B.C. Premier David Eby announced the province will adopt year-round daylight time, springing forward by one hour this Sunday for the last time.
Speaking at an event in Victoria Monday, Eby addressed a group of elementary-school children, saying the government had implemented the framework for the change in 2019, but had been waiting for states on the West Coast to make the change together.
“Then we waited for the Congress in the United States, and we waited, and we waited, and they never changed it,” said Eby.
The decision means that B.C. will be on the same time zone as the Yukon and will match Alberta from November to March, while it will remain one hour behind Washington state, Oregon and California during the winter months.
“We’re going to encourage Congress to make the right decision and support those governors all the way down the West Coast. But for now, we’re going to decide what’s best for British Colombians and British Columbia families. And we’re going to stay on permanent daylight savings time,” said Eby.
“That means an extra hour of sunshine for families and moving our clocks to keep the sun up when the majority of the things that we do at home and in our lives take place when we spring forward this March. It’s going to be the last time in the province of British Columbia.”
At that point in the event, Eby and the children celebrated by dancing to Daft Punk’s “One More Time.”
On Nov. 1, 2026, when British Columbians would normally change the clock back, Attorney General Niki Sharma says no change will be made.
“We will have fully transitioned into our brand new time zone called Pacific Time,” she explained.
“Pacific Time will be set seven hours behind coordinated universal time, matching the current offset used during daylight savings time during the winter from November to March. Pacific time will match Alberta and other regions observing Mountain Standard Time. While in the summer Pacific Time will align with California, Washington, Oregon, and other Pacific daylight jurisdictions.”
Eby says the move, which B.C. has been observing the time change twice annually since 1918, will save people sleep and prevent car crashes.
Sharma added, “Nurses, paramedics, hospitality workers, TransLink drivers, and hundreds of thousands of other shift workers will hopefully no longer have to face this twice-yearly adjustment period to their schedules, their sleep, their work, their health.”
