Quebec moves toward ending clock changes, with consultations to come before any date is set

Quebec Premier Paul St-Pierre Plamondon said Monday that Saturday will very likely be the last time clocks are turned back in the province. He made the statement on X, hours before clocks in most of Quebec fall back one hour at 2 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 1.

He cited studies showing that time changes are bad for health and that children find them hard to adjust to. "Dear parents who have several weeks ahead of them managing their children's reaction to this time change, this is probably the last year that we'll be imposing such pointless constraints on ourselves," he wrote.

The government plans to hear from experts first, to confirm what it describes as an apparent consensus that the practice does more harm than good. Consultations on whether Quebec should stay on daylight time or standard time year-round are expected to begin in the coming months as part of a short parliamentary commission. No date has been given for when a change would take effect.

A public consultation held in fall 2024 by the previous CAQ government found that about 91 per cent of roughly 214,000 respondents wanted to stop changing clocks, and nearly three-quarters of them preferred to stay on daylight time all year. That government never followed through, citing the need to stay in sync with Ontario and New York.

Saskatchewan has skipped the switch for decades. Ontario passed legislation in 2020 to remain on daylight time permanently, but only if Quebec and New York also do.