Manitoba Will Stay on Daylight Saving Time for Good

Manitoba will stay on daylight saving time permanently and will not turn clocks back on Nov. 1, ending the twice-yearly change. The provincial government announced the decision on Sept. 17, 2026. The clocks will stay put. Manitoba government

Premier Wab Kinew announced the plan to remain on daylight time. The government said the choice followed listening to Manitobans' views on seasonal changes. The legal basis is the Official Time Amendment Act, 2025, a law that ends the seasonal switch from daylight saving time and takes effect once it is formally proclaimed, or officially ordered into force.

The announcement closed a consultation that began in the spring. The province had asked Manitobans about seasonal time changes and about adopting permanent standard time, the winter setting used after clocks fall back. That process drew 72,000 participants, with more than 90% opposed to changing clocks, according to reporting on the announcement. CBC An earlier survey of 1,060 Manitobans in May found nearly three in four no longer wanted to spring forward or fall back. In Manitoba, clocks move forward by one hour in March to start daylight saving time. EngageMB

A provincial factsheet states that switching between standard time and daylight saving time twice a year leads to short-term negative effects on health across the population.

The broader context here is simplicity versus preference. Ending the switch removes a disruption that large majorities say they dislike. Choosing permanent daylight time, rather than permanent standard time, answers the question the consultation had left open. The timeline was compact. Invitation in May, decision in September. That pace suggests officials treated the survey result as decisive rather than exploratory. The step to watch is proclamation, the formal order that will bring the 2025 Act into force and make November a non-event.

In my view, the sequence of law and consultation deserves attention from anyone who follows how rules are made. The Act was written in 2025 to end the seasonal change once proclaimed. The government then asked about direction, received a large response, and fixed the direction as daylight time. Policy commitment now comes before legal effect. Residents and institutions do not need to act in March. They need to not act in November. That difference is small on paper and important for payroll systems, school schedules and transport timetables that now encode two changes per year.

Looking at what this means for how lasting the change will be, the scale of participation is the detail that will travel. Seventy-two thousand responses is a large return for a provincial consultation, and the margin gives the government a clear public basis for permanence. Opposition above 90% leaves little room for reversal. It also puts the health point in a supporting role rather than the lead argument. The province has put population health consequences on the record, but the reason presented is public preference expressed at volume. Any future review will likely be measured against that preference and against experience of the first winter without turning clocks back.