Yukon Government to stay on Daylight Saving Time as territory stops seasonal time changes

Thursday, 5 March 2020 08:12

After March 8 time change, Yukoner's won't turn clocks back again, says government!

The government of Yukon is cancelling seasonal time changes.

Wednesday evening YTG (Yukon Territorial Government) announced that they are putting an end to the twice annual seasonal time changes originally meant to align daytime schedules with available sunlight in the future.

The Yukon is making the change after a majority of Yukoner's who responded to a survey said they were in favour of keeping the same time year-round.

This Sunday, March 8th Canadians across the country will turn their clocks forward for daylight time. After that, the territory will remain on Pacific Daylight Time, the Yukon Government said in a press release.

Based on a motion of Paolo Gallina, MLA for Porter Creek Centre in May 2017 to end the practice of changing the time by an hour each spring and fall and a public input between Jan. 6 and Feb. 16, the news release said this week.

According to the territorial government, 4,800 responses from Yukon residents. were in favour stop springing forward and falling back in the fall.

The government said it found 93 per cent of respondents wanted to end seasonal time changes and, of that group, 70 per cent wanted "permanent Pacific Daylight Saving Time."

"Yukoner's clearly want to see an end to seasonal time change and we are listening. The response to this engagement speaks to the importance of this issue for people. Thank you to everyone who took the time to voice an opinion. This helped our government make an informed decision for Yukon." said Premier Sandy Silver in a statement.

Quick facts

The spring 2020 seasonal time change will go ahead as planned this Sunday, March 8. After that, Yukon will remain on Pacific Daylight Saving Time.
The engagement ran from January 6 to February 16 of this year. Among other things, Yukoner's were asked whether they want to keep the twice-annual time change or permanently adopt a single time.
More than 4,800 organizations and individuals responded to the online survey. That’s 1,500 more than 2017’s engagement on cannabis, which was previously the highest. The government also received over 35 written and emailed submissions from a broad group of organizations and individuals from across the territory.
Many jurisdictions in western North America are reviewing how they set and observe time for a number of reasons, including public health, energy and the economy.