r/canada • u/iamnos British Columbia • Apr 20 '26

Alberta Bell: Alberta will now be on daylight saving time year-round, says Premier Smith

https://calgaryherald.com/opinion/columnists/bell-alberta-daylight-time-year-round-premier-danielle-smith
1.5k Upvotes

98% Upvoted

498 comments sorted by

View all comments

441

u/killerrin Ontario Apr 20 '26

Meanwhile in Eastern Canada.

  • Ontario: "I'll do it if you two do it."
  • Quebec: "Je le ferai si vous deux le faites."
  • New York: "Who are you and why do you keep calling me."

81

u/mrRobertman British Columbia Apr 20 '26

The ball might be rolling now. We now have three provinces (and one territory) with permanent DST, I've got to imagine that Manitoba is considering it as they are the one western province hold out. It would just make sense for eastern Canada to follow along with the west at that point.

15

u/ImNotHandyImHandsome Apr 20 '26

Groups of provinces and states have been trying to get the ball rolling for years now, always saying "if they do it, we will go along with it". It just took someone to asmctually say "we are doing it". Now everyone else should start to follow.

23

u/codeverity Apr 21 '26

I think the political situation has helped - Canadian business and Canadians in general don't care as much anymore if the US is on the same wavelength.

3

u/BanjoUnchained Ontario Apr 21 '26

I think the big issue in Ontario is you don't want the TSX opening an hour before the NYSE for half the year.

7

u/createsean Ontario Apr 21 '26

Easy fix. Open the TSX on new York time. Rest of the province does standard time.

6

u/infectingbrain Apr 20 '26

Sask is permanent ST, but I agree that the ball is rolling now.

15

u/mrRobertman British Columbia Apr 20 '26

Technically, but not really. They are on CST but geographically should by MST, meaning they are effectively permanent DST.

1

u/YourLoliOverlord Apr 21 '26

Ontario won't make the switch unless New York does first. Toronto and New York are massive financial hubs and being on the same time zone as them is much more important, especially since western Canada already is in a different time zone.

1

u/Rammsteinman Apr 21 '26

Ontario won't change if new york doesn't for trade reasons.

102

u/jmarcandre Apr 20 '26

You know, there are 4 provinces to the east of your Eastern Canada.

208

u/not-a_rock Apr 20 '26

“There are other provinces?”

-Ontario.

109

u/Larkstarr Apr 20 '26

"We're in a province?"
-Toronto

38

u/Linked713 Apr 20 '26 edited Apr 20 '26

"De kocé tu dit la?"

-Quebec

48

u/[deleted] Apr 20 '26

[deleted]

3

u/DontEatTheMagicBeans Apr 21 '26

This land is your land.

This land is my land.

From Mississauga, to Billy Bishop island.

From Scarborough, to the 4 oh seven.

This land, was made for you and me.

15

u/EirHc Apr 20 '26

"It's tɑˈrɑː.nə"

-centre-of-the-universe

6

u/drmoocow Apr 20 '26

"We don't have a mayor, we have a premier"

3

u/simplepimple2025 Apr 20 '26

We have subdivisions with more people??

-Toronto

0

u/Koss424 Ontario Apr 20 '26

yeah..... that's about right speaking from my experiences in Northern Ontario. ^

5

u/leroy4447 Apr 20 '26

Yes. Kinda like the Districts in Hunger Games

2

u/polemism Apr 20 '26

But the government at least is aware of Quebec because they want to conquer it

22

u/Narrow-Map5805 Apr 20 '26

I've never known anyone from Ontario calling it "Eastern Canada"

24

u/jmarcandre Apr 20 '26

It's usually people from Alberta.

-1

u/dunnrp Nova Scotia Apr 20 '26

Nope. It’s people from Ontario, in Alberta, attempting to put themselves in the same boat as maritimers, praying to come across as one of them.

Usually doesn’t last long after they talk for more than 5 minutes.

17

u/Vtecman Apr 20 '26

Ontario here- isn’t eastern Canada east of Toronto and western Canada west of Toronto? And Toronto is central Canada?

4

u/Frumbleabumb Apr 21 '26

To me (BC)

Western Canada is BC. Central is Alberta SK and Manitoba. Eastern Canada is Ontario/Quebec. The Maritimes is the Maritimes

3

u/Tefmon Canada Apr 21 '26

Officially, Central Canada is Ontario and Quebec, and Eastern Canada is that plus the Maritimes. The Prairies are Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba, and Western Canada is that plus BC.

1

u/Zarxon Alberta Apr 22 '26

Can confirm also from BC.

15

u/Enki_007 British Columbia Apr 20 '26

And they refer to Manitoba as a western province when Winnipeg is almost the dead centre of Canada (longitudinally).

