Manitobans and some Saskatchewan residents will be springing forward in the wee hours tomorrow morning.
In Manitoba, daylight savings time goes into effect at 3 a.m. March 8, meaning Manitobans will need to move their clocks ahead one hour.
Daylight savings time was first introduced in Canada in 1908, when the town of Port Arthur, Ontario chose to begin observing it. The practice is meant to
Famously, Saskatchewan does not have a biannual time change. Since 1966, Saskatchewan has been permanently on daylight savings time by provincial decree. The change means that until next fall, Manitoba will be one hour ahead of most Saskatchewan as of March 8.
There are some notable acceptions to that rule, including in Creighton and Denare Beach. Both communities observe the same time as Manitoba year-round. Locals in both communities will change their clocks along with Flin Flon and most of Canada. Elsewhere in Saskatchewan, residents on the east side of Lloydminster also change their clocks, staying on the same time as their Albertan neighbours all year.
Former MLA Cliff Graydon proposed a bill to eliminate daylight savings time in 2018 which ultimately flopped. In late 2019, the Manitoba NDP began consultations and a website to gauge public interest in abolishing the time change.
Other provinces, including Alberta and B.C., have approached the subject of removing the time change by either going permanently on daylight savings or abolishing it altogether, but have not made any confirmed moves. Some parts of Nunavut - namely Southampton Island and the far northern research base of Eureka - and remote areas of Quebec don't observe daylight savings time.
One other Canadian jurisdiction has chosen to block time changes in the future. The territorial government of Yukon will be going on daylight savings time permanently as of March 8, thus removing future time changes.
Most Canadians will turn their clocks back an hour again Nov. 1.
