Manitoba Seeks Public Input on Ending Seasonal Time Changes

Province asking Manitobans if they prefer permanent daylight time, permanent standard time, or seasonal clock changes.

Premier of Manitoba Wab Kinew speaks to media prior to the first ministers meeting in Saskatoon on June 2, 2025. The Canadian Press/Liam Richards

Manitoba could become the next province to end the practice of seasonal clock changes.

The province has launched a survey to gauge public opinion on ending the yearly transition between daylight saving time and standard time.

Premier Wab Kinew urged the public in a series of social media posts on May 20 to participate in what has been a long-standing debate across the country for years.

“The times, they are a-changing here in Manitoba, and we might stop changing our time. But which way should we go?” Kinew asked. “There’s a lot to consider.”

The survey asks Manitobans if they would prefer permanent standard time (ST), permanent daylight saving time (DST), or if they prefer the status quo with spring and fall clock changes.

The survey page features a link to a five-page fact sheet detailing the health effects of time changes. It notes that time changes lead to “short-term negative population health consequences,” compared to permanently staying on either standard or daylight saving time.

“The most consistent harms linked to the current system occur around the spring transition to DST, when sleep and circadian disruption are associated with short term increases in cardiovascular events, injuries and traffic collisions, and reduced wellbeing,” the sheet reads. “Adopting a permanent time would remove the acute risks that come from switching time twice each year.”

Traditionally, clocks spring ahead one hour on the second Sunday of March and fall back one hour on the first Sunday of November in most Canadian provinces and territories. But that tradition has begun to change this year.

B.C. Premier David Eby announced that provincial residents had set their clocks forward by one hour for the last time on March 8, and would remain on daylight saving time permanently. Eby told reporters in a March 2 press conference that the change is “what’s best for British Columbians” because it would eliminate sleep loss and the rise in car crashes that occur with the biannual switch.

The Alberta government announced in April its plan to introduce legislation to end the practice of clock changes and permanently move to daylight time. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said during a press conference last month that she thinks Albertans will prefer later winter sunrises instead of the very early summer sunrises associated with permanent standard time.

The Northwest Territories will also implement permanent daylight time.

They will all join Saskatchewan and Yukon in shunning clock changes. Saskatchewan stopped switching to daylight saving time in 1966 and remains on Central Standard Time year-round. An exception is the city of Lloydminster, which sits on the border with Alberta and observes daylight saving time to stay aligned with Alberta. Yukon has operated on a permanent, year-round time standard since March 2020.

Kinew earlier this spring did not seem as keen about considering clock changes. He dismissed the idea in March following the B.C. announcement, stating that Manitoba had more pressing issues to address.

The premier later relaxed his stance, indicating that it might be the right time to reconsider the matter.

Kinew said in his video message to Manitobans that they will want to consider which time option would work best for the province.

“Do you want the earlier sunrises in winter with standard time or do you want the later sunsets in summer with daylight time?” he asked. “Or, do you want to keep going back and forth? Let us know which you prefer.”

The survey, which is open until Aug. 31, can be filled out here.

Time Change Opinions

A recent survey by polling firm Angus Reid found that most Canadians want to drop seasonal clock changes. Eighty-six percent of those surveyed said they are in favour of permanently abolishing the time change.

Fifty-three percent said they would prefer the later sunsets in the evenings provided by daylight saving time while 33 percent voted for the earlier sunrises that come with standard time.

Canada first observed daylight saving time in 1908 when residents of Port Arthur, Ont., now known as Thunder Bay, turned their clocks ahead and other locations in Canada soon followed suit.

Daylight saving time was officially embraced throughout Canada during the First World War to prolong daylight hours for factory work. It was reinstated on a national scale during the Second World War and afterward it was left up to the provinces and territories to regulate time observance.