Alberta Isn’t Falling Back: What the End of the Time Change Means for You

For more than 50 years, Albertans set their clocks back an hour every fall. Not this year. In 2026 the province passed Bill 31, which ends the twice-a-year switch. As of November 1 we stay on what used to be called Mountain Daylight Time, now renamed Alberta Time: six hours behind UTC, all year.

A lot of places around us are still changing this weekend, though, and that is where the confusion will come from. Here’s who is changing, who isn’t, and what it really means for an ordinary day in Lethbridge.

Who changes on Sunday, November 1, and who doesn’t

Not changing (clocks stay where they are)

• Alberta: permanent Alberta Time
• British Columbia (most of it): permanent Pacific daylight time, still one hour behind us
• Saskatchewan: never changed, and now on the same time as Alberta all year round, including Lloydminster
• Manitoba: permanent daylight time, one hour ahead of us
• Northwest Territories: now matches Alberta all year
• Yukon: stopped changing back in 2020

Changing (clocks go back one hour)

• Most of Ontario (Toronto, Ottawa), Quebec, the Atlantic provinces, Newfoundland and Nunavut
• The United States, including Montana, except Hawaii and most of Arizona, which never change. Congress has talked about ending the switch, but it hasn’t become law, so the U.S. falls back on Sunday as usual.
• Parts of B.C. next door: the East Kootenay (Fernie, Cranbrook) is moving to Pacific time with the rest of B.C., and Golden and Field are keeping Mountain time with clock changes. Either way, they’ll be an hour behind Alberta this winter, when they used to match us. Double-check times before a ski day or appointment over the Crowsnest Pass.

Europe already changed on October 25.

What it does to our winter mornings and evenings

This is the part everyone will notice. Keeping summer time in winter shifts daylight an hour later. Mornings stay dark longer, and evenings stay light longer. Here’s Lethbridge, in Alberta Time:

Under the old system, the shortest day would have had sunrise around 8:25 am and sunset around 4:35 pm. Now it’s an hour later at both ends. Times are approximate, for central Lethbridge. Our daylight tool shows any date.

What that means for an average day

Mornings

• Kids going to school in the dark. Reflective strips on backpacks and jackets, a small light, and a talk about crossing streets. Drivers, slow down near schools and bus stops, especially in December and January.
• The morning commute is darker, and colder. The coldest part of the day is around sunrise, so the slickest roads and the worst frost on the windshield now line up with when most people drive to work. Give yourself an extra few minutes to scrape and warm up.
• Wildlife on the roads. Deer are most active around dawn. With dawn now in the middle of rush hour, watch the ditches on the edge of the city and on highways.
• Waking up is harder for some people when it’s dark outside. A bright light first thing, or a sunrise-style alarm clock, can help.
• Morning glare moves later too: eastbound drivers will have the low sun in their eyes between about 9 and 10:30 am on winter mornings.

Afternoons and evenings

• More light after work and school. Even on the shortest day, it’s light until about 5:30. That’s an extra hour for a walk, outdoor chores, kids playing outside, or getting home before dark.
• The evening commute is lighter, but westbound drivers will have the setting sun in their eyes around 4:30 to 5:30 pm in December.
• Christmas lights won’t really show until after 5:30 or 6 pm.

Sleep and health

• The good news: no more changing clocks, so no week of jet lag every spring and fall. Studies have linked the spring “lose an hour” weekend with more accidents and lost sleep.
• The trade-off: dark mornings for longer. If you find winter hard, morning light matters. Get outside or near a bright window in the late morning when you can.

Staying in touch, travel and TV

• Family and business in Ontario or Quebec: they’re now one hour ahead of us this winter, not two. A 9 am call in Toronto is 8 am here.
• Montana and the U.S. Mountain zone: they’ll be one hour behind us all winter, and the same as us in summer. If you’re crossing at Coutts, Carway or Del Bonita, or meeting someone in Great Falls or Shelby, check whose time the appointment or posted hours use.
• Snowbirds: Arizona is now one hour behind Alberta all year (it used to match us in winter). Hawaii is four hours behind.
• Saskatchewan is now the same as us all year. No more “is Swift Current an hour ahead?” in winter.
• B.C.: Vancouver is still one hour behind. Fernie and Cranbrook are now one hour behind too.
• Flights: airline times are always local. Booked a flight months ago? It should be fine, but double-check any connection times through the U.S. or Eastern Canada.
• TV and sports: games from the East start an hour later for us in winter than they used to. A 7 pm Toronto puck drop is 6 pm here, not 5 pm.

Your phone, computer and clocks

Most phones, computers and connected devices that are set to update the time automatically should simply not change on Sunday. But some older gadgets still have the old rules built in and may jump back an hour on their own.

• Sunday morning, check your phone, computer and smartwatch. If one shows an hour earlier than it should, install the latest updates and make sure automatic date, time and time zone are turned on. Your phone should still be set to the “Edmonton” zone. If you have to pick a zone by hand, choose Edmonton, not Denver (Denver will now be an hour off all winter).
• Things you set by hand (oven, microwave, many car dashboards, wall clocks): leave them alone. They’re already right.
• Things that set themselves: some older car clocks, smart TVs, thermostats, alarm clocks, security cameras, doorbells and timers (block heater timers, sprinkler and light timers) may change by themselves. Check them on Sunday and Monday.
• Calendars and meeting invites with people outside Alberta: a meeting booked months ago for “9 am Mountain” could show at the wrong hour. Check this week’s calendar against the invite.
• Medication schedules and shift work: nothing changes in Alberta, so keep the same times. Overnight shifts no longer get a 9- or 11-hour night.

The province says it can’t provide tech support for personal devices. Your phone or internet provider, the device maker, or a local computer shop can help if something won’t sort itself out.

Old habits worth keeping

A lot of us used the time change as a reminder for twice-a-year chores. The clocks won’t remind you anymore, so put these in your calendar for the first weekend of November and March:

• Test smoke and carbon monoxide alarms, and change batteries
• Change the furnace filter
• Check the vehicle winter kit (or swap it for the summer one)
• Swap tires

And the weather station?

West Lethbridge Weather and this site show times in Alberta Time. Weather networks and pilots use UTC (universal time), which doesn’t change. If any times on the station pages look an hour out on Sunday, we’ll fix it. Let us know if you spot one. Watch the live conditions at westlethbridgeweather.com.

See also: Planning around the weather · Preparedness