Since 1918, clocks in Creston, a city in eastern British Columbia, were one hour ahead of those in nearby communities for half the year. Over the next six months, they got back in sync. Not because the city changed them, but because their neighbors changed daylight saving time.
Creston was an outlier: a community that effectively created its own time zone. But when residents in most of the province turn their clocks forward on Sunday, they will do so for the last time, permanently joining Creston for the first time in almost 70 years.
Last week, British Columbia announced plans to create the Pacific time zone, a decision that reflects both widespread distaste in the province for changing clocks and an increasingly strained relationship with the United States. But the province later said that while it will create the new Pacific time zone, municipalities will be free to choose their own time zones, raising the possibility of more “time zone islands” like Creston.
“We’re done waiting. British Columbia is going to change our clocks just one more time, and never again,” British Columbia Premier David Eby told reporters, adding that he hoped “our American neighbors” would adopt a similar change. The move brings BC in line with the Yukon Territory to the north.
In 2019, public consultations revealed that 93% of residents surveyed said they wanted permanent daylight saving time. But despite that strength of sentiment, BC has continued to change to match the United States and facilitate cross-border trade and travel.
However, in announcing the new policy, the province cited “recent actions” by its southern neighbor, in what was likely a reference to the Trump administration’s ongoing trade war and threats to Canadian sovereignty.
According to provincial authorities, the changes will lead to “more usable light in the evenings in winter” and a “reduced administrative burden” for areas of the province.
The Peace region in northern British Columbia, which previously observed Mountain Standard Time year-round, will now have the same time as most other places in British Columbia with the new time zone. Previously, the region spent its winters aligned with Alberta and then an hour behind in the summer.
The new time zone means other mountain communities that observe Mountain Time but switch between standard time and daylight saving time will fall in line with the rest of the province during the winter months, but will be one hour ahead in the summer.
But those towns could change, either as a group or on their own, as Creston did.
“Just as they can today, local governments will retain the power to determine which time zone they observe,” the government said. “They can choose to switch to permanent daylight saving time and Pacific time, along with the rest of British Columbia, if they prefer.”
“The response we’ve received from the public… is that people want to be at the same time as the rest of British Columbia,” Cranbrook Mayor Wayne Price told CBC News.
Industry groups expressed frustration with the measure.
“The unilateral change in timing is an unwanted distraction that will make it more difficult to attract and retain businesses in British Columbia,” Bridgitte Anderson, president and CEO of the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade, said in a statement. “The decision to change the time unilaterally will create an additional headache for businesses operating on both sides of the border.”
The Vancouver Airport Authority said it would “work with the industry to better understand the potential implications for schedules and passengers” of the time zone change without neighboring jurisdictions following suit.
