British Columbia skips the autumn clock change for the first time
Permanent daylight time puts province an hour ahead of US Pacific states for the winter, airlines shift outside flights by about an hour while sports listings already disagree
Images
globalnews.ca
Click to play video: 'Permanent daylight saving time impacts'
globalnews.ca
Click to play video: 'Permanent daylight time means major changes for parts of Canada'
globalnews.ca
On Sunday, for the first time, British Columbians will not turn their clocks back. The province is moving to permanent Pacific daylight time, which will leave it two hours behind Eastern time and one hour ahead of the US states in the Pacific time zone that still change their clocks.
The first days of the transition are producing the mismatches predicted for it. "Our phones might say one time, but our calendar, our meeting requests, the meetings we already scheduled, might say another," technology expert Andy Baryar told Global News, warning that recurring meetings created before the change may sit an hour off until calendars are checked and resynced.
Vancouver International Airport says it has worked closely with airlines to support the transition. The majority of flights arriving from or departing to destinations outside British Columbia have had their schedules adjusted by roughly an hour compared with last winter, particularly on routes connecting Vancouver with places that still change their clocks seasonally.
The sports listings show the seams. The Whitecaps' Sunday game is at 1:30 p.m., but it appears as 2:30 p.m. in some places and 4:30 p.m. Eastern, an hour off; the club has issued a reminder on Facebook. The Vancouver Canucks will see almost a dozen Saturday games pushed back to 8 p.m. to accommodate television schedules.
British Columbia is not alone in breaking with the old rhythm: Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Yukon and the Northwest Territories are also staying on permanent daylight time, while the Maritime provinces, Quebec and most of Ontario and Nunavut will turn their clocks back as usual. Quebec said this week that it intends to end the time changes after this fall.
The province made the change on its own, and the costs of the mismatch — rescheduled flights, moved kickoffs, calendars that disagree — now land on airlines, broadcasters and office workers who must do the hour arithmetic until the neighbouring US states change their clocks again in spring. The airport's advice to passengers is that no action is required: adjusted flight times are already reflected in their itineraries.