Clocks go back an hour at 2 a.m. this Sunday, Nov. 1, but not in much of Western Canada. B.C., Alberta, Manitoba and the Northwest Territories have all dropped the twice-a-year change and are staying on what used to be daylight time. Kenora and the parts of northwestern Ontario that keep Manitoba’s time are joining them.
For the first time, phones, laptops and smart devices will have to know which places stopped changing their clocks.
Who isn’t changing
- B.C.: Its last time change was in March. The province now calls its zone Pacific time, seven hours behind UTC. The northeast (Dawson Creek, Fort St. John) stays where it was, which works out to the same time. The East Kootenays (Cranbrook, Fernie, Golden) stay on Alberta’s time.
- Alberta: Now on Alberta Time, six hours behind UTC, year-round.
- Manitoba: Premier Wab Kinew signed the proclamation in September.
- N.W.T.: The territory ended seasonal changes and will share a time with Alberta and Saskatchewan.
- Northwestern Ontario: Ontario said it would keep Kenora and the area west of the 90th meridian on Manitoba’s time by Nov. 1, HR Reporter reports.
Yukon and Saskatchewan already didn’t change. Everyone else, including the rest of Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic Canada, falls back as usual.
Two settings to check
A Bell spokesperson recommends turning on automatic date and time and then restarting your phone, iPhone in Canada reports. Alberta gives the same advice, and adds to install the latest software update first.
- iPhone: Settings > General > Date & Time, then turn on Set Automatically.
- Android: Search Settings for “Date and time” and make sure automatic time and time zone are on.
If the time is still wrong on Sunday, set your time zone manually. Check the alarm clock, the oven and the car, too: anything that changes its own time may still fall back.
The new winter time gaps
| City | Behind Toronto this winter | Last winter |
|---|---|---|
| Winnipeg | none | 1 hour |
| Calgary, Edmonton, Regina, Yellowknife | 1 hour | 2 hours (Regina: 1) |
| Vancouver | 2 hours | 3 hours |
Winnipeg and Toronto will be on the same clock until March. B.C. will also be an hour ahead of Washington state this winter, because Washington still falls back.
Why it’s worth your time: A phone that falls back by mistake on Sunday will make you an hour late for your alarm and every meeting on your calendar. Check it Saturday night.