Time zones in Canada are getting complicated. These maps lay them out

Time zones in Canada are getting complicated. These maps lay them out

Manitoba is the latest province to ditch semi-annual time changes

The times, they aren't a-changing — at least not for Western Canada.

Manitoba is the latest province to stop switching between daylight and standard time, following the same decision made by B.C., Alberta, and the Northwest Territories over the last year or so. Yukon made the change in 2020 and Saskatchewan did away with the practice decades ago.

With all these changes, this is what Canada's time zones look like:

Manitoba's decision to stick to daylight time will make life simpler for residents of that province, but it will cause an odd quirk in a small portion of Ontario.

A part of northwestern Ontario, including Kenora, Ont., shares a time zone with Manitoba rather than the rest of Ontario. But the upcoming change means that small slice of Ontario will be alone in its own time zone during the winter: one hour behind Thunder Bay to the east but also one behind Winnipeg to the west.

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It's not like Ontario is the only province with difference time zones, however. The Kootenay region in the southeast of B.C. will keep time in line with Alberta, as it had previously. And unlike Newfoundland, Labrador observes Atlantic time. Nunavut spans three time zones.

Back in 2020, Ontario passed a law saying it would also end the practice of changing times twice per year, but only if Quebec and New York did the same.

Quebec as a whole hasn’t made any changes, but the northern region of Nunavik has moved to permanent daylight time.

In the U.S., the House of Representatives passed legislation that would make daylight time permanent accross the country. That piece of legislation now heads to the Senate. Meanwhile, the New York state Senate is also currently mulling such a change.

Producer, data visualizations and graphics

Graeme Bruce is a producer for CBC News, based in Ottawa. Previously, he was a digital editor at the Winnipeg Free Press. Find him on Twitter @graemebruce_ and reach him by email at graeme.bruce@cbc.ca.

With files from The Canadian Press