Alberta to follow British Columbia?
I just ran into this: https://calgaryherald.com/opinion/columnists/bell-alberta-daylight-time-year...
Yes; it seems like Alberta will likely adopt year-round UTC-06. If it happens, the entire province would be on permanent Central Standard Time (same as Saskatchewan). This has not been legislated yet, so it is too early to make any database changes. If you have been following my postings to this mailing list, you will already know that the board members of RDEK (Regional District of East Kootenay), which is located near the Alberta border in the south-east corner of British Columbia, voted in March to adopt year-round UTC-07. That would have put RDEK in sync with Vancouver; but, as I already reported here, they rescinded the vote a few weeks later which keeps RDEK in sync with Alberta for the time being. The board promised to conduct a survey before making any more changes. I don't know what sort of survey questions they are asking, but the entire situation changes if their neighbor (Alberta) switches to year-round UTC-06. All of this is just to say that we may have to revisit the proposed America/Cranbrook zone in the near future. -chris On Mon, Apr 20, 2026 at 3:59 PM Roozbeh Pournader via tz <tz@iana.org> wrote:
I just ran into this:
https://calgaryherald.com/opinion/columnists/bell-alberta-daylight-time-year...
On Mon, 20 Apr 2026 at 16:03, Chris Walton via tz <tz@iana.org> wrote:
Yes; it seems like Alberta will likely adopt year-round UTC-06. If it happens, the entire province would be on permanent Central Standard Time (same as Saskatchewan). This has not been legislated yet, so it is too early to make any database changes.
Bill 31, the *Red Tape Reduction Statutes Amendment Act, 2026*, was introduced in Alberta's Legislative Assembly today (Thursday 23 April) for First Reading. https://www.assembly.ab.ca/assembly-business/bills/bill?billinfoid=12128&fro... As an omnibus bill, the text covers many topics, but the portion pertaining to timekeeping begins on printed page 15 (PDF page 17): https://docs.assembly.ab.ca/LADDAR_files/docs/bills/bill/legislature_31/sess... It would repeal the *Daylight Saving Time Act* in the Revised Statues of Alberta 2000 Chapter D-5: https://kings-printer.alberta.ca/documents/Acts/D05.pdf …and substitutes a new chapter with language that closely parallels the original. The new title is the *Official Time Act* and would be numbered Chapter O-5.7. As expected, the bill would establish a standard time of UTC−6 without replacing the language previously used to effectuate DST. Although the *Calgary Herald* article reported that Premier Danielle Smith had expressed preference for the name "Alberta Time", the bill uses the term "official time", while allowing the Lieutenant Governor in Council to make regulations "prescribing a term other than 'official time' by which official time may be known". Similarly to the 2019 legislation in British Columbia which was effectuated by an Order in Council in March 2026, the bill does not specify a transition time itself, but rather delegates regulatory authority to the Lieutenant Governor in Council to "provid[e] for any transitional matters arising under this Act" and amend other regulations to conform. The relevant section "comes into force on Proclamation", so we would expect an Order in Council to bring about those implementation details sometime after Royal Assent. -- Tim Parenti
Bill 31 passed Second Reading yesterday, Tuesday 5 May 2026. https://www.assembly.ab.ca/assembly-business/bills/bill?billinfoid=12128&fro... During debate, NDP MLA Marlin Schmidt joked about bringing forward an amendment to "make sure that Calgary is three hours behind Edmonton so that if I leave my house in Edmonton at 3 o’clock in the afternoon, I arrive in Calgary at 3 o’clock in the afternoon and I haven’t wasted any time driving to Calgary, which I normally would do if I were driving to Calgary," before "urg[ing] the government to consider adopting a time zone that reflects Alberta’s unique culture. We don’t want to be on B.C. time. We don’t want to be on Saskatchewan time. Perhaps we should split the difference and maybe be on Saskatchewan plus a half hour." (*sic*; folks here would probably refer to the resulting UTC−6:30 as "Saskatchewan minus a half hour") Debate is recorded in the *Alberta Hansard*, 31st Legislature Second Session, pages 1711–16 (5 May 2026, PDF pages 23–28): https://docs.assembly.ab.ca/LADDAR_files/docs/hansards/han/legislature_31/se... Order papers indicate that the bill is expected to move into the Committee of the Whole as soon as tomorrow (Thursday) for further review and proposal of any amendments. CBC reports that, facing criticism that the bill ignores a narrowly-defeated 2021 referendum on the matter, "the government decided not to put it to a vote again, largely because it felt its hands were tied" between British Columbia's recent change and Saskatchewan's long-standing practice. Although Alberta has several other referendum questions scheduled for a vote on 19 October 2026, this would not leave much time before the fall clock change. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has said "if she's wrong" about Albertans preferring later sunrises and sunsets, "it's possible the government could put the decision to a vote in 2027." https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/alberta-daylight-time-change-daniell... -- Tim Parenti On Thu, 23 Apr 2026 at 17:10, Tim Parenti <tim@timtimeonline.com> wrote:
On Mon, 20 Apr 2026 at 16:03, Chris Walton via tz <tz@iana.org> wrote:
Yes; it seems like Alberta will likely adopt year-round UTC-06. If it happens, the entire province would be on permanent Central Standard Time (same as Saskatchewan). This has not been legislated yet, so it is too early to make any database changes.
