In most of Canada Daylight Saving Time begins at 2:00 a.m. local time on the second Sunday in March. On the first Sunday in November areas on Daylight Saving Time return to Standard Time at 2:00 a.m. local time. When Daylight Saving Time begins turn your clocks ahead one hour. At the end of Daylight Saving Time turn your clocks back one hour.
Time zone names and abbreviations in Canada change during Daylight Saving Time. Eastern Standard Time (EST) becomes Eastern Daylight Time (EDT), and so forth with each time zone.
In 2011 Newfoundland and Labrador proclaimed an amendment to the Standard Time Act which puts their observance of Daylight Saving Time in line with the rest of Canada effective November 6, 2011. Previously, Newfoundland and Labrador began and ended Daylight Saving Time one minute after midnight (12:01 a.m.) local time.
Some areas of Canada not using Daylight Saving Time include, Fort St. John, Charlie Lake, Taylor and Dawson Creek in British Columbia, Creston in the East Kootenays, and most of Saskatchewan (except Denare Beach and Creighton).
Previously, Canada had observed Daylight Saving Time from the first Sunday in April until the last Sunday in October. However, through legislation passed in 2006, Daylight Saving Time now begins three weeks earlier on the second Sunday in March and ends on the first Sunday in November.
This change in Daylight Saving Time kept Canada’s Daylight Saving Time pattern consistent with the United States which enacted into law a broad energy bill that extended Daylight Saving Time in the same manner.
Canada Daylight Saving Time Start and End Dates
Year | DST Begins at 2 a.m. | DST Ends at 2 a.m. |
2009 | March 08 | November 1 |
2010 | March 14 | November 7 |
2011 | March 13 | November 6 |
2012 | March 11 | November 4 |
2013 | March 10 | November 3 |
2014 | March 09 | November 2 |
2015 | March 08 | November 1 |
2016 | March 13 | November 6 |
2017 | March 12 | November 5 |
2018 | March 11 | November 4 |