Ontario to move northwest regions to permanent daylight time

TORONTO – Ontario is set to move parts of the province’s northwest region to permanent daylight time in order to align with Manitoba, Indigenous Affairs Minister Greg Rickford told The Canadian Press.

Rickford said there is overwhelming consensus among municipalities, First Nations and businesses to make the time change permanent.

The province intends to make a regulatory change in the Time Act on Nov. 1 to allow regions west of the 90th meridian to align with Manitoba, he said.

Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew announced last month the province would stop twice-annual clock changes and stay on daylight time year-round in the central time zone, leaving it one hour ahead of the other Prairie provinces rather than aligned with them.

“That put northwestern Ontario, who sits in the central standard time zone, in a bit of a spot, to say the least,” Rickford said.

The province had three options, he said.

One, the northwestern region could shift to eastern time to align with the rest of the province. Two, they could continue on with time changes, but then they’d be out of step with the rest of Ontario and Manitoba.

“The other option … we took by unanimous consensus, was to not change our clocks and go to what I’m calling Wab Kinew time,” Rickford said.

Much of the province’s northwest jumped into action after Kinew’s announcement to figure out a way forward. Rickford said the province reached out to municipalities, businesses and First Nations to get their thoughts.

“What ended up coming back was overwhelmingly unanimous, 90 to 94 per cent from every survey,” he said.

New Democrat Sol Mamakwa, who represents the riding of Kiiwetinoong that is home to the majority of Ontario’s remote, fly-in First Nations, also helped figure out a way forward.

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“After having brought the voices of our communities across the northwest to the table, we are happy the advocacy to observe daylight savings will be implemented permanently,” Mamakwa said in a statement.

“We are proud of our collaborative efforts to deliver what works for the North. We thank everyone who reached out and shared their thoughts on this important decision.”

British Columbia said in March that it was moving to permanent Pacific daylight time.

Alberta also switched to permanent daylight time this year in what it calls Alberta time, which means it now has the same time as Saskatchewan year round.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 13, 2026.