EDMONTON – The Government of Alberta reportedly wants to end time change and plans to soon introduce legislation to adopt year-round daylight time. A story published in the Calgary Herald on Monday said Premier Danielle Smith and the UCP government intend to bring the topic to the legislature this week. The move would see Alberta adopt the current spring-fall time system and forgo winding clocks back in the fall. .Time change has been widely discussed in Alberta for years, including a 2023 referendum on the topic, but discussions intensified in March when BC moved to adopt year-round daylight time, leaving Alberta sandwiched between provinces that do not practice time change. Smith previously said BC's decision "raised questions" about whether Alberta should do the same to create consistency across Western Canada."I recognize that there's very heightened passions on both sides, but I think we can all agree that we should end the time change," Smith said during her March 7, Your Province. Your Premier. radio show. "It just doesn't make sense anymore for us to be putting ourselves through the body changes."On March 27, she said Alberta could even conduct a one-year trial of daylight time before making the permanent shift. Alberta's 2023 referendum asked Albertans whether they wanted to move to year-round daylight time, with 49.8% voting "Yes" and 50.2% voting "No." These results were criticized by some Albertans, though, as the question only asked about daylight time rather than offering an option for standard time or simply asking whether Alberta should abandon time change in general. .The Government of Alberta launched a permanent daylight time engagement campaign with Alberta "stakeholders" in March, the results of which have not been disclosed. An Angus Reid Institute study on time change, published in March, showed that 87% of Alberta respondents supported abandoning the practice, though 47% wanted permanent daylight time and 40% wanted standard time. Across Canada, 86% of respondents wanted to keep the time change, 53% supported daylight time, and 33% advocated for standard time. Smith supports daylight time. "So if you think about it, we're already eight or nine months on daylight time," Smith said on her March 7 show. "It would be less disruptive to stay on daylight time year-round." According to her, it would be less disruptive for Alberta to do so. .Moving to year-round daylight time would put Alberta's clocks on the same time as Saskatchewan, which uses Central Standard Time, and one hour behind BC, which uses Pacific Daylight Time. Using year-round Mountain Daylight Time will also reduce Alberta's time difference with Toronto and other Eastern cities. "And so, for those who do business in Eastern Canada, or those who want to go to New York, or some of the Eastern US states, in the winter, it's actually going to be compressed," Smith said. "Rather than two hours, it'll only be one. So, you know, I would just say, put it out there, because it's going to be an active call." The UCP will need to introduce new legislation or amend existing legislation to make the time structure change official.
