Daylight Saving Time ends as clocks turn back Sunday morning

Time. It’s constantly moving. It can seem like it’s speeding up or slowing down, but it is always consistent. Until this weekend, that is, when the clocks fall back to Pacific Standard Time.

The time change is still a topic of great debate and people in Greater Victoria can be found both in favour or against Daylight Saving Time.

“I just feel it’s disruptive. And I’d like to see it stay 12 months,” one person told CHEK News.

“Quite frankly, I’d like to have an extra hour of daylight,” said another.

The BC government passed legislation in 2019 outlining plans to switch to permanent daylight savings time. But many scientists disagree, including SFU Psychology professor, Dr. Myriam Juda.

“The time change isn’t good. It’s linked to fatigue, traffic accidents, and increase risk of strokes,” said Juda.

Last year, the province received a letter from scientists, including Juda, explaining that the human biological clock needs more, not less, exposure to morning sunlight. They urged the government to abandon the move to permanent Daylight Saving Time and move instead to permanent Pacific Standard Time.

“I hope that governments are going to listen to science eventually. I think that if we are moving to permanent Daylight Savings Time, we will regret it quite fast. And we’re going to go back, probably to the time change,” Juda said.

Whenever there is a time change, there is an accompanying increase in road accidents, according to Cst. Markus Anastasiades with Saanich Police.

“We do see a slight increase in reportable collisions that come to our department after Daylight Savings ends, I guess being this Sunday,” he told CHEK.

Many British Columbians, however, just seemingly want consistency.

“I don’t notice the difference, to be honest. I feel like whatever they pick we should just stay at one. I don’t really care which one we stay at,” a woman in Victoria said.

Daylight Saving Time ends in BC at 2 a.m. Sunday morning.

WATCH: More than 93% of British Columbians in survey want permanent daylight savings

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