Bill 31, the *Red Tape Reduction Statutes Amendment Act, 2026*, was introduced in Alberta's Legislative Assembly today (Thursday 23 April) for First Reading.
https://www.assembly.ab.ca/assembly-business/bills/bill?billinfoid=12128&fro...
As an omnibus bill, the text covers many topics, but the portion pertaining to timekeeping begins on printed page 15 (PDF page 17):
https://docs.assembly.ab.ca/LADDAR_files/docs/bills/bill/legislature_31/sess...
It would repeal the *Daylight Saving Time Act* in the Revised Statues of Alberta 2000 Chapter D-5: https://kings-printer.alberta.ca/documents/Acts/D05.pdf …and substitutes a new chapter with language that closely parallels the original. The new title is the *Official Time Act* and would be numbered Chapter O-5.7.
As expected, the bill would establish a standard time of UTC−6 without replacing the language previously used to effectuate DST. Although the *Calgary Herald* article reported that Premier Danielle Smith had expressed preference for the name "Alberta Time", the bill uses the term "official time", while allowing the Lieutenant Governor in Council to make regulations "prescribing a term other than 'official time' by which official time may be known".
Similarly to the 2019 legislation in British Columbia which was effectuated by an Order in Council in March 2026, the bill does not specify a transition time itself, but rather delegates regulatory authority to the Lieutenant Governor in Council to "provid[e] for any transitional matters arising under this Act" and amend other regulations to conform. The relevant section "comes into force on Proclamation", so we would expect an Order in Council to bring about those implementation details sometime after Royal Assent.
-- Tim Parenti
Bill 31 passed Second Reading on Thursday 5 May 2026. Debate is recorded in the /Alberta Hansard/, 31st Legislature Second Session, pages 1800–06 (5 May 2026, PDF pages 26–32): https://docs.assembly.ab.ca/LADDAR_files/docs/hansards/han/legislature_31/se... Now awaiting royal consent. On 5/6/2026 3:34 PM, Tim Parenti via tz wrote:
Bill 31 passed Second Reading yesterday, Tuesday 5 May 2026. https://www.assembly.ab.ca/assembly-business/bills/bill?billinfoid=12128&fro... <https://www.assembly.ab.ca/assembly-business/bills/bill?billinfoid=12128&fro...>
I messed that up ... restating. Bill 31 passed Third Reading on Thursday 7 May 2026. Debate is recorded in the /Alberta Hansard/, 31st Legislature Second Session, pages 1800–06 (7 May 2026, PDF pages 26–32): https://docs.assembly.ab.ca/LADDAR_files/docs/hansards/han/legislature_31/se... Now awaiting royal consent.
On 5/6/2026 3:34 PM, Tim Parenti via tz wrote:
Bill 31 passed Second Reading yesterday, Tuesday 5 May 2026. https://www.assembly.ab.ca/assembly-business/bills/bill?billinfoid=12128&fro... <https://www.assembly.ab.ca/assembly-business/bills/bill?billinfoid=12128&fro...>
On 2026-05-11 14:32, James Bellaire via tz wrote:
Bill 31 passed Third Reading on Thursday 7 May 2026.
Thanks to everybody for the heads-up about Alberta. This affects America/Edmonton and, as NWT says it will follow suit, America/Inuvik. The practical effect starts 2026-11-01 at 02:00 when Alberta and NWT will not fall back. Attached is a draft patch to reflect these impending changes. I haven't installed this into the development repository as the legal Is and Ts have not all been dotted and crossed yet. The draft patch currently has "actual date unknown" comments for when the changes take legal effect, and it'd be nice to have these dates nailed down. This draft patch does not affect America/Cambridge_Bay which, as Heitor David Pinto mentioned, may well make a similar change so that the Kitikmeot Region is not an -07/-06 area east of the newly -06 area. It also does not create a new zone America/Cranbrook which, as Chris Walton mentioned, will be needed if the Regional District of East Kootenay decides to align with Vancouver instead of with Edmonton. Nor does it create a new zone America/Kuujjuak despite Samuel Wat's CBC article last November saying Nunavik also plans to no longer change its clocks. We haven't seen official announcements for these areas yet.
