Year-round daylight saving becomes permanent

Summary#

Bill 98, the Sunshine Protection Act, 2019, would amend Ontario’s Time Act. The explanatory note says its goal is to make the time now called daylight saving time the standard time year-round.

  • Ontario would keep daylight-saving time throughout the year instead of switching seasonally, as described in the explanatory note.
  • The bill changes and repeals provisions of the Time Act; it does not create a new agency, benefit, tax, fee or fine.
  • If enacted, it would come into force on the later of November 1, 2020, and the day it receives Royal Assent.

What it means for you#

  • People in Ontario: Clocks would stay on the time currently called daylight saving time year-round. In winter, that means clock times would be one hour ahead of standard time.
  • Businesses and public services: Their local time would also stay on that schedule. The bill does not set out a separate process for changing clocks, schedules or computer systems.

Money#

No publicly available information on the bill’s cost.

  • The bill contains no spending provision, cost estimate, fee or fine.

What is unclear#

  • The supplied material does not include the Time Act. I cannot verify the exact current rules, geographic scope or exceptions, or how the amendments would work with the rest of that Act.
  • No publicly available information on whether the bill became law.
  • The bill does not explain how organizations or individuals would handle the transition.
  • The bill gives a proposed start date, but whether it took effect is not stated in the supplied material.

Case for#

  • The bill appears intended to end seasonal clock changes by keeping one time schedule all year.
  • A possible argument for this approach is that people and organizations would not need to switch clocks between standard time and daylight-saving time.
  • The proposed change is made by amending the existing Time Act, rather than creating a separate program.

Case against#

  • A possible trade-off is that, compared with standard time, winter sunrise and sunset would occur one hour later by the clock.
  • The bill does not explain how the change would affect different communities or how the transition would be handled.
  • Without the Time Act text, it is unclear whether the bill’s amendments would interact with other existing time rules or exceptions.