Soak up those gorgeous fall days while you can, because it won’t be long before the trees are bare and daylight saving time ends once again. As sunset times get earlier and earlier across the country, we inch toward the inevitable point when we “fall back.” On the plus side, at least we’ll get an extra hour of sleep!
Why do we have daylight saving time?
According to Time and Date, the practice of “springing forward” and “falling back” dates back to 1908 in Canada, when it was first used in Thunder Bay, Ont. The Old Farmer’s Almanac adds that the idea was to allow Canadians to better utilize natural daylight throughout the year.
“Moving the clocks forward one hour in the spring grants us more daylight during summer evenings, while moving clocks back one hour in the fall grants us more daylight during winter mornings.”
In 1918, the practice was adopted by the federal government as a way to increase production during the First World War, according to the Canadian Encyclopedia. While the use of daylight saving time lapsed between the First World War and the Second World War, it was adopted by most countries following wartime, though it wasn’t regulated in Canada until 1987.
Move to permanent daylight saving time
If you’re frustrated with changing your clocks every year, you aren’t alone. Several Canadian provinces have pushed to end the practice altogether, moving to permanent daylight time.
In Quebec, an October 2024 public consultation saw 91 per cent of participants calling for an end to the practice. In 2019, a record number of B.C. residents responded in favour of the same, but the amendment will only go into effect once the U.S. states of California, Washington, and Oregon are on board.
Similarly, Ontario passed the Time Amendment Act in 2020 to remain on DST year-round, but it’s unlikely to be implemented until New York and Quebec make it official.
On the flip side, Alberta’s 2021 referendum on the subject saw 50.2 per cent of the public voting to continue changing their clocks twice a year.
When does daylight saving time end in 2025?
On Sunday, Nov. 2, 2025, most Canadians will set their clocks back one hour from 2 a.m. to 1 a.m. local time, though there are a handful of places that won’t be “falling back.”
This includes Yukon, which is on permanent Mountain Standard Time (MST), most of Saskatchewan, which uses Central Standard Time (CST), Southampton Island, which is on Eastern Standard Time (EST) all year, and some communities in B.C. and eastern Quebec, which are on standard time and Atlantic Standard Time (AST), respectively.
For the majority of Canadians, however, sunrise and sunset times will become an hour earlier starting Nov. 2, which means there will be more sunlight in the mornings and less in the evenings, according to Time and Date.
Daylight saving time will kick in again on Sunday, March 8, 2026, when Canadians gain an hour of daylight again and “spring forward.”
Mark your calendars and enjoy those October sunsets!
When: Sunday, Nov. 2, 2025
