Parents cheer, businesses brace as Western Canada ditches the time change
Jenn Irwin-Greer never looked forward to the routine gong show at her Edmonton dayhome business that came with the twice-annual time change as children struggled to adjust to a new pattern.
“(Children) show up a little bit irritable, as we all do when we’re tired,” she said. “Nap times get thrown out of whack.”
She’s hopeful things will be a little bit easier this year.
Canadians woke up Sunday to a new time zone map after British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, northwestern Ontario and the Northwest Territories opted to stay on daylight time year-round rather than have clocks fall back one hour.
Saskatchewan already doesn’t adjust its clocks.
At a recreation centre in Edmonton’s south end on Sunday, some parents said not having to adjust their children’s sleep schedule felt refreshing.
“I’m going to be honest, I do kind of like it,” said Amanda Petrie after her seven-year-old son’s hockey game. “It’s just easier with kids when you don’t have to adjust their schedule.”
Siva Sivabalan, another resident, said he felt the Alberta government had made the right call by not changing the time.
“I rather have more daylight in the evening time rather than the morning,” he said as his daughter played nearby.
“Especially the November time change, I just didn’t like it at all.”
In Calgary, hairstylist Jordan Janovcik said he feels anxious about the work week ahead.
He said he spent the entire summer double- and sometimes triple-checking with clients to make sure they knew Alberta was not falling back.
Hairstylists like him have busy but by-the-book schedules, and missed appointments or delays could mean lost time and money.
“I am really concerned for this week,” he said in a phone interview.
“I think this is going to be really hard for a lot of businesses.”
Technology experts have said the change could cause problems for scheduling systems and older computer software.
Online, some Canadians reported Sunday that their cellphones displayed the incorrect time.
A statement from Telus says the issue is related to how some phones update their time zone information, rather than the service provider.
“Customers experiencing this issue can check their phone’s settings to ensure that ‘set time zone automatically’ is selected, then restart their phone to help apply any available time zone updates,” the company says.
A Rogers spokesperson said the company experienced no issues with its network, and referred questions to an industry group that posted instructions for updating phones and tablets.
In the skies, Air Canada said Sunday its operations were normal, noting that all flights use the internationally recognized time standard and that time changes are managed using established industry data sources.
Tech giant Google responded to an inquiry about how new time zones are affecting its services by linking to a blog post with instructions on how to make sure devices and services stay on schedule.
“From morning alarms to critical calendar invites, we know how much you rely on your devices to stay organized and on time,” the post said.
“Our teams are working to ensure these updates reach all Canadian users as quickly as possible.”
Back in Edmonton, Irwin-Greer said she’s curious how no time change might affect life on the Prairies.
She noted darker mornings in the months ahead and whether they would affect commutes for students and workers.
“I don’t love that it’s going to be darker for longer when the kids are going to school,” she said. “My teenage son is not overly worried about it, but it is a little bit concerning when they’re trying to travel.
“Crossing the street and it’s hard enough for traffic to see, so hopefully there are not more accidents.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 2, 2026.
— With files from Marieke Glorieux-Stryckman in Montreal
Ashley Joannou and Fakiha Baig, The Canadian Press
Comments