On November 1, 2026, British Columbia, Alberta, the Northwest Territories, Manitoba and northwestern Ontario will stay on daylight time rather than turn their clocks back. Nunavik did so in March. The rest of Canada still changes its clocks. Deadlines expressed by reference to a Canadian time zone should be reviewed before November 1.
Overview
From November 1, 2026 until March 2027, Toronto and Vancouver will be two hours apart rather than three. Calgary and Regina will keep the same time all year. Kenora will match Winnipeg all year and Toronto in winter only. The changes are permanent and take effect on the night the rest of the country turns its clocks back as usual.
What has changed
| Jurisdiction | Clocks stop changing | Year-round clock | Name |
|---|---|---|---|
| British Columbia (most of the province) | November 1, 2026 | UTC-7 | Pacific time (PCT) |
| Alberta, with the East Kootenay and Lloydminster | November 1, 2026 | UTC-6 | Alberta Time (ABT) |
| Northwest Territories | November 1, 2026 | UTC-6 | No new name announced |
| Manitoba | November 1, 2026 | UTC-5 | Central Daylight Time, all year |
| Northwestern Ontario (west of the 90th meridian: Kenora, Dryden, Fort Frances, Rainy River) | November 1, 2026 | UTC-5 | Central Daylight Time, all year |
| Nunavik (northern Quebec) | March 2026 | UTC-4 | Eastern Daylight Time, all year |
| The rest of Ontario and Quebec, the Atlantic provinces, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nunavut | Still change | Two clocks a year | Unchanged |
Yukon (since 2020) and Saskatchewan (since 1966) do not change clocks. The Town of Golden, B.C., reversed itself on September 22 and will stay on UTC-6 with Alberta.
Implications for legal deadlines
Time zone abbreviations. Until this year, “5:00 p.m. Pacific Standard Time” meant 5:00 p.m. in Vancouver. From November 1, no clock in British Columbia runs on Pacific Standard Time. The reference can be read as the fixed PST clock, which is 6:00 p.m. in Vancouver, or as 5:00 p.m. local time. The same question arises for “Mountain Standard Time” in Alberta and “Central Standard Time” in Manitoba and northwestern Ontario.
Employment. Collective agreements often address the hour gained or lost on the night of a clock change. In the affected jurisdictions that night no longer occurs.
Recommended steps
- Review existing agreements and orders for deadlines expressed by time zone abbreviation, and confirm in writing which clock is intended.
- In new drafting, identify the place rather than the zone: “5:00 p.m. in Vancouver, British Columbia”.
- Confirm that docketing software has applied the 2026 rules.
- For multi-province hearings, confirm the time in each location rather than converting by zone name.
Courtready’s Canada Legal Time Zone Map and Meeting Scheduler converts a time in one Canadian location to every other, with the 2026 rules applied.