With Ontario to set the clocks back one hour to standard time on Nov. 1 \u2014 until next spring \u2014 some residents told Capital Current the constant switching is unnecessary.<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/CANTimeZoneMapOct2026.webp\")
Ontario is among the provinces and territories in Eastern Canada that have yet to adopt a permanent standard time (PST). [Image \u00a9 Theo Manto]<\/p>\n
Larry Orr, owner of The Log Farm, an Ottawa family-run \u201cagri-tourism\u201d operation for more than 10 years, says, \u201cFrom the perspective of us farmers, changing the clocks serves no purpose and hasn\u2019t for a long time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Marc Just, a farmer from Alexandria, Ont., says that he\u2019d \u201crather not see the time change.\u201d<\/p>\n
Just says that he, along with many other farmers work as long as there is light regardless of when that is.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen it\u2019s dark out I don\u2019t work and when it\u2019s light out I do.\u201d<\/p>\n
Eighty-four per cent of Ontario voters favour staying with one permanent time, standard or daylight saving time, according to an Angus Reid Institute survey<\/a> from March 2026.<\/p>\n The province has passed the Time Amendment Act<\/a> in November 2020, giving it the ability to move to permanent standard time. However, until Quebec and New York State make the switch, the Doug Ford government says Ontario will not move forward.<\/a><\/p>\n Then-Conservative MPP Jeremy Roberts, who sponsored the Act, said at the time<\/a> that acting independently from Quebec and American neighbours would cause more harm than good. He said the shared workforce across the Ottawa River, as well as \u201cmaintaining the commercial advantage\u201d of Ontario\u2019s trade networks with New York, were important.<\/p>\n More than 26 per cent of working Gatineau residents have jobs in Ontario, according to Statistics Canada<\/a>.<\/p>\n Jon Stewart, publisher of The Equity in Shawville, Que. says changing Ontario\u2019s time zone independently would be a problem for those who regularly cross the provincial border.<\/p>\n \u201cLiving in a border community means that there\u2019s a lot that ties us together, and having different time zones between the two provinces could mean everything from daycare headaches for people who have to readjust their schedule to businesses staying open later for an audience that\u2019s in a different time zone,\u201d Stewart told Capital Current. <\/p>\n The Professional Association of Foreign Service Officers agrees, saying in an email, \u201cour members who live and work in the Capital Region and commute across the Ottawa River may face logistical challenges.\u201d But PAFSO also noted that foreign service workers have the experience of working across multiple time zones.<\/p>\n Ottawans weigh in<\/p>\n Ottawa resident Norma Abourizk says she finds the twice-yearly time change \u201cunnecessary.\u201d<\/p>\n She said the darker evenings in the winter cause seasonal depression, leading to more time in the house rather than outside soaking up the sun.<\/p>\n \u201cIf it stays light longer [in the evening], then you spend more time outside,\u201d Abourizk said.<\/p>\n The first ever daylight saving took place in Thunder Bay, Ont. in 1908 in an effort to make the most out of sunlight, according to timeanddate.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n The first country to implement a nationwide legislation of daylight saving was Germany in 1916, with the decision seen as a way to preserve the fuel needed to power \u201cartificial lights\u201d during wartime.<\/p>\n![\"Marc](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/digjourn-timechange-marcjust.webp\")
The time changes \u201cthrow people out of whack\u201d twice a year and they\u2019re not needed, Ottawa-area farmer Marc Just says. [Photo \u00a9 Sara Gross]<\/p>\n