The bill in Alberta received royal assent today, 14 May 2026: https://www.assembly.ab.ca/assembly-business/bills/bill?billinfoid=12128&fro... It says that it comes into force today, "with exceptions". The section about the time zone is one of the exceptions because it says that it comes into force "on proclamation". When issued, the proclamation should appear here: https://www.alberta.ca/proclamations https://kings-printer.alberta.ca/507.cfm In Saskatchewan, a bill was passed to replace the Time Act. It sets UTC-6 all year in the whole province, including Lloydminster, but allows the government to issue regulations specifying a different time in localities that request so: https://docs.legassembly.sk.ca/legdocs/Bills/30L2S/Bill30-58.pdf The bill in Saskatchewan also received royal assent today: https://www.legassembly.sk.ca/media/obro0uvn/progress-of-bills.pdf It says that it comes into force by order in council. When issued, the order in council should appear here: https://publications.saskatchewan.ca/#/categories/6648
On Tue, 12 May 2026 at 14:36, James Bellaire via tz <tz@iana.org> wrote:
Now awaiting royal consent.
As was expected, Royal Assent for this and several other bills was announced this morning (Thursday 14 May) during the Assembly's final sitting before its recess. https://www.assembly.ab.ca/assembly-business/bills/bill?billinfoid=12128&fro... https://docs.assembly.ab.ca/LADDAR_files/docs/houserecords/vp/legislature_31... https://docs.assembly.ab.ca/LADDAR_files/docs/hansards/han/legislature_31/se... Note that, while much of the omnibus bill takes effect immediately, the "Official Time Act" portion of the bill only comes into force upon Proclamation, so our attention now turns to watching for the Lieutenant Governor in Council to issue an Order in Council which finalizes its implementation date. That said, the stated intent of Alberta's government has been to have this in place prior to when the clocks would otherwise fall back on 1 November 2026, so the end result is reasonably certain for all practical purposes at this point. On Thu, 14 May 2026 at 21:17, Heitor David Pinto via tz <tz@iana.org> wrote:
In Saskatchewan, a bill was passed to replace the Time Act. It sets UTC-6 all year in the whole province, including Lloydminster, but allows the government to issue regulations specifying a different time in localities that request so
This simplifies the prior Act's framework for the many local exceptions to year-round -06 in border areas, by extending province-wide the notion of "time option areas" which can be prescribed by regulation "if it is in the provincial interest" for those areas to observe either "UTC-5, UTC-6 or UTC-7 for all or part of the year" on at least 30 days' notice. I've attached updated draft patches with just the change for Alberta, as well as commentary for recent developments in Saskatchewan and NWT. Unlike Paul's earlier draft, I've put 1 November 2026 in as the placeholder transition, in deference to the known CLDR limitations we ran into with British Columbia. I haven't pushed these yet because (a) if the Alberta OiC is issued swiftly, we can simplify it, and (b) Northwest Territories' Legislative Assembly reconvenes on 27 May and will be in session through 4 June, so if it is to follow Alberta, we would expect to see movement during that span. As such, it likely makes sense to hold back on a release for a few more weeks anyway. -- Tim Parenti
On 5/14/2026 10:05 PM, Tim Parenti via tz wrote:
Northwest Territories' Legislative Assembly reconvenes on 27 May and will be in session through 4 June, so if it is to follow Alberta, we would expect to see movement during that span. As such, it likely makes sense to hold back on a release for a few more weeks anyway.
Nunavut's legislature sits 21 May through 11 June. I assume they will need to take some action to allow Cambridge Bay to go to "Permanent DST" (-06 year round to match Alberta and Northwest Territories expected moves). It would be an opportunity to address Rankin Inlet and Iqaluit in light of potential changes in Manitoba and Nunavik.
On 2026-05-14 19:05, Tim Parenti via tz wrote:
I've put 1 November 2026 in as the placeholder transition, in deference to the known CLDR limitations we ran into with British Columbia.
Thanks, those patches look good to me too. Good catch about the date. Presumably CLDR will need to release a patch for America/Edmonton and probably America/Inuvik that is similar to its March 16 patch for America/Vancouver, a patch that is in CLDR v48.2 (the current version): https://github.com/unicode-org/cldr/commit/c8babf10d858e413b977425efbff3b746... I am cc'ing Robert Bastian to give CLDR a heads-up on this. I have written separately to the Alberta's Lieutenant Governor's office to suggest that the upcoming Order in Council specify November 1, 2026 at 02:00 for the effective date of the transition, as that will minimize hassles for coordinating CLDR with TZDB, and presumably for any other timekeeping software tracking this.
