No Time Change Also Happened in 1970s

October 30 2026 - As most of the United States and eastern Canada prepare to “fall back” one hour at 2 a.m. local time on Sunday, November 1, 2026, British Columbia will not.

The province has locked in year-round Pacific Time (UTC-7), the same offset previously used only in summer, after its final clock change last March.

The move means Vancouver and most of B.C. will sit one hour ahead of Washington and Oregon once those states return to Pacific Standard Time.

It is not the first time the Pacific Northwest has been out of sync.

In January 1974, during the OPEC oil embargo and resulting energy crisis, the United States shifted to year-round daylight saving time under the Emergency Daylight Saving Time Energy Conservation Act signed by President Richard Nixon.

The goal was to stretch evening daylight and conserve fuel, an estimated equivalent of 150,000 barrels of oil a day.

Canada largely declined to follow. Ontario, the Atlantic provinces, and the Prairies stayed on standard time through the winter, citing darker, colder mornings that could raise heating and lighting use enough to erase any savings, plus concerns about children heading to school in the dark.

Saskatchewan already stayed on standard time year-round.

The temporary one-hour mismatch complicated airline schedules, stock-exchange openings, and television programming until the U.S. experiment was abandoned in October 1974 amid public complaints about pitch-black mornings.

Half a century later, the sides have flipped in parts of Canada. Saskatchewan and Yukon have long stayed on one time all year.

In 2026, Alberta, Manitoba, the Northwest Territories, and parts of northwestern Ontario have also adopted permanent daylight time (or equivalent year-round offsets), joining B.C. Most of Ontario, Quebec, and the Atlantic provinces will still fall back this weekend and continue the seasonal switch.

In the United States the debate continues without resolution. The House passed the Sunshine Protection Act earlier this year to make daylight saving time permanent nationwide, but the Senate has not advanced it. President Trump has urged action, yet sleep researchers and others favor permanent standard time for better alignment with circadian rhythms.

Arizona and Hawaii already stay on standard time year-round. For now, most Americans will gain an hour Sunday and return to the usual spring-forward next March, while British Columbia, for the first time in decades, simply leaves its clocks alone.

BC is not going it alone in North America. Alberta, Manitoba, the Northwest Territories, Yukon (since 2020), Saskatchewan, and parts of northwestern Ontario are also staying put on permanent time.

No U.S. state is on permanent daylight time yet, federal law still requires congressional approval, so the U.S. West Coast will fall an hour behind BC after this weekend.

No Time Change Also Happened in 1970s