Greg Rickford, Minister of Indigenous Affairs and First Nations Economic Reconciliation of Ontario speaks at a press conference in Toronto on Thursday, April 17, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Arlyn Mc Adorey
Ontario plans to shift parts of its northwest region to permanent daylight time to match Manitoba’s schedule, according to Indigenous Affairs Minister Greg Rickford in a statement to The Canadian Press.
Rickford mentioned that there is strong agreement among municipalities, First Nations, and businesses about making this time change permanent.
The province aims to amend the Time Act on Nov. 1 so that areas west of the 90th meridian can align with Manitoba’s time zone, he explained.
Last month, Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew declared that the province would stop changing clocks twice a year and remain on daylight time throughout the year in the central time zone, resulting in it being one hour ahead of other Prairie provinces instead of synchronized with them.
“That put northwestern Ontario, who sits in the central standard time zone, in a bit of a spot, to say the least,” Rickford said.
According to him, the province had three choices.
One option was for the northwestern region to switch to eastern time like most of Ontario. Another option was sticking with clock changes but then being out of sync with both Ontario and Manitoba.
Ontario is set to move parts of the province’s northwest region to permanent daylight time in order to align with Manitoba as shown in this handout image of timezones across Canada. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Handout – Government of Ontario (Mandatory Credit)
“The other option.. we took by unanimous consensus was to not change our clocks and go to what I’m calling Wab Kinew time,” Rickford stated.
After Kinew’s announcement, much of northwestern Ontario quickly sought solutions for moving forward. Rickford noted that they reached out to municipalities, businesses, and First Nations for their opinions.
“What ended up coming back was overwhelmingly unanimous-90% to 94% from every survey,” he added.
New Democrat Sol Mamakwa represents Kiiwetinoong riding where many remote fly-in First Nations are located and also contributed toward finding a solution.
“After having brought the voices of our communities across the northwest to the table, we are happy the advocacy for observing daylight savings will be implemented permanently,” Mamakwa said in a statement.
“We are proud of our collaborative efforts that work best for the North. We thank everyone who reached out and shared their thoughts on this important decision.”
British Columbia announced in March its move towards permanent Pacific daylight time.
Alberta also adopted permanent daylight time this year under what it calls Alberta time; this means it now shares its timing with Saskatchewan all year long.
This report by The Canadian Press was first Oct. 13, 2026.
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