Time in Canada

Time notation

The Government of Canada recommends use of the 24-hour clock (e.g. 00:54), which is widely used in contexts such as transportation schedules, parking meters, and data transmission. Speakers of Canadian French predominantly use this system, but most Canadian English speakers use the 12-hour clock in everyday speech (e.g. 12:54 am), even when reading from a 24-hour display, similar to the use of the 24-hour clock in the United Kingdom.

Zones

Mountain Time Zone

Mountain Standard Time (MST) UTC−07:00 year-round

• British Columbia, where it is called Pacific Time (PCT) ()
  • All of province except three southeastern municipalities observing Central Time
• Northwest Territories
  • Cantung Mine (unofficial)
• Yukon, where it is called Yukon Standard Time ()

Mountain Standard Time (MST) UTC−07:00 and Mountain Daylight Time (MDT) UTC−06:00

• Nunavut ()
  • Kitikmeot Region
  • Kivalliq Region west of 102°W
  • Qikiqtaaluk Region west of 102°W

Central Time Zone

Central Standard Time (CST) UTC−06:00 year-round

• British Columbia
  • Regional District of East Kootenay
  • Golden
  • Columbia-Shuswap Regional District Area A
• Northwest Territories, where it is called Northwest Territories Time
• Alberta, where it is called Alberta Time (ABT)
• Saskatchewan ()

Central Standard Time (CST) UTC−06:00 and Central Daylight Time (CDT) UTC−05:00

• Nunavut
  • Qikiqtaaluk Region between 85°W and 102°W
  • Kivalliq Region east of 102°W except areas using EST year-round
• Ontario (northwestern)
  • All of province west of 90°W except areas using EST or EST/EDT
  • One area east of 90°W: Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug First Nation (Big Trout Lake) area

Eastern Time Zone

Eastern Standard Time (EST) UTC−05:00 year-round

• Nunavut
  • Southampton Island, including Coral Harbour
  • Eureka station
• Manitoba, where it is called Manitoba Standard Time (MBT)
• Saskatchewan
  • Creighton (unofficial)
• Ontario
  • Atikokan area (unofficial)
  • Mishkeegogamang First Nation (New Osnaburgh) area, including Pickle Lake

Eastern Standard Time (EST) UTC−05:00 and Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) UTC−04:00

• Nunavut
  • East of 85°W
• Ontario
  • All of province east of 90°W except one area using CST/CDT
  • Two areas west of 90°W: Shebandowan and Upsala (unofficial)
• Quebec
  • All of province except areas using AST or AST/ADT

Atlantic Time Zone

Atlantic Standard Time (AST) UTC−04:00 year-round

• Quebec
  • Areas east of the Natashquan River
  • Nunavik

Atlantic Standard Time (AST) UTC−04:00 and Atlantic Daylight Time (ADT) UTC−03:00

• Newfoundland and Labrador
  • All of Labrador except the southeastern tip
• New Brunswick
• Nova Scotia
• Prince Edward Island
• Quebec
  • Listuguj Mi'gmaq First Nation
  • Magdalen Islands

Newfoundland Time Zone

Newfoundland Standard Time (NST) UTC−03:30 and Newfoundland Daylight Time (NDT) UTC−02:30

• Newfoundland and Labrador ()
  • Island of Newfoundland
  • Southeastern tip of Labrador

Former time zones

• The Yukon Time Zone (UTC−09:00) covered most of Yukon from 1900 until 1966. In 1973, the last portions of Yukon switched to Pacific Time, leaving UTC−09:00 unused in Canada.
• In 1988, Newfoundland observed "double daylight saving time" from 3 April until 30 October, meaning that the time was set ahead by 2 hours. All of Newfoundland and southern Labrador, which observes UTC−03:30 as its standard time zone, observed UTC−01:30. This only happened in 1988 and the province now only adjusts its time by one hour for daylight saving time.
• Pacific Standard Time (UTC−08:00) was used in Yukon and most of British Columbia until 2020 and 2026, respectively. Both jurisdictions switched to year-round Pacific Daylight Time (UTC−07:00, equivalent to Mountain Standard Time), leaving UTC−08:00 unused in Canada.

Daylight saving time

Daylight saving time (DST) is observed in six of ten provinces (all in Eastern Canada) and one of three territories, with exceptions. The six jurisdictions that do not observe DST are all located geographically west of their legislated time zones by one hour or more, meaning that they effectively use daylight time year-round. Under the Constitution of Canada, laws related to timekeeping are a purely provincial matter.

Port Arthur, Ontario, was the first place in the world to introduce daylight saving time, on 1 July 1908. Four Canadian cities, by local ordinance, observed DST in 1916. Brandon, Manitoba, adopted it on 17 April. It was followed by Winnipeg on 23 April, Halifax on 30 April, and Hamilton, Ontario, on 4 June.

In practice, DST across Canada has – since the late 1960s – been closely or completely synchronized with its observance in the United States to promote consistent economic and social interaction. When the United States extended DST in 1987 to the first Sunday in April, all DST-observing Canadian provinces followed suit to mimic the change. The latest United States change to daylight saving time – Energy Policy Act of 2005, which began observance in 2007, adding parts of March and November to the period in which daylight saving time is observed – was also adopted by the various provinces and territories of Canada.

In 2019, the legislature of British Columbia (BC) began the process of eliminating the practice of observing daylight saving time in the province. On 31 October 2019, the government introduced Bill 40 in the legislature, which would define Pacific Time as "7 hours behind Coordinated Universal Time (UTC)". In a press release, the provincial government stated its intention to maintain alignment of clock time with Washington, Oregon, California, and Yukon. The move followed a consultation earlier in 2019, in which the province received over 223,000 responses, 93% of which said they would prefer year-round DST as compared to the status quo of changing the clocks twice a year. The premier of British Columbia discussed the issue with Yukon premier Sandy Silver, who said in October that he needed more consultation with Yukon stakeholders, and with Alberta and Alaska.

In 2020, Yukon abandoned seasonal time change and moved to permanently observing MST year-round. In 2021, Alberta conducted a referendum on whether the province should adopt permanent daylight time, in which 50.24% of respondents voted to continue switching between standard and daylight time. On 2 March 2026, BC premier David Eby announced that following the 2019 consultation, British Columbia would permanently adopt daylight time on 8 March 2026, effectively moving the province onto year-round Mountain Standard Time; the remaining parts of the province that used Mountain Time with DST and were in sync with Alberta's time zone were unaffected by this move. Following BC's decision, Alberta and the Northwest Territories moved to adopt permanent year-round Central Standard Time in April 2026, despite the results of the 2021 Alberta referendum. This put the province and territory in sync with Saskatchewan year-round. In September 2026, Golden, British Columbia, and Columbia-Shuswap Regional District (CSRD) Area A, two municipalities in BC previously aligned with Alberta in observing Mountain Time with DST followed BC's decision to permanently adopt Mountain Standard Time, putting them in sync with the rest of BC as opposed to Alberta, while earlier in August, the Regional District of East Kootenay followed the decisions of Alberta and the Northwest Territories to adopt permanent year-round Central Standard Time, retaining the previous synchronization with Alberta. Later, on 22 September, Golden and CSRD Area A reversed their decision and chose to stay aligned with Alberta, thereby adopting year-round Central Standard Time (UTC−06:00).

On 17 September 2026, Manitoba premier Wab Kinew announced that Manitoba would be permanently adopting daylight time, effectively moving the province onto year-round Eastern Standard Time (UTC−05:00).

IANA time zone database

Data for Canada from zone.tab of the IANA time zone database. Columns marked with * are the columns from zone.tab itself.