Alberta clocks won't change Nov. 1 as experts warn permanent daylight time risks health
A new analysis published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal says darker winter mornings under permanent daylight saving time could affect sleep, student performance and public health across Western Canada.
Why it matters
Albertans will not be setting clocks back this fall, and researchers say the resulting darker mornings could carry health and academic consequences through the winter.
Alberta is among four jurisdictions — along with British Columbia, Manitoba and the Northwest Territories — that will not turn clocks back on Nov. 1 as usual, instead staying on permanent daylight time. But a new analysis by economic, mental health and sleep researchers, published Monday in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, argues the science favours permanent standard time instead.
Simon Fraser University psychology professor Ralph Mistlberger, who has studied circadian rhythms for more than 40 years, said starting winter days in the dark can leave people's internal clocks out of sync with their schedules, a mismatch sometimes called 'social jet lag.' He said chronic sleep disruption has been linked in epidemiological studies to higher rates of obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer and mood disorders.
Co-author Patrick Baylis, an economist at the University of British Columbia, pointed to research from Florida showing students who got an extra hour of morning sunlight before school scored higher on math and reading tests, with the largest effects around puberty. He said the effect size was comparable to meaningful class-size reductions and warned that schooling outcomes for adolescents should be monitored under the new time policy.
B.C.'s government had cited a 2019 survey of more than 223,000 people, 93 per cent of whom preferred ending the twice-yearly clock change, as support for its move to permanent daylight time. But Mistlberger and Baylis said that survey only offered a choice between the current switching system and permanent daylight time, without including permanent standard time as an option.
Compiled by the Alberta Daily Desk — an AI-written summary of reporting from the credited sources below, produced and reviewed under our editorial policy.