This morning, a lot of sleep-deprived Canadians got an extra hour in bed, as Canadians in provinces that use daylight saving time (DST) turned their clocks back by an hour as the time were adjusted at 2 this morning. In other words, when the clock stroked at 2 a.m. the clock officially rolled back to 1 a.m., reason why people got an extra hour of sleep.
If you are like my Dad who lives in the Philippines that do not observe DST, you won’t easily understand what I am saying (we had to explain to him this morning why the time difference in the Philippines and in Canada changed today). Let me share with you a few things that I learned about DST when I moved to Canada.
As explained by Mr. Wikipedia, daylight saving time (DST) is the practice of advancing clocks during summer months by one hour so that in the evening daylight is experienced an hour longer. You typically change your clock an hour ahead in the spring, that’s why you “spring forward” and turn the clock back by an hour in the fall, so you “fall backward.”
DST is observed in Canadian provinces with the exception of most of Saskatchewan, which is on Central Standard Time year-round. In provinces where DST is used, it commences on the second Sunday of March at 2 a.m. local time, and standard time restarts on the first Sunday in November at 2 a.m. local time. That’s why our clocks here in Manitoba and the rest of Canada that used DST rolled back an hour today and we’ll return to DST in March 13, 2016.
The time changes are scheduled at 2 a.m. of Sundays so that it will have a minimal amount of disruption to daily life. Of course, we did not literally wake up at 2 this morning to change our time, every year my husband and I will normally change our time (in both spring or fall) before we head to bed Saturday night. The smart phones and tablets that we use will change its time automatically, so when you wake up you will see the time change. For those who are not into techy gadgets, they can always check and confirm the time by turning on their radio or TV. On the other hand we should not forget to adjust the time of other gadgets that you use everyday such as your wall clocks, wristwatches, microwaves or ovens, alarm clocks and car clocks.
Here’s an overview of DST schedule for the next five years, so you won’t get caught off-guard by the next time change –
2015 – DST ends at 2 a.m. of November 1
2016 – DST begins at 2 a.m. of March 13 & ends at 2 a.m. of November 6
2017 – DST begins at 2 a.m. of March 12 & ends at 2 a.m. of November 5
2018 – DST begins at 2 a.m. of March 11 & ends at 2 a.m. of November 4
2019 – DST begins at 2 a.m. of March 10 & ends at 2 a.m. of November 3
Trivia
It was the scientist, George Hudson of New Zealand who proposed the modern idea of daylight saving in 1895. Germany and Austria-Hungary were the first ones to use it during the First World War (1916) with the goal of saving energy. Since then other countries started using DST, particularly during the energy crisis in the 1970s. Apparently, the idea of using DST is to take advantage of the daylight hours in the spring so that people don’t sleep through the first few hours of sunshine. Canada used to observe DST in the first Sunday in April until the last Sunday in October. However, through legislation passed in 2006, the start of DST was moved to the second Sunday in March and ends on the first Sunday in November, which kept Canada’s DST pattern consistent with the United States.
Resources:
Daylight saving time, Wikipedia, Retrieved November 1, 2015
Daylight saving time in Canada, Wikipedia, Retrieved November 1, 2015
Daylight Saving Time in Canada, Retrieved November 1, 2015
