British Columbia

B.C. to introduce bill for eventual move to permanent daylight time

The B.C. government will introduce a bill on Thursday aimed at eventually making daylight time permanent across the province, ending the twice-yearly changes to and from standard time. 

Legislation paves the way to end twice-yearly changes to and from standard time

A man moves the hands of a gigantic clock.
The B.C. government will introduce enabling legislation on Thursday, setting the stage for an eventual move to permanent daylight time. (Elisa Amendola/Associated Press)

The B.C. government will introduce a bill on Thursday aimed at eventually making daylight time permanent across the province, ending the twice-yearly changes to and from standard time. 

The government has confirmed it will introduce the Interpretation Amendment Act, which will pave the way for the long-expected move. 

The bill will remove an existing law about the twice-yearly clock changes and name the permanent time zone Pacific Time. 

But don't expect to get out of "falling back" this weekend. The clocks will still change on Sunday at 2 a.m. 

Premier John Horgan previously suggested B.C. will wait until similar efforts in other West Coast jurisdictions move forward. 

Washington state, Oregon and California are still awaiting congressional approval and U.S. legislators have indicated that could take time, given everything else that's going on in U.S. federal politics right now.

B.C. currently observes Pacific standard time during the winter months and Pacific daylight time during the summer months. 

The province says this new legislation will not require areas of northern B.C. and the Kootenays, which currently observe mountain time, to make any changes.