Daylight Saving Time 2026 in Canada: Who Falls Back on November 1?

The short answer

If you live in Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island or Newfoundland and Labrador, your clocks go back one hour at 2:00 a.m. on Sunday, November 1, 2026. You gain an hour of sleep, mornings get lighter and evenings get dark earlier.

If you live in British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, the Northwest Territories, Yukon or Saskatchewan, nothing changes on November 1. Your clocks stay where they are through the winter and into 2027.

Most phones and computers change the time on their own. The bigger change this year is that the gaps between provinces are different all winter, so meetings, calls and TV schedules across provinces will not line up the way they used to.

Province by province: what happens on November 1, 2026

The table reflects government announcements up to October 14, 2026. If you live near a provincial border or in a community with its own time arrangement, follow your local government's notice.

What changed in 2026, and why

British Columbia

BC passed a law in 2019 to stay on daylight time permanently but waited for neighbouring US states. On March 2, 2026 the province announced it would act anyway: the March 8, 2026 change was the last one, and the November 1, 2026 change will not happen. BC now stays seven hours behind Coordinated Universal Time (UTC−7) all year. Northeastern communities such as Dawson Creek and Fort St. John were already on UTC−7 year-round; southeastern communities such as Cranbrook and Golden follow Alberta.

Alberta

Alberta calls its new arrangement Alberta Time. The provincial government says that beginning in November 2026, clocks will no longer reset to Mountain Standard Time and that Alberta Time is equivalent to UTC−6 all year. In practice, Albertans keep the summer clock through the winter.

Manitoba

On September 17, 2026, Premier Wab Kinew announced that Manitoba will stay on daylight saving time permanently. The government's news release says Manitobans' clocks will not revert to standard time on November 1.

Northwest Territories

The NWT had said it would follow Alberta. In September 2026 the territory confirmed it is ending seasonal time changes and will share a common time with Alberta and Saskatchewan, so clocks do not go back on November 1.

Ontario and Quebec

Ontario passed a law in 2020 to make daylight time permanent, but only if Quebec and New York State do the same. Quebec held a consultation in 2024 in which 91% of respondents wanted the time change abolished, but it has not announced a change. Until both move, Ontario and Quebec keep changing their clocks twice a year.

The United States

In July 2026 the US House of Representatives voted 308 to 117 for year-round daylight time. The bill still needs the Senate and the president's signature. Ontario, Quebec and the Atlantic provinces watch this closely because their trade and travel links with neighbouring states depend on keeping clocks aligned.

Time differences across Canada this winter

Because the West no longer falls back, the usual gaps shrink between November 1, 2026 and March 14, 2027. The table compares each city with Toronto.

The surprise for many people: from November 1 to March 14, a 9:00 a.m. meeting in Toronto is also 9:00 a.m. in Winnipeg. A national TV broadcast at 7:00 p.m. Eastern airs at 5:00 p.m. in Vancouver instead of 4:00 p.m.

When Ontario and Quebec spring forward on March 14, 2027, the gaps return to their summer sizes: Vancouver is three hours behind Toronto, Calgary two, Winnipeg one.

The next change: March 14, 2027

Provinces that still change their clocks will spring forward one hour at 2:00 a.m. local time on Sunday, March 14, 2027, the second Sunday of March. The next fall-back after that is Sunday, November 7, 2027, the first Sunday of November. These are the same rules Canada has followed since 2007 for provinces that observe daylight saving time.

Provinces that have stopped changing will not move their clocks on either date, so the time differences in the table above will change twice a year from the point of view of people in the West.

Will your phone and computer get it right?

Phones, computers and smart devices take their time rules from a shared time-zone database that operating-system makers update. For a change announced only weeks before it takes effect, as in Manitoba and the NWT, some devices may not have the new rule yet.

• Install system updates in the days before November 1.
• Leave automatic time zone on. Phones on a mobile network usually correct themselves.
• Check on Sunday morning. If a device in Manitoba, Alberta, the NWT or BC shows an hour earlier than it should, set the time zone manually to a city with the correct time, then switch back to automatic after the next update.
• Car dashboards, microwaves and wall clocks don't update themselves; leave them alone in the western provinces this year.

Planning tips for the change week

• Cross-province meetings: calendar apps show the right local time only if the device rules are current. Write the time zone in invitations ("10:00 a.m. Eastern") for the first few weeks.
• Travel: flight, train and bus times are always local time at the departure and arrival points. Overnight trips on the night of October 31 to November 1 are the ones most often misread.
• Shift work: in provinces that fall back, the overnight shift runs one hour longer. Employment standards rules on pay for that hour vary by province.
• Sleep and road safety: darker evening commutes start the following week in the provinces that fall back.