy Act of 2005) to daylight saving time, adding parts of March and November to when daylight saving time is observed, which began in 2007 was adopted by the various provinces and territories on the following dates:

IANA time zone database

Data for Canada from zone.tab of the IANA time zone database. Columns marked with * are the columns from zone.tab itself.

C.c.*Coordinates*TZ*Comments* UTC offset UTC offset DST NotesMap
CA +4734−05243America/St_JohnsNewfoundland, Labrador (SE) −03:30 −02:30 9610196 on OpenStreetMap
CA +4439−06336America/HalifaxAtlantic - NS (most areas), PE −04:00 −03:00 In addition to NS and PE, also includes two areas of Quebec: Magdalen Islands and Listuguj Miꞌgmaq First Nation [44] 10441414 on OpenStreetMap
CA +4612−05957America/Glace_BayAtlantic - NS (Cape Breton) −04:00 −03:00 Like America/Halifax, but did not adopt DST until 1972. Likely includes all of Cape Breton Island [45] 10438273 on OpenStreetMap
CA +4606−06447America/MonctonAtlantic - New Brunswick −04:00 −03:00 Like America/Halifax, except DST time change happened at 12:01 am rather than 2:00 am prior to 2007. 10432327 on OpenStreetMap
CA +5320−06025America/Goose_BayAtlantic - Labrador (most areas) −04:00 −03:00 Like America/Halifax, except DST time change happened at 12:01 am rather than 2:00 am from 1987–2011. (Also observed Newfoundland Time until 1966.) 2049110 on OpenStreetMap
CA +5125−05707America/Blanc-SablonAST - QC (Lower North Shore) −04:00 −04:00 Redirects to America/Puerto_Rico

East of 63rd meridian west [44]

15097517 on OpenStreetMap
CA America/Montreal −05:00 −04:00 Redirects to America/Toronto as of version 2015c
CA +4339−07923America/TorontoEastern - ON & QC (most areas) −05:00 −04:00 Legally includes all of Ontario east of 90th meridian west but in practice only applied to urban areas until 1974 6483867 on OpenStreetMap
CA America/Nipigon −05:00 −04:00 Redirects to America/Toronto as of version 2022f

Created for places using Eastern time that allegedly did not observe DST 1967–1973, but this was not well sourced.

6483867 on OpenStreetMap
CA America/Thunder_Bay −05:00 −04:00

Created because of a claim that Thunder Bay did not use DST in 1973.

CA +6344−06828America/IqaluitEastern - NU (most areas) −05:00 −04:00 6451459 on OpenStreetMap
CA America/Pangnirtung −05:00 −04:00 Redirects to America/Iqaluit

Places that switched from Atlantic Time to Eastern Time in 1995

CA +744144−0944945America/ResoluteCentral - NU (Resolute) −06:00 −05:00 Places in Central Time that skipped DST in 2007 6446190 on OpenStreetMap
CA +484531−0913718America/AtikokanEST - ON (Atikokan), NU (Coral H) −05:00 −05:00 Redirects to America/Panama

Legally Central Time but in practice observes EST year-round.

16602909 on OpenStreetMap
CA +624900−0920459America/Rankin_InletCentral - NU (central) −06:00 −05:00 6446189 on OpenStreetMap
CA +4953−09709America/WinnipegCentral - ON (west), Manitoba −06:00 −05:00 In practice includes Big Trout Lake and Denare Beach, though by law they should be in America/Toronto and America/Regina, respectively. 6442822 on OpenStreetMap
CA America/Rainy_River −06:00 −05:00 Redirects to America/Winnipeg as of version 2022f

Created for places using Central Time that allegedly did not observe DST 1967–1973.

CA +5024−10439America/ReginaCST - SK (most areas) −06:00 −06:00 6442821 on OpenStreetMap
CA +5017−10750America/Swift_CurrentCST - SK (midwest) −06:00 −06:00 Western Saskatchewan towns that observed Mountain Time until 1972. 10424167 on OpenStreetMap
CA +5333−11328America/EdmontonMountain - AB, BC(E), NT(E), SK(W) −07:00 −06:00 6442820 on OpenStreetMap
CA +690650−1050310America/Cambridge_BayMountain - NU (west) −07:00 −06:00 6446170 on OpenStreetMap
CA +6227−11421America/Yellowknife −07:00 −06:00 Redirects to America/Edmonton

East of 120th meridian west [46]

CA +682059−1334300America/InuvikMountain - NT (west) −07:00 −06:00 West of 120th meridian west [46] 10553994 on OpenStreetMap
CA +4906−11631America/CrestonMST - BC (Creston) −07:00 −07:00 Redirects to America/Phoenix

Places in Pacific Time that have not observed DST since the database cut-off date (1970)

