Time in British Columbia
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The Canadian province of British Columbia follows its own offset from Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), Pacific Time, which has been observed in most of the province since March 8, 2026.[4] Pacific Time is observed by subtracting seven hours from UTC (UTC−07:00) year-round. While geographically the province is in the Pacific Time Zone (UTC−08:00), it is effectively on Pacific daylight saving time year-round, as clocks are not returned to UTC−08:00 in November when most jurisdictions return to Pacific Standard Time.
In 2026, British Columbia adopted permanent time observation of UTC−07:00 following the switch to Pacific Daylight Time on March 8, thus no longer switching to Pacific Standard Time in November. This followed Yukon's abolition of daylight saving time in 2020, effectively aligning British Columbia's time with Yukon's. The government of British Columbia categorized the change as a move to a new time zone called Pacific Time, despite Yukon's previous adoption of the same time zone.[4][5][6]
The regions in British Columbia that observe Mountain Time remained unaffected by the 2026 change. Those areas that switch between Mountain Standard Time (UTC−07:00) and Mountain Daylight Time (UTC−06:00) continued to do so, including the Columbia-Shuswap Regional District east of the Selkirk Mountains, the Regional District of East Kootenay, the Regional District of Central Kootenay east of the Kootenay River and some parts east of Kootenay Lake that are south of and include Riondel. Other areas like Creston and Kootenay Bay continued to observe permanent Mountain Standard Time year-round and thus are also effectively in sync with the province's Pacific Time.[4]
History
In 2019, a public survey indicated 93% support for abolishing the time change and adopting UTC−07:00 year-round, and a 54% preference for doing so in alignment with neighbouring jurisdictions. Later that year, British Columbia enacted the Interpretation Amendment Act, which enabled the province's areas in the Pacific Time Zone to permanently switch to seven hours behind Coordinated Universal Time (UTC−07:00) pending an official announcement.[7] California voters passed Proposition 7 in 2018, authorizing the state to switch to a permanent time zone, pending the approval of the U.S. Congress. The Washington State Legislature passed a law in 2019 that would move the state to permanent daylight time, also subject to congressional approval. However, that approval under the Sunshine Protection Act had yet to be granted by 2026.[8] Yukon adopted year-round UTC−07:00 in 2020; British Columbia's Pacific Time is thus identical to Yukon Time.[9]
British Columbia premier David Eby decided to make the switch before the US due to poor relations between the two countries since the second Trump administration began, saying British Columbia should "stand on our own two feet as a province in relation to everything, including time zones".[8]