Canada time zone history

Canada has 20 zones of its own in the tz database, the third-highest count. Standard times run from UTC−7 (Cambridge Bay) to UTC−3:30 (St. John’s), a spread of 3 hours 30 minutes. Ten of the 20 zones still change clocks for summer time under the current rules; the other 10 do not. The Resolute zone has changed standard time most often since 1970: 4 times.

20 zones · 10 with seasonal clock changes under the rules in tzdata 2026f · Convert a time

The 20 zones of Canada since 1970

How to read this chart

Zones at a glance

Zone	Area covered	Standard time	Clock changes today	New standard times since 1970
St. John’s	Newfoundland and southeast Labrador	UTC−3:30	yes	0
Glace Bay	Cape Breton, Nova Scotia	UTC−4	yes	0
Goose Bay	Labrador (most areas)	UTC−4	yes	0
Halifax	Nova Scotia (most areas), Prince Edward Island	UTC−4	yes	0
Moncton	New Brunswick	UTC−4	yes	0
Iqaluit	Nunavut (most eastern areas)	UTC−5	yes	2
Toronto	Ontario and Quebec (most areas)	UTC−5	yes	0
Winnipeg	Manitoba and northwest Ontario	UTC−5	no, last in 2026	1
Edmonton	Alberta, east British Columbia, east Northwest Territories, west Saskatchewan	UTC−6	no, last in 2026	1
Inuvik	West Northwest Territories	UTC−6	no, last in 2026	2
Rankin Inlet	Central Nunavut	UTC−6	yes	2
Regina	Saskatchewan (most areas)	UTC−6	no	0
Resolute	Resolute, Nunavut	UTC−6	yes	4
Swift Current	Swift Current area, Saskatchewan	UTC−6	no	1
Cambridge Bay	West Nunavut	UTC−7	yes	4
Dawson	West Yukon	UTC−7	no, last in 2020	2
Dawson Creek	Dawson Creek and Fort St. John, British Columbia	UTC−7	no, last in 1972	1
Fort Nelson	Fort Nelson, British Columbia	UTC−7	no, last in 2014	1
Vancouver	British Columbia (most areas)	UTC−7	no, last in 2026	1
Whitehorse	East Yukon	UTC−7	no, last in 2020	1

What sets each zone apart

St. John’s: Its standard time, UTC−3:30, is one of only 14 offsets among the 312 zones that are not a whole number of hours from UTC. Its seasonal clock changes since 1970 include moves of 2 hours, not the usual hour.
Goose Bay: The record holds 8 different UTC offsets, tied for the most among all 312 zones. Its seasonal clock changes since 1970 include moves of 2 hours, not the usual hour.
Halifax: Clocks have been changed 114 times since 1970, tied for the most among the 19 zones on UTC−4 standard time. Clocks were first moved for daylight saving in 1916, tied for the earliest start among the 20 zones in Canada.
Moncton: Moncton left local mean time (UTC−4:19:08) in 1883, the earliest switch of the 15 zones in Canada with local mean time in the record.
Iqaluit: On standard time, clocks at Iqaluit run 26 minutes behind local mean solar time, tied eighth-largest gap among the 79 zones whose clocks run behind the sun.
Toronto: Standard time has stayed at UTC−5 since 1895, the second-longest run of the 12 zones on UTC−5 standard time with no change of standard time since 1970.
Winnipeg: Daylight saving time was used in 57 years since 1970, last in 2026; under the current rules the clocks no longer change. On November 1, 2026 the summer offset, UTC−5, became permanent standard time; the clocks did not move that day.
Edmonton: Daylight saving time was used in 55 years since 1970, last in 2026; under the current rules the clocks no longer change. On November 1, 2026 the summer offset, UTC−6, became permanent standard time; the clocks did not move that day.
Inuvik: On standard time, clocks at Inuvik run 2 hours 55 minutes ahead of local mean solar time, the largest gap of the 233 zones whose clocks run ahead of the sun. Daylight saving time was used in 55 years since 1970, last in 2026; under the current rules the clocks no longer change.
Regina: Regina kept local mean time (UTC−6:58:36) until 1905, tied second-latest switch among the 15 zones in Canada with local mean time in the record.
Resolute: The Resolute zone has changed its standard time 4 times since 1970, tied for the most among the 20 zones in Canada.
Swift Current: Swift Current kept local mean time (UTC−7:11:20) until 1905, tied second-latest switch among the 15 zones in Canada with local mean time in the record.
Cambridge Bay: The Cambridge Bay zone has changed its standard time 4 times since 1970, tied for the most among the 20 zones in Canada.
Dawson: On standard time, clocks at Dawson run 2 hours 18 minutes ahead of local mean solar time, the second-largest gap of the 233 zones whose clocks run ahead of the sun. Daylight saving time was used in 41 years since 1970, last in 2020; under the current rules the clocks no longer change.
Dawson Creek: Daylight saving time was used in 3 years since 1970, last in 1972; under the current rules the clocks no longer change.
Fort Nelson: The latest change of standard time came on March 8, 2015, from UTC−8 to UTC−7. Daylight saving time was used in 45 years since 1970, last in 2014; under the current rules the clocks no longer change.
Vancouver: On November 1, 2026 the summer offset, UTC−7, became permanent standard time; the clocks did not move that day. Daylight saving time was used in 57 years since 1970, last in 2026; under the current rules the clocks no longer change.
Whitehorse: On standard time, clocks at Whitehorse run 2 hours ahead of local mean solar time, the fourth-largest gap of the 233 zones whose clocks run ahead of the sun. Daylight saving time was used in 41 years since 1970, last in 2020; under the current rules the clocks no longer change.