6446092 on OpenStreetMap
CA +5546−12014America/Dawson_CreekMST - BC (Dawson Cr, Ft St John) −07:00 −07:00 Places in Mountain Time that stopped using DST in 1973 6483979 on OpenStreetMap
CA +5848−12242America/Fort_NelsonMST - BC (Ft Nelson) −07:00 −07:00 Places in Mountain Time that stopped using DST in 2015. 10424947 on OpenStreetMap
CA +4916−12307America/VancouverPacific - BC (most areas) −08:00 −07:00 6483981 on OpenStreetMap
CA +6043−13503America/WhitehorseMST - Yukon (east) −07:00 −07:00 East of 138th meridian west [47] 10465808 on OpenStreetMap
CA +6404−13925America/DawsonMST - Yukon (west) −07:00 −07:00 West of 138th meridian west [47] 10441037 on OpenStreetMap

See also

Notes

  1. Includes the associated Cantung Mine and Tungsten (Cantung) Airport [19] [1]
  2. Prairie Creek Airport, operated by Canadian Zinc, in southwest NWT, is shown as observing PST/PDT. North of Sixty Fishing Camps (Obre Lake/North of Sixty Airport) and Kasba Lake Lodge (Kasba Lake Airport) are shown as operating on CST/CDT. [1]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Provinces and territories of Canada</span> Top-level subdivisions of Canada

Canada has ten provinces and three territories that are sub-national administrative divisions under the jurisdiction of the Canadian Constitution. In the 1867 Canadian Confederation, three provinces of British North America—New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and the Province of Canada —united to form a federation, becoming a fully independent country over the next century. Over its history, Canada's international borders have changed several times as it has added territories and provinces, making it the world's second-largest country by area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Population of Canada by province and territory</span>

Canada is divided into 10 provinces and three territories. The majority of Canada's population is concentrated in the areas close to the Canada–US border. Its four largest provinces by area are also its most populous; together they account for 86.5 percent of the country's population. The territories account for over a third of Canada's area but are home to only 0.32 percent of its population, which skews the national population density value.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Central Time Zone</span> Time zone in North America

The North American Central Time Zone (CT) is a time zone in parts of Canada, the United States, Mexico, Central America and some Caribbean islands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eastern Time Zone</span> North American time zone (UTC−5 and UTC−4)

The Eastern Time Zone (ET) is a time zone encompassing part or all of 23 states in the eastern part of the United States, parts of eastern Canada, and the state of Quintana Roo in Mexico.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mountain Time Zone</span> Time zone of North America

The Mountain Time Zone of North America keeps time by subtracting seven hours from Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) when standard time (UTC−07:00) is in effect, and by subtracting six hours during daylight saving time (UTC−06:00). The clock time in this zone is based on the mean solar time at the 105th meridian west of the Greenwich Observatory. In the United States, the exact specification for the location of time zones and the dividing lines between zones is set forth in the Code of Federal Regulations at 49 CFR 71.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pacific Time Zone</span> North American time zone

The Pacific Time Zone (PT) is a time zone encompassing parts of western Canada, the western United States, and western Mexico. Places in this zone observe standard time by subtracting eight hours from Coordinated Universal Time (UTC−08:00). During daylight saving time, a time offset of UTC−07:00 is used.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Public holidays in Canada</span> List of government-legislated holidays

Public holidays in Canada, known as statutory holidays, stat holidays, or simply stats, consist of a variety of cultural, nationalistic, and religious holidays that are legislated in Canada at the federal or provincial and territorial levels. While many of these holidays are honoured and acknowledged nationwide, provincial and territorial legislation varies in regard to which are officially recognized.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Atlantic Time Zone</span> Time zone (UTC−04:00)

The Atlantic Time Zone is a geographical region that keeps standard time—called Atlantic Standard Time (AST)—by subtracting four hours from Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), resulting in UTC−04:00. AST is observed in parts of North America and some Caribbean islands. During part of the year, some portions of the zone observe daylight saving time, referred to as Atlantic Daylight Time (ADT), by moving their clocks forward one hour to UTC−03:00. The clock time in this zone is based on the mean solar time of the 60th meridian west of the Greenwich Observatory.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Newfoundland Time Zone</span> Time zone in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada

The Newfoundland Time Zone (NT) is a geographic region that keeps time by subtracting 3.5 hours from Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) during standard time, resulting in UTC−03:30; or subtracting 2.5 hours during daylight saving time. The clock time in this zone is based on the mean solar time of the meridian 52 degrees and 30 arcminutes west of the Greenwich Observatory. It is observed solely in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. The Newfoundland Time Zone is the only active time zone with a half-hour offset from UTC in the Americas.

