Quebecers could be setting their clocks back for the last time this weekend, with Premier Paul St-Pierre Plamondon saying his government intends to end the twice-yearly switch between daylight and standard time.
Clocks are set to fall back one hour at 2 a.m. Sunday, returning to 1 a.m. But St-Pierre Plamondon said on social media Wednesday that it will most likely be the final seasonal time change in Quebec.
“In recent years, the Parti Québécois has taken a stand several times to challenge daylight saving time. Studies show that this practice is counterproductive for health and poses adaptation challenges for children,” he said in his statement on social media.
His government has not yet decided whether the province would remain on daylight time or standard time year-round.
“Our intention is to act properly and intelligently: we will therefore consult all the specialists to validate what appears to be a consensus that this practice is counterproductive, but also to ensure we properly prepare the ground and determine whether it would be preferable to opt for daylight saving time or standard time. These consultations will begin in the coming months, allowing us to hear from the experts in a brief parliamentary committee,” he said.
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Justice Minister Marie-Claude Sarrazin said the government wants to ensure any change is implemented smoothly.
“We wanted to announce our intentions at the start of the time change,” she said. “For the rest, we’ll prepare our work plans and we’ll consult with people so that things are done in an orderly way, including with our neighbours.”
The debate over ending seasonal time changes is not new in Quebec.
The previous Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) government held an online consultation in 2024 that found 91 per cent of approximately 214,000 respondents wanted to end the time change. Seventy-two per cent supported keeping daylight time year-round.
Then-justice minister Simon Jolin-Barrette later said the consultation had raised several issues, including the views of sleep experts and the importance of aligning with neighbouring jurisdictions. In 2025, he said further deliberation and consultation were necessary.
McGill University psychiatry professor Dr. Kai-Florian Storch said there are health benefits to eliminating the twice-yearly change.
He said permanent standard time, rather than daylight time, would make the most sense because it more closely aligns waking hours with sunrise, particularly during the winter.
“You don’t want to wake up too far away from sunrise,” Storch said. “You don’t want to wake up in the dark if possible. You want to wake up as close as possible to sunrise.”
An analysis published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal that examined multiple studies also concluded that health evidence favours permanent standard time over permanent daylight time, in part because it better aligns with the body’s rhythm.
Keeping daylight time year-round would provide later winter sunsets, but would also mean the sun rises an hour later during the shortest days of the year.
St-Pierre Plamondon’s minority government could find support from at least one opposition party if legislation is needed to make the change.
Conservative Leader Éric Duhaime said Wednesday he supports ending the seasonal time change but stressed that Quebec should co-ordinate with Ontario.
“I lived in the west when Saskatchewan decided to end the time change and the neighbouring provinces didn’t, and it caused all sorts of problems,” Duhaime said in Quebec City. “The economies of Quebec and Ontario are interconnected.”
Several Canadian jurisdictions have already moved away from seasonal clock changes. British Columbia, Alberta and Manitoba ended the practice this year and adopted daylight time year-round. The Northwest Territories also uses daylight time year-round.
Some regions of northwestern Ontario will maintain daylight time year-round to align with Manitoba.
Ontario passed legislation in 2020 that would make daylight time permanent, but it has not taken effect. The province has said co-ordination with neighbouring jurisdictions, including Quebec and New York, is essential.
Saskatchewan has not changed its clocks since 1966, while Yukon ended seasonal time changes in 2020.
–with files from The Canadian Press
