B.C. to scrap daylight savings time, aligning with northeast year-round

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — B.C.’s “spring forward” to daylight savings time this weekend will be its last, with the province set to match Fort St. John’s time year-round. 

In a press release on Monday, March 2nd, B.C. said after March 8th, when clocks will go forward by one hour, it will scrap seasonal time changes beginning in the fall. 

Northeast B.C. operates on mountain standard time, and the statement says areas such as Fort St. John, Dawson Creek and Fort Nelson will not be affected by the time change.

However, other regions – such as the Kootenay and Golden regions which switch between mountain standard and mountain daylight – will align with Alberta and continue to switch during the winter and summer.

The last time Fort St. John observed daylight saving time was on August 30th, 1972, following a referendum which saw people accidentally vote for mountain standard time without daylight savings time.

The province says eliminating the twice-yearly practice will “reduce disruptions for families, simplify scheduling and provide an extra hour of evening light during the winter months.”

The announcement came on Monday, saying businesses and residents will have eight months to adjust to the new regulation of not turning clocks back, with the transition to the new time zone – named Pacific Time – being complete.

The time zone will align with the Yukon all-year round, according to the release.

The release says being seven hours behind co-ordinated universal time will match the current offset used during daylight saving time.

It concludes neighbouring areas, such as Oregon and Washington State, are in the process of enacting similar legislation.