There are 6 standard time zones in Canada, and 4 of them are the same as in the USA. Legally all matters concerning local time are officially regulated by the provincial legislation and decisions of the municipalities, that’s why in practice many exceptions apply in some provinces. Almost all the provinces of Canada apply the Daylight Saving Time (DST) in the warm period of the year, excluding the most territory of Saskatchewan (SK) and some exceptions in British Columbia (BC), Ontario (ON), Quebec (QC) and Nunavut (NU). The DST schedule in Canada synchronized with the USA.
Time zones in Canada
Here are the 6 standard time zones in Canada.
- UTC-03:30 Newfoundland Time Zone includes the entire island of Newfoundland and the southeastern part of the Labrador region
- UTC-04:00 Atlantic Time Zone comprises most of Labrador and three other provinces – New Brunswick (NB), Nova Scotia (NS), Prince Edward Island (PE)
- UTC-05:00 Eastern Time Zone encompasses the eastern part of Nunavut (NU), most of Ontario (ON) and Quebec (QC) provinces
- UTC-06:00 Central Time Zone includes entire Manitoba (MB), Saskatchewan (SK) with small exception and quite a big piece of Nunavut (NU)
- UTC-07:00 Mountain Time Zone comprises wholly Alberta (AB) and Northwest Territories (NT), also the western part of Nunavut (NU), the small exception in Saskatchewan (SK), the eastern and southeastern districts of British Columbia (BC)
- UTC-08:00 Pacific Time Zone covers most of British Columbia (BC) and entire Yukon (YT)
Time zones for the provinces and territories of Canada
Here is the list of provinces and territories of Canada with their standard time zones and DST.
Province/territory or part thereof | Capital and the largest city | UTC time offset | DST |
A |
| ||
Alberta (AB) | Edmonton, Calgary | -07:00 | -06:00 |
B |
| ||
British Columbia (BC), most of | Victoria, Vancouver | -08:00 | -07:00 |
British Columbia (BC), part of Peace River District | Dawson Creek | -07:00 | none |
British Columbia (BC), part of Central Kootenay District | Creston | -07:00 | none |
British Columbia (BC), East Kootenay District and Columbia Valley | Cranbrook | -07:00 | -06:00 |
M |
| ||
Manitoba (MB) | Winnipeg, Brandon | -06:00 | -05:00 |
N |
| ||
New Brunswick (NB) | Fredericton, Saint John | -04:00 | -03:00 |
Newfoundland and Labrador (NL), Newfoundland and southeastern coast of Labrador | St. John’s | -03:30 | -02:30 |
Newfoundland and Labrador (NL), Labrador, except of southeastern coast | Labrador City | -04:00 | -03:00 |
Northwest Territories (NT) | Yellowknife | -07:00 | -06:00 |
Nova Scotia (NS) | Halifax | -04:00 | -03:00 |
Nunavut (NU), Southampton Island | Coral Harbour | -05:00 | none |
Nunavut (NU), east of 85°W | Iqaluit | -05:00 | -04:00 |
Nunavut (NU), between 85°W and 102°W | Baker Lake | -06:00 | -05:00 |
Nunavut (NU), west of 102°W | Cambridge Bay | -07:00 | -06:00 |
O |
| ||
Ontario (ON), most of | Toronto, | -05:00 | -04:00 |
Ontario (ON), Quetico Provincial Park | Atikokan | -05:00 | none |
Ontario (ON), western part of Northwestern Ontario | Kenora | -06:00 | -05:00 |
P |
| ||
Prince Edward Island (PE) | Charlottetown | -04:00 | -03:00 |
Q |
| ||
Quebec (QC), most of | Quebec City, Montreal | -05:00 | -04:00 |
Quebec (QC), small part along the coast of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence | Blanc-Sablon | -04:00 | none |
S |
| ||
Saskatchewan (SK), most of | Regina, Saskatoon | -06:00 | none |
Saskatchewan (SK), small part | Lloydminster | -07:00 | -06:00 |
Y |
| ||
Yukon (YT) | Whitehorse | -08:00 | -07:00 |
