Raven Ambree

I'm seeing a lot of confusion and misinformation about time zones in Canada this week. (This was made worse by people sharing maps that looked messier than the real situation, simply because they weren't fully updated yet.) So, if you're interested, here's a really detailed look at how our time zones really work: First, it's important to understand that time zones are not just info about "what time it is in this place". Time zones are a set of rules about what time it is relative to UTC (Coordinated Universal Time) and - crucially - on what dates those times apply. Pacific Standard Time, Pacific Daylight Time, Mountain Standard Time, Mountain Daylight Time, Central Standard Time, etc are NOT time zones - they are temporary statuses of time zones. There is a Pacific Time Zone, a Mountain Time Zone, a Central Time Zone, an Eastern Time Zone, etc (often just called Pacific Time, Mountain TIme, Central Time, and Eastern Time). Each of those time zones tells you what UTC they are on on which days. "Pacific Time Zone" means that the time is UTC-7 between the second Sunday in March and the first Sunday in November, and UTC-8 between the first Sunday in November and the second Sunday in March. So, it's kind of nonsensical to say that British Columbia is now observing permanent Pacific Daylight Time, or that Manitoba is now observing permanent Central Daylight Time. (Yes, the UTC numbers are correct, and so as a shorthand it's not wrong, but... it causes confusion.) So, if BC's time zone cannot be "Pacific Daylight Time All Year Round", because Pacific Daylight Time is not a time zone, then a new time zone is needed. The new time zone specifies that the time in BC is UTC-7 for the entire calendar year. Where the provinces have gone wrong (and caused even more confusion) is in their naming of the new time zones. They should have gone with "British Columbia Time - BCT" to make the difference more obvious. Other provinces made this mistake too. Western Canada's current (new) time zone names are: BC: Pacific Time - PCT AB: Alberta Time - ABT SK: Central Standard Time - CST MB: Manitoba Standard Time - MBT BC's new time zone "Pacific Time" is far, far, far too similar to the existing "Pacific Time Zone". SK is making the mistake I pointed out earlier, of nonsensically saying they're permanently on a temporary time - but this name was set decades ago. Manitoba got close to something sensible, but introduced unnecessary complication by using the word "Standard," which can be too easily confused with Central Standard Time. Here's what the new time zones should be: BC: British Columbia Time - BCT AB: Alberta Time - ABT SK: Saskatchewan Time - SKT MB: Manitoba Time - MBT If the provinces make these fixes, then most of the confusion will go away. Each province will have its own time zone, which explains what time it is and which dates those times apply to (all year). If people then want to use shorthand to say that, functionally, BCT = PDT, ABT = MDT, SKT = MDT, and MBT = CDT, then go for it.