Cary Sweet of the Alberta Electric System Operator let me know today that an order in council was issued a week ago, making the Alberta time zone change official as of September 1. So I installed the attached proposed patch to TZDB. This updates the draft patches that Tim and I circulated a month ago. I also installed the commentary patch for Saskatchewan and NWT that Tim circulated a month ago. I suppose CLDR now needs fixing for Alberta. We should release a new TZDB version soon, as we have less than five months before TZDB 2026b's timestamps will be wrong for Alberta. If Northwest Territories also make their change official soon, we could wait for that; otherwise I suppose we should go ahead with a new TZDB release without NWT. A riskier possibility is to put the NWT change into the next TZDB release, since it seems unlikely that NWT would change their minds and disagree with Alberta. Either way, I suppose CLDR will also need fixing for NWT. Depending on what the Regional District of East Kootenay decides, we may need to create a new Zone for them. This can wait for their decision.
On Thu, 11 Jun 2026 at 17:54, Paul Eggert via tz <tz@iana.org> wrote:
Cary Sweet of the Alberta Electric System Operator let me know today that an order in council was issued a week ago, making the Alberta time zone change official as of September 1.
I've been checking OiCs out of Alberta regularly, and while several were issued a week ago, I did not see any that appeared to effectuate the timekeeping change or I would have raised it then. OiC 161/2016 of 2 June 2026 designated the Minister of Service Alberta and Red Tape Reduction as responsible for the enactment of the changes to the *Daylight Saving Time Act* in section 21(1)(m) of its Appendix. https://kings-printer.alberta.ca/Documents/Orders/Orders_in_Council/2026/202... While that ministry did issue two OiCs on 4 June, those pertained to different sections (or a different but similarly named bill) as far as I can tell: - OiC 169/2026 brings sections 3 and 6 of the *Red Tape Reduction Statutes Amendment Act, 2025 (No. 2)*, which was Bill 10 in the current parliament, into force from 2 July 2026. - These sections pertain to the *Government Organization Act* and the *Traffic Safety Act*. - https://kings-printer.alberta.ca/Documents/Orders/Orders_in_Council/2026/202... - https://docs.assembly.ab.ca/LADDAR_files/docs/bills/bill/legislature_31/sess... - OiC 170/2026 brings several subsections of section 9 of the *Red Tape Reduction Statutes Amendment Act, 2026*, which was Bill 31 in the current parliament, into force from 1 September 2026. - This section pertains to the *Land Titles Act*. - https://kings-printer.alberta.ca/Documents/Orders/Orders_in_Council/2026/202... - https://docs.assembly.ab.ca/LADDAR_files/docs/bills/bill/legislature_31/sess... Unfortunately, I don't see anything referring to section 3 of the latter bill, which is what we're interested in here. It's always possible I've missed something — in which case I'd appreciate Cary or someone knowledgeable pointing it out — but at time of writing, I do not believe this step has actually yet been completed and that this patch may be premature. -- Tim Parenti
It looks like Cary Sweet and I were both incorrect; the Alberta time zone change is not yet official after all. We misread the Order in Council that was cited in the patch I sent earlier today. So we'll have to revert the change, at least in part, and there is currently no rush in putting out a new TZDB release. Sorry about the confusion.
If the Alberta government really wanted to push this change through, it would have issued a Proclamation and published an announcement on the same day that Bill 31 received royal assent. Instead all we have is absolute silence. Perhaps the government has finally concluded that disregarding the results of the 2021 binding referendum would set a bad precedent. A week after Bill 31 received royal assent, the government tabled an unrelated but extremely controversial referendum question that has become a bit of a hot topic in Canada. Albertans need to have confidence that the outcome of future referenda will be respected by their government; otherwise, there is little incentive for citizens to participate in such votes in the first place. I have said enough; I will let each of you draw your own conclusions or come up with your own theories as to what is really going on. Please take any speculative theories of mine with a grain of salt. -chris On Thu, Jun 11, 2026 at 10:25 PM Paul Eggert via tz <tz@iana.org> wrote:
It looks like Cary Sweet and I were both incorrect; the Alberta time zone change is not yet official after all. We misread the Order in Council that was cited in the patch I sent earlier today. So we'll have to revert the change, at least in part, and there is currently no rush in putting out a new TZDB release.
Sorry about the confusion.
participants (6)
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Chris Walton -
Heitor David Pinto -
James Bellaire -
Paul Eggert -
Roozbeh Pournader -
Tim Parenti