How the zones compare with St. John’s since 1970

Halifax: usually 30 minutes behind St. John’s; different on 216 days in 1970–2026.
Glace Bay: usually 30 minutes behind St. John’s; different on 587 days in 1970–2026.
Moncton: usually 30 minutes behind St. John’s; different on 396 days in 1970–2026.
Goose Bay: usually 30 minutes behind St. John’s; different on 2 days in 1970–2026.
Toronto: usually 1 hour 30 minutes behind St. John’s; different on 221 days in 1970–2026.
Iqaluit: usually 1 hour 30 minutes behind St. John’s; different on 955 days in 1970–2026.
Winnipeg: usually 2 hours 30 minutes behind St. John’s; different on 288 days in 1970–2026; 1 hour 30 minutes behind today.
Resolute: usually 2 hours 30 minutes behind St. John’s; different on 883 days in 1970–2026.
Rankin Inlet: usually 2 hours 30 minutes behind St. John’s; different on 750 days in 1970–2026.
Regina: usually 3 hours 30 minutes behind St. John’s; different on 8,998 days in 1970–2026; 2 hours 30 minutes behind today.
Swift Current: usually 3 hours 30 minutes behind St. John’s; different on 8,890 days in 1970–2026; 2 hours 30 minutes behind today.
Edmonton: usually 3 hours 30 minutes behind St. John’s; different on 661 days in 1970–2026; 2 hours 30 minutes behind today.
Cambridge Bay: usually 3 hours 30 minutes behind St. John’s; different on 1,118 days in 1970–2026.
Inuvik: usually 3 hours 30 minutes behind St. John’s; different on 3,692 days in 1970–2026; 2 hours 30 minutes behind today.
Vancouver: usually 4 hours 30 minutes behind St. John’s; different on 296 days in 1970–2026; 3 hours 30 minutes behind today.
Dawson Creek: usually 4 hours 30 minutes behind St. John’s; different on 8,520 days in 1970–2026; 3 hours 30 minutes behind today.
Fort Nelson: usually 4 hours 30 minutes behind St. John’s; different on 1,692 days in 1970–2026; 3 hours 30 minutes behind today.
Whitehorse: usually 4 hours 30 minutes behind St. John’s; different on 2,894 days in 1970–2026; 3 hours 30 minutes behind today.
Dawson: usually 4 hours 30 minutes behind St. John’s; different on 3,555 days in 1970–2026; 3 hours 30 minutes behind today.

Every change of standard time since 1970

23 changes across the 20 zones, oldest first.

April 30, 1972 Swift Current: UTC−7 to UTC−6
August 30, 1972 Dawson Creek: summer offset kept as standard time
October 28, 1973 Dawson: UTC−9 to UTC−8
April 29, 1979 Inuvik: UTC−8 to UTC−7
October 31, 1999 Cambridge Bay: summer offset kept as standard time
October 31, 1999 Iqaluit: UTC−5 to UTC−6
October 29, 2000 Cambridge Bay: summer offset kept as standard time
October 29, 2000 Iqaluit: summer offset kept as standard time
October 29, 2000 Rankin Inlet: summer offset kept as standard time
October 29, 2000 Resolute: summer offset kept as standard time
November 5, 2000 Cambridge Bay: UTC−5 to UTC−6
April 1, 2001 Cambridge Bay: summer offset kept as standard time
April 1, 2001 Rankin Inlet: summer offset kept as standard time
April 1, 2001 Resolute: summer offset kept as standard time
October 29, 2006 Resolute: summer offset kept as standard time
March 11, 2007 Resolute: summer offset kept as standard time
March 8, 2015 Fort Nelson: UTC−8 to UTC−7
November 1, 2020 Dawson: summer offset kept as standard time
November 1, 2020 Whitehorse: summer offset kept as standard time
November 1, 2026 Edmonton: summer offset kept as standard time
November 1, 2026 Inuvik: summer offset kept as standard time
November 1, 2026 Vancouver: summer offset kept as standard time
November 1, 2026 Winnipeg: summer offset kept as standard time

Clock changes in 2026, 2027 and 2028

Cambridge Bay, Glace Bay, Goose Bay, Halifax, Iqaluit, Moncton, Rankin Inlet, Resolute, St. John’s, Toronto
March 8, 2026 (forward 1 hour); November 1, 2026 (back 1 hour); March 14, 2027 (forward 1 hour); November 7, 2027 (back 1 hour); March 12, 2028 (forward 1 hour); November 5, 2028 (back 1 hour)
Edmonton, Inuvik, Vancouver, Winnipeg
March 8, 2026 (forward 1 hour); November 1, 2026 (no move)

Places that follow another country’s record

America/Blanc-Sablon (AST - QC (Lower North Shore)) follows Puerto Rico
America/Atikokan (EST - ON (Atikokan), NU (Coral H)) follows Panama
America/Creston (MST - BC (Creston)) follows Phoenix