How well do you know Daylight Saving Time? Take our quizJONATHAN HAYWARD/The Canadian Press
It’s one of the most divisive times of the year for the majority of Canadians: daylight saving time.
British Columbia will be changing their clocks for the last time on March 8, as the province adopts permanent daylight time. But how well do you know the history of daylight time? Take our quiz to test your knowledge.
1What town in Ontario originated daylight saving time?
a. Kingston
b. Thunder Bay
c. Timmons
d. Windsor
b. Thunder Bay. The Northern Ontario town – known then as Port Arthur – pioneered the switch in 1908. Germany was the first country to adopt daylight saving time in 1916.
2Which province has permanently adopted standard time as opposed to daylight time?
a. Manitoba
b. Newfoundland
c. Nova Scotia
d. Saskatchewan
d. Saskatchewan. The majority of the province made the switch in 1966. Yukon made a similar change in 2020.
3The Ontario legislature passed a bill in November, 2020 to put an end to time changes, but it is reliant on Quebec and which U.S. state?
a. D.C.
b. Michigan
c. New York
d. Virginia
c. New York. Ontario needs the U.S. state to pass a similar bill to avoid economic disruption. B.C. had been waiting for key trade partners California, Oregon and Washington State to agree to the change since 2019 before going ahead anyway.
4The U.S. implemented permanent year-round daylight time in January, 1974. How long did it last until it was eventually ended?
a. Ten months
b. Twenty months
c. Thirty months
d. Forty months
a. Ten months. Former U.S. President Richard Nixon had enacted permanent daylight time to help with the gas crisis. The law was revoked in October of that year after there was an increase in car accidents, and concerns with children heading to school in the dark.
5How many times since 2018 has the U.S. Congress attempted to pass a different iteration of the Sunlight Protection Act?
a. Two times
b. Three times
c. Four times
d. Five times
d. Five times. The Sunlight Protection Act would establish a permanent daylight saving time in the U.S. It is currently before a Senate committee for further study.
6What year was daylight time standardized in Canada?
a. 1946
b. 1956
c. 1966
d. 1976
c. 1966. U.S. Congress passed a bill establishing daylight saving time in 1966, and Canada followed afterward for economic interactions.
7What hour does daylight saving go into effect?
a. 12 a.m.
b. 1 a.m.
c. 2 a.m.
d. 3 a.m.
8Who first proposed the idea of daylight saving time?
a. King George IV
b. George Hudson
c. George Washington
d. King George VI
b. George Hudson, a New Zealand entomologist, first proposed the idea in 1895 so that there would be more sunshine to study bugs in the summer. Benjamin Franklin, while in France, satirically wrote over 100 years earlier that Parisians should wake up earlier to save on candlelight.
How well did you do?
Answer all of the questions to see your result
Congratulations! You know everything about daylight saving time. Don’t forget to change your clocks!
Good job. We hope you learned a little more about daylight saving time. Don’t forget to change your clocks!
Nice try. We hope you learnt a little more about daylight saving time. Don’t forget to change your clocks!
