Quebec’s PQ government plans to end the time change

Premier Paul St-Pierre Plamondon said Wednesday his Parti Québécois government intends to abolish the twice-yearly time change in Quebec, with experts to be heard on whether summer or winter time should become permanent.

St-Pierre Plamondon wrote on social media that Quebecers will “very probably” turn their clocks back one hour for the “last time” overnight Saturday into Sunday, according to La Presse (translated from French). The clocks go back on Nov. 1, as we explained in our guide to the time change.

“To all the parents who will be dealing with their children’s reactions to this time change in the coming weeks: this is probably the last year we will be imposing such unnecessary constraints on ourselves,” the premier wrote, as quoted by CBC News.

He said the practice is counterproductive for health, according to several studies, and creates adjustment difficulties for children, La Presse reported. His government plans consultations that will start “in the coming months” and a short parliamentary committee to hear specialists before choosing between daylight time and standard time, the newspaper said.

A PQ spokesperson told CBC the party hopes to table a bill in the coming months to abolish the time change.

The previous Coalition Avenir Québec government held an online consultation in late 2024 in which 91 per cent of about 214,000 respondents said they wanted to end the time change, La Presse reported. Of those, 72 per cent wanted summer time all year. Then justice minister Simon Jolin-Barrette concluded in the spring of 2025 that more consultation was needed, citing expert opinion and alignment with neighbouring jurisdictions, and no decision was made before the CAQ left office.

The choice matters. Keeping summer time year-round would bring later winter sunsets but also sunrises an hour later, which several experts say could have negative effects, La Presse reported. It also noted that four British Columbia researchers published an analysis in the Canadian Medical Association Journal weeks ago concluding that standard time all year would be preferable.

British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba and the Northwest Territories have all stopped changing their clocks in the past year or so, and all chose to stay on summer time, according to La Presse and CBC. Yukon dropped the practice in 2020, and Saskatchewan has not changed clocks since 1966.

Ontario passed a law in 2020 to adopt permanent daylight time, but it applies only if Quebec and New York follow, CBC reported. Quebec’s decision could therefore influence its largest neighbour. The new government has also been busy elsewhere: this week St-Pierre Plamondon was in a public dispute with Prime Minister Mark Carney over the Canada-EU summit dinner.

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