Canadian Senate divisions refers to two aspects of the Senate of Canada. First, it refers to the division of Canada into four regional Senate divisions of 24 senators each, as set out in section 22 of the Constitution Act, 1867. The four regions are the Western Provinces, Ontario, Quebec and the Maritimes. These regions are intended to serve the Senate's purpose of providing regional representation in the Parliament of Canada, in contrast to the popular representation that the House of Commons is intended to provide. While not within any of the original four Senate divisions, Senate seats are also allocated to Newfoundland and Labrador and the three territories. The four divisions can be expanded when the need arises to have an extra two senators appointed to each regional division.

The orders, decorations, and medals of the Canadian provinces, in which each province of Canada has devised a system of orders and other awards to honour residents for actions or deeds that benefit their local community or province, are in turn subsumed within the Canadian honours system. Each province sets its own rules and criteria for eligibility and also for how each award is presented. Most of the awards allow for the recipients to wear their awards in public, and most grant the recipients the use of post-nominal letters after their names. Not all of the awards listed below are part of the Canadian honours system, thus some of them may not be worn or court mounted with awards that are part of the Canadian honours system.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">UTC−04:00</span> Identifier for a time offset from UTC of −4

UTC−04:00 is an identifier for a time offset from UTC of −04:00.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Time in Saskatchewan</span> Time in Saskatchewan

The Canadian province of Saskatchewan is geographically in the Mountain Time Zone (GMT−07:00). However, most of the province observes GMT−06:00 year-round. As a result, it is on daylight saving time (DST) year-round, as clocks are not turned back an hour in autumn when most jurisdictions return to standard time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Outline of Canada</span> Overview of and topical guide to Canada

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Canada:

Vehicle registration plates of Canada, also known as licence plates, are issued by provincial or territorial government agencies. Registration plates in Canada are typically attached to motor vehicles or trailers for official identification purposes. Some Canadian registration plates have unique designs, shapes, and slogans related to the issuing jurisdiction. For example, registration plates issued in the Northwest Territories are shaped like a polar bear. In Alberta, registration plates typically display the words "Wild Rose Country."

The Standard Geographical Classification (SGC) is a system maintained by Statistics Canada for categorizing and enumerating the census geographic units of Canada. Each geographic area receives a unique numeric code ranging from one to seven digits, which extend telescopically to refer to increasingly small areas. This geocode is roughly analogous to the ONS coding system in use in the United Kingdom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Time in Nunavut</span>

Nunavut is divided into three time zones: Eastern, Central and Mountain.

