Chatham-Kent residents will gain an hour of sleep tonight as daylight saving time ends across most of Ontario.
At 2 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 1, clocks will move back to 1 a.m., returning the region to Eastern Standard Time. Smartphones and most internet-connected devices will adjust on their own, but ovens, wall clocks and some vehicle dashboards will need to be changed by hand. Sunrise and sunset will both arrive about an hour earlier Sunday. Daylight saving time returns on Sunday, March 14, 2027, at 2 a.m.
Not everyone in Canada will be changing their clocks. According to recent reports, this is the first November in which several provinces and territories are skipping the change altogether.
In Ontario, the province announced on Oct. 13 that communities in the northwest, west of the 90th meridian, will move to permanent daylight saving time starting Nov. 1. That includes Kenora, Dryden, Fort Frances, Sioux Lookout, Red Lake and Rainy River. They will stay on the same time as Manitoba. Thunder Bay and the rest of the province will still fall back.
Ontario passed legislation in 2020 to allow permanent daylight saving time provincewide, but it has not been brought into force. The government has said it wants to co-ordinate any broader change with Quebec and New York.
Manitoba announced on Sept. 17 that it would end seasonal clock changes and stay on daylight time year-round. British Columbia moved to permanent daylight time after springing forward for the last time on March 8. Alberta has also adopted a permanent time, and the Northwest Territories is following. Reports say those jurisdictions will not turn their clocks back on Nov. 1.
Saskatchewan stays on standard time all year, as it has for decades. Yukon has been on permanent daylight time since 2020.
Quebec, the Atlantic provinces, Newfoundland and Labrador and most of Nunavut will still fall back on Nov. 1. A few places within those regions follow their own rules. Quebec’s Lower North Shore, which includes Blanc-Sablon, stays on Atlantic Standard Time year-round, and Coral Harbour on Southampton Island in Nunavut stays on Eastern Standard Time.
Because of the changes, Toronto and Winnipeg will share the same clock time in winter, but Toronto will be an hour ahead of Winnipeg in summer.
