Time in Canada

Map of time zones in Canada

Canada is divided into six time zones, based on proposals by Scottish Canadian railway engineer Sir Sandford Fleming, who helped pioneer the world's time zone system.^[1]

Times used:

Zones [edit]

Pacific Time Zone [edit]

• Pacific Standard Time PST UTC−8 and Pacific Daylight Time PDT UTC−7
  • British Columbia (most of the province)
  • Yukon (Yukon Standard Time is no longer used.)

Mountain Time Zone [edit]

• Mountain Standard Time MST UTC−7 year-round
  • British Columbia, northeastern
    • most of Peace River Regional District (except Fort Ware), including Dawson Creek
  • British Columbia, southeastern
    • Creston
  • Northwest Territories
    • Tungsten and the associated Cantung Mine
• Mountain Standard Time MST UTC−7 and Mountain Daylight Time MDT UTC−6
  • Alberta
  • British Columbia, southeastern
    • Columbia-Shuswap Regional District east of the Selkirk Mountains
    • Regional District of East Kootenay
    • Regional District of Central Kootenay east of the Kootenay River and parts east of Kootenay Lake that are south of and including Riondel (but not Creston)
  • Northwest Territories, except for Tungsten (see above)
  • Nunavut (see Time in Nunavut)
    • west of 102° West, and
    • all communities in the Kitikmeot Region
  • Saskatchewan (see Time in Saskatchewan)
    • Lloydminster and surrounding area (The municipal government chose to unify the entire city with Alberta's time zone.)

Central Time Zone [edit]

• Central Standard Time CST UTC−6 and Central Daylight Time CDT UTC−5
  • Manitoba
  • Nunavut
    • between 85° West and 102° West (except western Southampton Island) (Resolute, Repulse Bay, Baker Lake, west shore of Hudson Bay),
  • Ontario, northwestern
    • west of 90° West (except Atikokan area, New Osnaburgh and Pickle Lake area, and Shebandowan and Upsala area)
    • east of 90° West: Big Trout Lake area
  • Saskatchewan
    • Creighton and Denare Beach area observes DST unofficially.^{[citation needed]}
• Central Standard Time CST UTC−6 year-round (no DST)
  • Saskatchewan (most of the province) (see Lloydminster, above, and Creighton, below)

Eastern Time Zone [edit]

• Eastern Standard Time EST UTC−5 and Eastern Daylight Time EDT UTC−4
  • Nunavut
    • east of 85° West (Sanikiluaq, Cape Dorset, Hall Beach, Igloolik, Arctic Bay, Grise Fiord and all points east)
  • Ontario
    • east of 90° West (except Big Trout Lake area), plus
    • west of 90° West: Shebandowan and Upsala area
  • Quebec (most of province)
    • Areas of Labrador adjacent to Schefferville (in Quebec but very close to the Labrador border) use EST and DST unofficially.
• Eastern Standard Time EST UTC−5 year-round (no DST)
  • Nunavut
    • entire Southampton Island (Coral Harbour)
  • Ontario
    • west of 90° West: Atikokan area and New Osnaburgh/Pickle Lake area

Atlantic Time Zone [edit]

• Atlantic Standard Time AST UTC−4 year-round (no DST)
  • Quebec (east of the Natashquan River) (NAO)
  • Quebec (east of the 63°W longitude) (CIA)
• Atlantic Standard Time AST UTC−4 and Atlantic Daylight Time ADT UTC−3
  • Labrador (all but the southeastern tip)
  • New Brunswick
  • Nova Scotia
  • Prince Edward Island

Newfoundland Standard Time Zone [edit]

• Newfoundland Standard Time NST UTC−3:30 and Newfoundland Daylight Time NDT UTC−2:30
  • Labrador (southeastern)
  • Newfoundland

Daylight saving time [edit]

Four Canadian cities, by local ordinance, used Daylight Saving Time in 1916. Brandon, Manitoba on April 17 became the first place in the world to use it. It was followed by Winnipeg on April 23, Halifax on April 30, and Hamilton, Ontario on June 4.^[2]

Daylight saving time is now observed in most regions of all provinces and territories, except Saskatchewan (although technically, since Saskatchewan is in the Mountain Time Zone and observes CST time it is effectively on DST year round). Under the Canadian Constitution, 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.

The latest United States change (Energy Policy Act of 2005), adding parts of March and November starting in 2007, was adopted by the various provinces and territories on the following dates:

• Ontario, Manitoba – October 20, 2005
• Quebec – December 5, 2005
• Prince Edward Island – December 6, 2005
• New Brunswick – December 23, 2005
• Alberta – February 2, 2006
• Northwest Territories – March 4, 2006
• British Columbia – March 31, 2006
• Nova Scotia – April 25, 2006
• Yukon – July 14, 2006
• Newfoundland and Labrador – November 20, 2006, but officially announced on January 18, 2007
• Nunavut – February 19, 2007^[3]
• Saskatchewan – no official action taken, as most of the province does not change their clocks back in winter, but the small parts that have historically observed DST near Alberta and Manitoba are presumed to be authorized to have the start and end dates the same as Alberta and Manitoba.^{[citation needed]}

IANA time zone database [edit]

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

See also [edit]

• List of time zones
• Newfoundland's Daylight Saving Act of 1917
• British Columbia time referendum, 1972
• Effects of time on North American broadcasting
• National Research Council Time Signal
• Date and time notation in Canada

References [edit]

External links [edit]

• http://www.canadiangeographic.ca/Magazine/SO98/geomap.asp
• Saskatchewan time system (156KB pdf file)
• Canadian time zone maps
• Official Times across Canada

Official references regarding 2007 daylight changes

• http://www2.news.gov.bc.ca/news_releases_2005-2009/2006AG0014-000330.htm
• http://www.justice.gov.ab.ca/law/default.aspx?id=4318
• http://www.gov.mb.ca/chc/press/top/2005/11/2005-11-02-06.html (appoval,new time act)
• http://www.assnat.qc.ca/en/travaux-parlementaires/projets-loi/projet-loi-2-37-2.html
• http://www.gnb.ca/cnb/news/pre/2005e1737pr.htm
• http://www.gov.ns.ca/news/details.asp?id=20060425004
• http://assembly.pe.ca/bills/pdf_chapter/62/3/chapter-41.pdf
• http://www.gov.yk.ca/news/2006/files/06-164.pdf

Quasi-Official references

• (Northwest Territories) http://www.psepc.gc.ca/dob/dob06-137-en.asp

v t e Time in Canada (by province or territory) Alberta British Columbia Manitoba New Brunswick Newfoundland and Labrador Nova Scotia Ontario Prince Edward Island Quebec Saskatchewan Northwest Territories Nunavut Yukon Book Category Portal WikiProject

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