In Canada, daylight saving time (DST) is observed in nine of the country's ten provinces and two of its three territories—though with exceptions in parts of several provinces and Nunavut.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Canada Flight Supplement. Effective 0901 Z 16 July 2020 to 0901Z 10 September 2020.
  2. Creet, Mario (1990). "Sandford Fleming and Universal Time". Scientia Canadensis: Canadian Journal of the History of Science, Technology and Medicine. 14 (1–2): 66–89. doi: 10.7202/800302ar .
  3. "NRC time services". National Research Council. Archived from the original on 20 July 2018. Retrieved 20 July 2018.
  4. National Assembly (1 January 2007). "Legal Time Act 2006" . Retrieved 21 September 2020.
  5. Minister of Justice (26 February 2015). "Interpretation Act R.S.C., 1985" (PDF). Retrieved 21 September 2020. This Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. I-21, section 35(1) refers to 'standard time' for the several provinces, defining each in relation to 'Greenwich time', but does not use the expression 'Greenwich mean time'.
  6. Alberta Queen's Printer (1 January 2007). "Daylight Saving Time Act, RSA 2000" . Retrieved 21 September 2020.
  7. Queen's Printer (5 April 2016). "Interpretation Act, RSBC 1996" . Retrieved 21 September 2020.
  8. Manitoba (1 February 1988). "The Official Time Act" . Retrieved 21 September 2020.
  9. Queen's Printer for New Brunswick (1 September 2011). "Time Definition Act 2011" (PDF). Retrieved 21 September 2020.
  10. Queen's Printer, St John's (2012). "Standard Time Act RSNL 1990" . Retrieved 21 September 2020. By §2(1) "Time in the province shall be reckoned as 3 1/2 hours later [sic] than Greenwich mean solar time."
  11. Office of the Legislative Counsel (22 September 1998). "Time Definition Act" . Retrieved 21 September 2020.
  12. Queen's Printer for Ontario (31 December 1990). "Time Act, R.S.O. 1990" . Retrieved 21 September 2020.
  13. Legislative Counsel Office (2 December 2015). "Interpretation Act 1988" (PDF). Retrieved 21 September 2020.
  14. The Queen's Printer (26 February 1978). "The Time Act 1978" (PDF). Retrieved 21 September 2020.
  15. National Research Council (28 July 2020). "DUT1 announcement" . Retrieved 21 September 2020.
  16. Bartlett, Geoff (5 November 2014). "'The beginning of the long dash' indicates 75 years of official time on CBC". CBC News. Archived from the original on 5 November 2019. Retrieved 20 July 2018.
  17. Taekema, Dan (October 10, 2023). "The end of the long dash: CBC stops broadcasting official time signal". CBC News. Retrieved November 27, 2023.
  18. Collishaw, Barbara (2002). "FAQs on Writing the Time of Day". Terminology Update. 35 (3): 11. Archived from the original on 2018-07-14. Retrieved 2018-07-20.
  19. "Inside Cantung, the mine that keeps on giving". Yukon News. March 8, 2013. Archived from the original on October 16, 2014. Retrieved June 21, 2019.
  20. Buckle, Anne (21 September 2015). "New Time Zone in Fort Nelson". Time and Date. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
  21. 1 2 Legal time in Québec Archived 2011-12-11 at the Wayback Machine , Ministry of Justice of Quebec, April 20, 2015.
  22. Benesh, Peter (1988-06-21). "Daylight Almost Until Midnight: Newfoundland Tries out Double Daylight-Saving Time". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved 2020-02-02.
  23. Order re: Newfoundland Double Daylight Savings Time, 1988. O.C. 1404/87. Newfoundland Gazette, 1988-02-19, page 67.
  24. Doris Chase Doane, Time Changes in Canada and Mexico, 2nd edition, 1972.
  25. 1 2 Government of Yukon (March 4, 2020). "Yukon to end seasonal time change" . Retrieved September 23, 2020.
  26. "Bill 40 – 2019: Interpretation Amendment Act, 2019". Legislative Assembly of British Columbia. 2019. Archived from the original on 2019-11-03. Retrieved 2019-11-03.
  27. "Interpretation amendment act sets stage for year-round daylight time" (PDF) (Press release). British Columbia Office of the Premier / Ministry of Attorney General. 2019-10-31. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2019-11-03. Retrieved 2019-11-03.
  28. Chan, Cheryl (2019-09-11). "B.C. survey shows overwhelming support for permanent Daylight Saving Time". Vancouver Sun. Archived from the original on 2019-11-03. Retrieved 2019-11-03.
  29. "Daylight Saving Time Public Consultation: Final Report" (PDF). 2019. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2019-09-11. Retrieved 2019-11-03.
  30. "B.C.'s daylight saving survey gets more public engagement than marijuana regulation". CBC News. 2019-07-05. Archived from the original on 2019-07-07. Retrieved 2019-11-03.
  31. Plonka, Gabrielle (2019-10-01). "B.C. premier meets with Silver, grand chief". Whitehorse Daily Star. Archived from the original on 2019-11-02. Retrieved 2019-11-03.
  32. "Time Act". Archived from the original on 2013-12-02. Retrieved 2013-11-25.
  33. Province Introduces Legislation that Would Extend Daylight Saving Time in Manitoba Archived 2016-07-23 at the Wayback Machine (The Official Time Amendment Act Archived 2006-05-28 at the Wayback Machine ,The Official Time Act Archived 2005-11-09 at the Wayback Machine )
  34. "Bill n°2 : Legal Time Act". Archived from the original on 2012-11-20. Retrieved 2012-02-14.
  35. "An Act to Amend the Time Uniformity Act" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2006-08-23. Retrieved 2006-07-27.
  36. "Changes to daylight saving time in New Brunswick in 2007 (05/12/23)". Archived from the original on 2006-09-01. Retrieved 2006-05-18.
  37. Alberta sees the light with a timely announcement
  38. Daylight Saving Time Regulations Archived 2014-04-19 at the Wayback Machine
  39. "New Daylight Saving Time Takes Effect in 2007". Archived from the original on 2013-04-11. Retrieved 2006-05-18.
  40. "Nova Scotia to Change Daylight Saving Time". Archived from the original on 2017-09-23. Retrieved 2017-09-16.
  41. Yukon To Adopt Extended Daylight Saving Time Starting March 2007 Archived 2013-10-09 at the Wayback Machine
  42. "An Act Respecting Standard Time and Daylight Time in the Province". Archived from the original on 2012-10-20. Retrieved 2013-11-25.
  43. "Nunavut News/North "Nunavut to follow new seasonal time standard"". Archived from the original on 2013-12-02. Retrieved 2013-11-25.
  44. 1 2 Legal Time Act, CQLR c T-5.1, s 2.
  45. Internet Assigned Numbers Authority. "tzdb data for North and Central America and environs" . Retrieved 21 September 2020.
  46. 1 2 Interpretation Act, SC 1967–68, c 7, s 28, "standard time".
  47. 1 2 Interpretation Ordinance, YCO 1967/59.