It has been less than two weeks since B.C. entered uncharted territory, not falling back by one hour on Nov. 1, as the province had done for decades.
Now, the Angus Reid Institute has taken a bit of a pulse check on the sentiments of B.C. residents about the change in how we deal with daylight saving, along with the new time zone abbreviation, Pacific Time (PCT)
While most B.C. residents believe that it was a good decision to stop the semi-annual clock changes, it isn’t a huge majority.
In response to an Angus Reid survey, since the shift, 55 per cent of respondents think it was the right move. An additional 32 per cent of respondents would have preferred always being on standard time. 18 per cent prefer switching back and forth.
Angus Reid also asked residents in Manitoba and Alberta, and a majority of residents from all three provinces said they’ve run into challenges since the changes came into effect.
The biggest annoyances in B.C. have to do with technology, particularly devices not adjusting correctly.
If you’ve ridden the SkyTrain after Nov. 1 in Vancouver, you might’ve noticed the wrong time on some trains, with train clocks having automatically rolled back one hour. Other people have reported devices like laptops and video game consoles rolling back an hour as well.
According to the survey, 59 per cent of B.C. residents have faced challenges or annoyances. Among those, 18 per cent feel out of sync with other provinces and the States.
Only 14 per cent of Canadians surveyed said they prefer switching back and forth between daylight saving time and standard time.
On social media, there have also been some discussions and debate about daylight, with some not being fans of having less light in the morning. There has also been debate about which option is better for health.
How B.C. got here
BCGov/Flickr
B.C.’s move to stop switching the clocks dates back over seven years, when a survey was issued which showed strong support among a majority of B.C. residents to stop the changes. That survey was issued when the late former B.C. premier John Horgan was in power.
A record-breaking 223,000 people responded to the survey, with 93 per cent voting in favour of year-round daylight saving time.
For years following that revelation, there was a lot of back and forth on when residents would actually see the changes come to fruition. The primary reason there was a holdup was that the Province wanted to wait until the US states of Washington, Oregon, and California would also move legislation so that both regions could be aligned.
However, former B.C. premier David Eby made it official earlier this year. The need to align with the States wasn’t as pressing, considering the complicated relationship we’ve had with U.S. President Donald Trump’s America over the past couple of years. According to reports from U.S. media, Washington State has expressed a desire to switch to permanent DST, but it needs to wait for federal changes first.
That has led to additional challenges, according to a story we did on how some Bellingham residents feel about the permanent B.C. daylight saving time change.
Are you one of the residents who has had tech issues since Nov. 1? Let us know in the comments.