Time in Canada

Map of time zones in Canada

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.

Times used:

Zones

Pacific Time Zone

• Pacific Standard Time PST UTC−8 and Pacific Daylight Time PDT UTC−7
  • British Columbia (most of the province)
  • Yukon (Yukon Standard Time is no longer used.)

Mountain Time Zone

• Mountain Standard Time MST UTC−7 year-round
  • British Columbia, northeastern
    • most of Peace River Regional District (except Fort Ware), including Dawson Creek
  • British Columbia, southeastern
    • Creston
  • Northwest Territories
    • Tungsten and the associated Cantung Mine
• Mountain Standard Time MST UTC−7 and Mountain Daylight Time MDT UTC−6
  • 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)
  • 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−6 and Central Daylight Time CDT UTC−5
  • Manitoba
  • Nunavut
    • between 85° West and 102° West (except western Southampton Island) (Resolute, Repulse Bay, Baker Lake, west shore of Hudson Bay),
  • Ontario, northwestern
    • west of 90° West (except Atikokan area, New Osnaburgh and Pickle Lake area, and Shebandowan and Upsala area)
    • east of 90° West: Big Trout Lake area
  • Saskatchewan
    • Creighton and Denare Beach area observes DST unofficially.^{[citation needed]}
• Central Standard Time CST UTC−6 year-round (no DST)
  • Saskatchewan (most of the province) (see Lloydminster, above, and Creighton, below)

Eastern Time Zone

• Eastern Standard Time EST UTC−5 and Eastern Daylight Time EDT UTC−4
  • Nunavut
    • east of 85° West (Sanikiluaq, Cape Dorset, Hall Beach, Igloolik, Arctic Bay, Grise Fiord and all points east)
  • Ontario
    • east of 90° West (except Big Trout Lake area), plus
    • west of 90° West: Shebandowan and Upsala area
  • 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−5 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−4 year-round (no DST)
  • Quebec (east of the Natashquan River) (NAO)
  • Quebec (east of the 63°W longitude) (CIA)
• Atlantic Standard Time AST UTC−4 and Atlantic Daylight Time ADT UTC−3
  • Labrador (all but the southeastern tip)
  • New Brunswick
  • Nova Scotia
  • Prince Edward Island

Newfoundland Standard Time Zone

• Newfoundland Standard Time NST UTC−3:30 and Newfoundland Daylight Time NDT UTC−2:30
  • 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.

Daylight saving time is now observed in most regions of all provinces and territories, except Saskatchewan (although technically, since Saskatchewan is in the Mountain Time Zone and observes CST time it is effectively on DST year round). Under the Canadian Constitution, 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, Manitoba – October 20, 2005
• Quebec – December 5, 2005
• Prince Edward Island – December 6, 2005
• New Brunswick – December 23, 2005
• Alberta – February 2, 2006
• Northwest Territories – March 4, 2006
• British Columbia – March 31, 2006
• Nova Scotia – April 25, 2006
• Yukon – July 14, 2006
• Newfoundland and Labrador – November 20, 2006, but officially announced on January 18, 2007
• Nunavut – February 19, 2007
• Saskatchewan – no official action taken, as most of the province does not change their clocks back in winter, but the small parts that have historically observed DST near Alberta and Manitoba are presumed to be authorized to have the start and end dates the same as Alberta and Manitoba.^{[citation needed]}

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	+4734-05243	America/St_Johns	Newfoundland Time, including SE Labrador	−03:30
CA	+4439-06336	America/Halifax	Atlantic Time - Nova Scotia (most places), PEI	−04:00
CA	+4612-05957	America/Glace_Bay	Atlantic Time - Nova Scotia - places that did not observe DST 1966-1971	−04:00
CA	+4606-06447	America/Moncton	Atlantic Time - New Brunswick	−04:00
CA	+5320-06025	America/Goose_Bay	Atlantic Time - Labrador - most locations	−04:00
CA	+5125-05707	America/Blanc-Sablon	Atlantic Standard Time - Quebec - Lower North Shore	−04:00
CA	+4531-07334	America/Montreal	Eastern Time - Quebec - most locations	−05:00
CA	+4339-07923	America/Toronto	Eastern Time - Ontario - most locations	−05:00
CA	+4901-08816	America/Nipigon	Eastern Time - Ontario & Quebec - places that did not observe DST 1967-1973	−05:00
CA	+4823-08915	America/Thunder_Bay	Eastern Time - Thunder Bay, Ontario	−05:00
CA	+6344-06828	America/Iqaluit	Eastern Time - east Nunavut - most locations	−05:00
CA	+6608-06544	America/Pangnirtung	Eastern Time - Pangnirtung, Nunavut	−05:00
CA	+744144-0944945	America/Resolute	Central Standard Time - Resolute, Nunavut	−06:00
CA	+484531-0913718	America/Atikokan	Eastern Standard Time - Atikokan, Ontario and Southampton I, Nunavut	−05:00
CA	+624900-0920459	America/Rankin_Inlet	Central Time - central Nunavut	−06:00
CA	+4953-09709	America/Winnipeg	Central Time - Manitoba & west Ontario	−06:00
CA	+4843-09434	America/Rainy_River	Central Time - Rainy River & Fort Frances, Ontario	−06:00
CA	+5024-10439	America/Regina	Central Standard Time - Saskatchewan - most locations	−06:00
CA	+5017-10750	America/Swift_Current	Central Standard Time - Saskatchewan - midwest	−06:00
CA	+5333-11328	America/Edmonton	Mountain Time - Alberta, east British Columbia & west Saskatchewan	−07:00
CA	+690650-1050310	America/Cambridge_Bay	Mountain Time - west Nunavut	−07:00
CA	+6227-11421	America/Yellowknife	Mountain Time - central Northwest Territories	−07:00
CA	+682059-1334300	America/Inuvik	Mountain Time - west Northwest Territories	−07:00
CA	+4906-11631	America/Creston	Mountain Standard Time - Creston, British Columbia	−07:00
CA	+5946-12014	America/Dawson_Creek	Mountain Standard Time - Dawson Creek & Fort Saint John, British Columbia	−07:00
CA	+4916-12307	America/Vancouver	Pacific Time - west British Columbia	−08:00
CA	+6043-13503	America/Whitehorse	Pacific Time - south Yukon	−08:00
CA	+6404-13925	America/Dawson	Pacific Time - north Yukon	−08:00

See also

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

External links

• http://www.canadiangeographic.ca/Magazine/SO98/geomap.asp
• Saskatchewan time system (156KB pdf file)
• Canadian time zone maps
• Official Times across Canada

Official references regarding 2007 daylight changes

• http://www2.news.gov.bc.ca/news_releases_2005-2009/2006AG0014-000330.htm
• http://www.justice.gov.ab.ca/law/default.aspx?id=4318
• http://www.gov.mb.ca/chc/press/top/2005/11/2005-11-02-06.html (appoval,new time act)
• http://www.assnat.qc.ca/en/travaux-parlementaires/projets-loi/projet-loi-2-37-2.html
• http://www.gnb.ca/cnb/news/pre/2005e1737pr.htm
• http://www.gov.ns.ca/news/details.asp?id=20060425004
• http://assembly.pe.ca/bills/pdf_chapter/62/3/chapter-41.pdf
• http://www.gov.yk.ca/news/2006/files/06-164.pdf

Quasi-Official references

• (Northwest Territories) http://www.psepc.gc.ca/dob/dob06-137-en.asp