Once every year on the first Sunday in November, clocks in Canada and the U.S are changed to “fall back” by one hour. By repeating 1:00 AM, time is artificially moved back one hour. 

This resets the time back to standard time after we “spring forward” on the second Sunday of March, by skipping 2:00-2:59 AM, and artificially moving the time forwards an hour.

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Daylight saving time has been used in Canada since 1966, but in recent years there have been increasing calls to stop observing it.

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In 2020, Ontario MPP Jeremy Roberts introduced a bill to permanently move Ontario onto daylight saving time, eliminating the need to “fall back” every year, and making the time change permanent. The bill passed through the legislature relatively easily, and in November 2020, the bill was passed. However, there was one small caveat: Ontario can only stop observing daylight saving time if Quebec and New York State do the same. 

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This is to make sure that Ontario doesn’t become separated from its two largest neighbors, and because many federal government buildings are on opposite sides of the Quebec-Ontario border. However, this means that even though most people were against continuing to use daylight saving time, we still continue to use it.

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A few Harbord Grade 9’s were polled to see what they thought about this bill potentially going into effect, and whether they were for or against the elimination of daylight saving time.

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Out of those who answered the poll, 43.75% of Harbord students, the largest percentage, said that they did not want to continue changing the clocks, and that we should move into one time zone permanently. 

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“[Daylight saving time is] pointless and doesn’t really benefit anyone,” said Grade 9 student Gryffin Palmateer. Many other students seemed to echo Gryffin’s comments, seeing little to no need to keep the time change in place. 

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“Daylight saving time is a very tedious thing to have to do,” said Will Heidenreich, another Harbord Grade 9 student. “Daylight saving also takes a physical toll on your body, because you have to reset your internal clock twice a year, even if it's only by an hour.”

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However, another 18.75% of respondents said that they wished to continue changing the clocks twice a year.

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“Without daylight saving time, it would basically be dark out [when] we leave [for] school,” said Grade 9 student Benji Christie. Others held similar opinions, believing that the inconvenience of changing the clocks was worth it to gain the extra hours of daylight.

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“With daylight saving time the sun is up for more convenient hours,” said Harbord Grade 9 Avia Howard. She also said that she didn’t feel affected by the clocks changing because “[a]fter a day, it feels normal.”

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The other 37.5% of respondents said that they were indifferent to daylight saving time. 

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“I do not feel affected,” said Grade 9 student Lucinda Lin. “I usually don't notice a difference, but when I do, I get momentarily confused.”

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Another Harbord Grade 9 student, Sofiia Nikitenko, said, “I like it better when the time changes in the fall since it allows me to sleep another hour, but in the spring, time is pushed forwards which means I get one hour less of sleep. Other than that, I don’t really care.”

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It would appear that many Harbord students have other worries than whether or not we continue daylight saving time.

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For now, it remains to be seen whether Quebec and New York pass bills to end daylight saving time, and only time will tell whether we continue this bi-annual tradition.