Time in Canada

Map of time zones in Canada

Time in 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] Most of Canada operates on standard time from the first Sunday in November to the second Sunday in March and daylight saving time the rest of the year.^[2]

Zones

Pacific Time Zone

• Pacific Standard Time PST UTC−08:00 and Pacific Daylight Time PDT UTC−07:00
  • British Columbia (most of the province)
  • Yukon (Yukon Standard Time Zone is no longer used.)^{[notes 1]}
• Pacific Standard Time PST UTC−08:00 year-round
  • Northwest Territories
    • Tungsten and the associated Cantung Mine^[2]

Mountain Time Zone

• Mountain Standard Time MST UTC−07:00 year-round
  • British Columbia, northeastern
    • Northern Rockies Regional Municipality^[3]
    • most of Peace River Regional District (except Fort Ware), including Dawson Creek
  • British Columbia, southeastern
    • Creston
• Mountain Standard Time MST UTC−07:00 and Mountain Daylight Time MDT UTC−06:00
  • 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), two fishing lodges in the southeast and a mine site in the southwest^{[notes 2]}
  • 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

• Central Standard Time CST UTC−06:00 and Central Daylight Time CDT UTC−05:00
  • Manitoba
  • Saskatchewan
    • Creighton (unofficial)
  • Nunavut
    • between 85° West and 102° West, and
    • Resolute plus all communities in the Kivalliq Region and the west shore of Hudson Bay except Southampton Island (Coral Harbour)
  • Ontario, northwestern
    • west of 90° West (except the Atikokan, New Osnaburgh and Pickle Lake areas, and the Shebandowan and Upsala areas)
    • east of 90° West: Big Trout Lake area
• Central Standard Time CST UTC−06:00 year-round (no DST)
  • Saskatchewan (most of the province) (see Lloydminster, and Creighton, above)

Eastern Time Zone

• Eastern Standard Time EST UTC−05:00 and Eastern Daylight Time EDT UTC−04:00
  • Nunavut
    • east of 85° West, and
    • all communities in the Qikiqtaaluk Region except Resolute
  • Ontario
    • east of 90° West (except the Big Trout Lake area), plus
    • west of 90° West: Shebandowan and Upsala areas
  • 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−05:00 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

• Atlantic Standard Time AST UTC−04:00 year-round (no DST)
  • Quebec (east of the Natashquan River)^[4]
• Atlantic Standard Time AST UTC−04:00 and Atlantic Daylight Time ADT UTC−03:00
  • Labrador (all but the southeastern tip)
  • New Brunswick
  • Nova Scotia
  • Prince Edward Island
  • Quebec (Magdalen Islands and Listuguj Mi'gmaq First Nation)^[4]

Newfoundland Time Zone

• Newfoundland Standard Time NST UTC−03:30 and Newfoundland Daylight Time NDT UTC−02:30
  • Labrador (southeastern)
  • Newfoundland

Daylight saving time

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.^[5]

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

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,^[6] Manitoba^[7] – October 20, 2005
• Quebec – December 5, 2005^[8]
• Prince Edward Island – December 6, 2005^[9]
• New Brunswick – December 23, 2005^[10]
• Alberta – February 2, 2006^[11]
• Northwest Territories – March 4, 2006^[12]
• British Columbia – March 31, 2006^[13]
• Nova Scotia – April 25, 2006^[14]
• Yukon – July 14, 2006^[15]
• Newfoundland and Labrador – November 20, 2006, but officially announced on January 18, 2007^[16]
• Nunavut – February 19, 2007^[17]
• Saskatchewan – no official action taken, as the province does not change their clocks back in winter.

