Engagement Summary

British Columbians were invited to share their views on how we should observe time in our province. Most areas of B.C. currently “spring forward” into Daylight Saving Time during summer months and “fall back” to Standard Time in the winter. Participants were asked about continuing the practice of changing our clocks twice a year or adopting Daylight Saving Time year-round. They were also asked about the importance of aligning time observance in B.C. with neighbouring provinces, territories and states. The engagement involved a short on-line survey and the opportunity to send in written submissions.

Engagement Timeframe

June 24 to July 19, 2019

Input Received

A record 223,273 British Columbians completed the survey.

More than 93% of respondents indicated they would prefer a move to permanent Daylight Saving Time.

More than half (54%) responded that it was “important” or “very important” for B.C. to align its time observance with neighbouring jurisdictions.

Support for year-round observance of DST was higher than 90% across all industry groups and in all occupational groups, except for students.

75% of those preferring year-round DST identified health and wellness concerns as a reason for their support.

53% of respondents noted the benefits of additional daylight during the evening commute in winter, while 39% identified other safety concerns as reasons for their support.

Among those who favoured retaining the biannual time change, balancing daylight hours throughout the year and health and wellness concerns were the most commonly identified reasons.

Input leads to action:

On October 31, 2019, government introduced legislative amendments that will allow for a future move to permanent daylight saving time. The change will not take effect until B.C. can maintain alignment with Washington, Oregon, California and Yukon, which are all in the process of creating or enacting similar legislation.

Read the What We Heard Summary Report for public feedback received throughout this engagement.

Read the stakeholder submissions received for the Daylight Saving Time engagement.