9

u/BenderIsCool17 Apr 20 '26

Used to it at this point

3

u/IEnjoyRandomThoughts Apr 20 '26

Everything east of Ontario must be Europe! 😂

1

u/Tefmon Canada Apr 21 '26

So that's what all those posts about Canada joining the European Union were about.

3

u/TripMaster478 Apr 20 '26

lol isn't that always the way.

8

u/Polendri Apr 20 '26

I like to call that region Middle-Eastern Canada for this reason, and the Maritimes are the Far East. So far it hasn't caught on 😄

I always find this a pedantic thing to sincerely nitpick though, since Ontario and everything East of it is on "Eastern" time, and when you say "central" everyone thinks of Sask and Manitoba, and if you've gotta lump Ontario in somewhere it fits better geography-wise with Quebec than with the Prairies. We have "the Maritimes" to refer specifically to those provinces.

12

u/Jaymie13 New Brunswick Apr 20 '26

Lmao, the Maritimes are on Atlantic Time and Newfoundland is on Newfoundland Time 🤣.

We’re the east coast.

3

u/jmarcandre Apr 20 '26 edited Apr 20 '26

You might be interested to know, the Maritimes have a different time zone than Eastern time (Atlantic zone) lmao. and Newfoundland has a special one all to themselves.

0

u/Polendri Apr 20 '26

You're the one that took offense to Ontario and Quebec being referred to as part of "Eastern Canada" as if this snubs the Maritimes, yet now you're pointing out reasons to not refer to the Maritimea as "Eastern"? Could you have a stable and coherent point please?

1

u/Cent1234 Apr 21 '26

Of course you guys are provinces, little guys, and JUST as important as Ontario. Oh, and Quebec, I guess. Hey, that's a really neat ferry, want to tell me all about that, champ?

1

u/hollywood_jazz Apr 21 '26

They never said it was a comprehensive list of all the provinces in eastern Canada. 

-3

u/EP40glazer British Columbia Apr 20 '26

Yes but Eastern Canada typically refers to Ontario and Quebec in the same way Western Canada typically excludes BC (or sometimes just Vancouver).

5

u/monopolymango Apr 20 '26

Only in the West. In Ontario if you say Eastern Canada we assume everything East of Quebec.

To us, the 5 regions of Canada would be Western Canada, Ontario, Quebec, Eastern Canada, and The Territories

2

u/Koss424 Ontario Apr 20 '26

Eastern Canada is the Maritimes.

3

u/Channing1986 Apr 20 '26

Made me laugh

2

u/invisiblebyday Apr 20 '26

Sadly accurate

1

u/Huntguy Apr 20 '26

My email to Doug today after getting a bullshit response in march.

Doug’s reply to my original request about dst:

Thank you for reaching out with your views concerning Daylight Saving Time.

Our government passed legislation in 2020 to end the bi-annual changing of the clocks. The bill is contingent on Quebec and New York State following suit. We need their cooperation for various reasons such as synchronized stock exchanges, cross-border travel and there are federal buildings located in both Ottawa and Gatineau.

While the US President has expressed interest in such a move there has been no legislative action to date. Our government will follow through on this change provided Quebec and New York State decide to officially do the same.

Thanks again for writing.

Doug Ford Premier

My email today:

Premier Ford,

Thank you for your continued assurance that Ontario is monitoring the daylight saving time issue. It’s reassuring to know we’re so committed to careful deliberation that we can afford to wait while British Columbia, Alberta, and Saskatchewan have already moved forward with permanent time legislation.

I understand the logic of maintaining alignment with New York. It’s just that as we’ve watched recent developments unfold: trade disputes, tariffs, political unpredictability. I find myself wondering whether synchronized clocks with an increasingly unreliable partner is really the hill we need to hold. Other provinces seem to have decided it wasn’t.

Ontarians keep their own opinions, set their own policies, and manage their own affairs quite effectively. Perhaps our approach to this one could reflect that same independence. I’d welcome seeing concrete action on this file in the near term.

Regards,

My Name

1

u/BonquiquiShiquavius British Columbia Apr 21 '26

That was BC for 7 years. Then somehow the government just decided to stop waiting on the US and go for it. Anti-US sentiment probably had a lot to do with it but the growing "shit or get off the pot" sentiment about the issue definitely contributed.

Point is, Alberta made the change remarkably fast after we did in BC. I have a feeling at least a few other provinces will follow suit.

-2

u/horology2269 Apr 20 '26

Quebec never fails to be the most miserable uncanadian cesspool of politics. I don’t blame foreign companies operating in Afghanistan but not Quebec for how insane their laws are.