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	Notes
CA	[phone]	America/St_Johns	Newfoundland Time, including SE Labrador	−03:30	−02:30
CA	[phone]	America/Halifax	Atlantic Time - Nova Scotia (most places), PEI	−04:00	−03:00
CA	[phone]	America/Glace_Bay	Atlantic Time - Nova Scotia - places that did not observe DST 1966-1971	−04:00	−03:00
CA	[phone]	America/Moncton	Atlantic Time - New Brunswick	−04:00	−03:00
CA	[phone]	America/Goose_Bay	Atlantic Time - Labrador - most locations	−04:00	−03:00
CA	[phone]	America/Blanc-Sablon	Atlantic Standard Time - Quebec - Lower North Shore	−04:00	−04:00
CA	[phone]	America/Montreal	Eastern Time - Quebec - most locations	−05:00	−04:00
CA	[phone]	America/Toronto	Eastern Time - Ontario & Quebec - most locations	−05:00	−04:00
CA	[phone]	America/Nipigon	Eastern Time - Ontario & Quebec - places that did not observe DST 1967-1973	−05:00	−04:00
CA	[phone]	America/Thunder_Bay	Eastern Time - Thunder Bay, Ontario	−05:00	−04:00
CA	[phone]	America/Iqaluit	Eastern Time - east Nunavut - most locations	−05:00	−04:00
CA	[phone]	America/Pangnirtung	Eastern Time - Pangnirtung, Nunavut	−05:00	−04:00
CA	[phone]	America/Resolute	Central Time - Resolute, Nunavut	−06:00	−05:00
CA	[phone]	America/Atikokan	Eastern Standard Time - Atikokan, Ontario and Southampton I, Nunavut	−05:00	−05:00
CA	[phone]	America/Rankin_Inlet	Central Time - central Nunavut	−06:00	−05:00
CA	[phone]	America/Winnipeg	Central Time - Manitoba & west Ontario	−06:00	−05:00
CA	[phone]	America/Rainy_River	Central Time - Rainy River & Fort Frances, Ontario	−06:00	−05:00
CA	[phone]	America/Regina	Central Standard Time - Saskatchewan - most locations	−06:00	−06:00
CA	[phone]	America/Swift_Current	Central Standard Time - Saskatchewan - midwest	−06:00	−06:00
CA	[phone]	America/Edmonton	Mountain Time - Alberta, east British Columbia & west Saskatchewan	−07:00	−06:00
CA	[phone]	America/Cambridge_Bay	Mountain Time - west Nunavut	−07:00	−06:00
CA	[phone]	America/Yellowknife	Mountain Time - central Northwest Territories	−07:00	−06:00
CA	[phone]	America/Inuvik	Mountain Time - west Northwest Territories	−07:00	−06:00
CA	[phone]	America/Creston	Mountain Standard Time - Creston, British Columbia	−07:00	−07:00
CA	[phone]	America/Dawson_Creek	Mountain Standard Time - Dawson Creek & Fort Saint John, British Columbia	−07:00	−07:00
CA	[phone]	America/Vancouver	Pacific Time - west British Columbia	−08:00	−07:00
CA	[phone]	America/Whitehorse	Pacific Time - south Yukon	−08:00	−07:00
CA	[phone]	America/Dawson	Pacific Time - north Yukon	−08:00	−07:00

See also

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

Notes

1. A small section at La Biche River Airport in the southeast corner is shown as being on Mountain Standard Time.^[2]
2. Prairie Creek Airport, operated by Canadian Zinc, located in the southwest NT 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^[2]

References

1. Clark Blaise, Time Lord: Sir Sandford Fleming and the creation of standard time (New York, First Vintage Books: 2000) pp.81-82. ISBN 0-375-40176-8
2. Canada Flight Supplement. Effective 0901Z 24 July 2014 to 0901Z 18 September 2014
3. New Time Zone in Fort Nelson, timeanddate.com, September 21, 2015.
4. Legal time in Québec, Ministry of Justice of Quebec, April 20, 2015.
5. Doris Chase Doane, Time Changes in Canada and Mexico, 2nd edition, 1972
6. Time Act
7. Province Introduces Legislation that Would Extend Daylight Saving Time in Manitoba (The Official Time Amendment Act,The Official Time Act)
8. Bill n°2 : Legal Time Act
9. An Act to Amend the Time Uniformity Act
10. Changes to daylight saving time in New Brunswick in 2007 (05/12/23)
11. Alberta sees the light with a timely announcement
12. Daylight Saving Time Regulations
13. New Daylight Saving Time Takes Effect in 2007
14. Nova Scotia to Change Daylight Saving Time
15. Yukon To Adopt Extended Daylight Saving Time Starting March 2007
16. An Act Respecting Standard Time and Daylight Time in the Province
17. Nunavut News/North "Nunavut to follow new seasonal time standard"

External links

• It's about TIME
• Saskatchewan time system
• Canadian time zone maps
• Official Times across Canada
• North American Time zone maps and border data