Alberta’s new time is bad medicine

Ann Crabtree MD is the author of Musings on Medicine, The Foundations for Taking Care of Yourself in a World That Does Not publishing in May 2027 by Optimum Publishing International. 

Peer-reviewed papers on Daylight savings.

Rishi MA, et al. Permanent standard time is the optimal choice for health and safety: an American Academy of Sleep Medicine position statement. Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine. 2024;20(1):121–125. DOI Link 10.5664/jcsm.10898

Carter JR, Knutson KL, Mokhlesi B. Taking to “heart” the proposed legislation for permanent daylight saving time. American Journal of Physiology-Heart and Circulatory Physiology. 2022. DOI Link 10.1152/ajpheart.00218.2022

Manfredini R, et al. Daylight Saving Time and Acute Myocardial Infarction: A Meta-Analysis.International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2019. DOI Link 10.3390/jcm8030404

Lam RW, Mistlberger R, Baylis P, Choi A. Analysis of health impacts associated with adopting permanent standard time or permanent daylight saving time to inform policy in Canada. CMAJ. 2026;198(34):E1335–E1340. doi:10.1503/cmaj.261089. Published October 4, 2026. DOI Link 10.1503/cmaj.261089

Gariépy G, Janssen I, Sentenac M, Elgar FJ. School start time and sleep in Canadian adolescents. Journal of Sleep Research. 2017 Apr;26(2):195–201. doi:10.1111/jsr.12475. DOI Link 10.1111/jsr.12475

Alberta is about to embark on permanent Mountain Daylight Time (MDT), or as our provincial government calls it, Alberta time (ABT). 

It’s not just the acronyms that are confusing.  The logic for the change is too.

Alberta’s Official Time Act, part of an Omnibus bill passed earlier this year, eradicates the time changes on November 1 and March 22nd.  We no longer have to change our clocks twice a year, “falling back” an hour in the autumn and “springing forward” an hour in March.

The scientific evidence shows that a return to a permanent time is the right decision.  Alberta had two choices, permanent Standard Time or permanent Daylight Time. We are choosing the wrong one.

It appears no one in government is looking at the science or listening to the experts. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine, for one, specifically recommends the adoption of permanent Standard Time as the optimal choice for health and safety.

Losing the early morning light has a negative impact on our internal clock, our circadian rhythm. It exacerbates depression, seasonal affective disorder, heart disease and metabolic disease like diabetes. And it is associated with increased incidence of certain types of cancer, especially cancers that are influenced by our hormones.

So much of Canada’s landmass is north of the 49th parallel, and this makes the loss of daylight on winter mornings an even  greater problem. In large cities like Calgary and Edmonton sunrise will be after 9:30 AM and in northern Alberta after 10 AM.

This undermines productivity and worker health.

 And it messes with our kids.

As our children reach the teenage years their internal clocks shift. Young people tend to stay up later in the evening and find it difficult to start school early in the morning. A shift to permanent Daylight Time makes this problem worse.  The science shows that students do better with later start times.  Going to school in the dark adds this problem.

Having lived above the Arctic Circle, I know firsthand this is an even greater problem the further north you live.

 People recover much more quickly from the effects of short days when returning daylight is shifted towards morning, as would be the case if we adopted permanent Standard Time, not permanent Daylight Time.

The long daylight on summer evenings disrupts circadian rhythm with a negative impact on sleep quality and sleep duration. Children stay up too late and are more tired during school and this affects true learning.

A few years ago, the shift to winter Standard Time was moved from late October to early November. The move was partly supported by candy manufacturers in North America, who thought they would sell more candy if younger children could trick-or-treat in the daylight. 

Sadly, this took much of the magic out of Halloween for children. Children had the opportunity to dress up in costume and explore their neighbourhoods after dark, under the stars and by the light of Jack-o-lanterns and pumpkins.

Socializing in the evening, watching the sunset, dining by candlelight and being able to see the night sky benefits the health of children and adults alike.

After the Second World War, Alberta farmers, who understand that crops and livestock follow the sun, not the clock, pressured the government to stay on permanent Standard Time.

Even Russia, with a latitude similar to Canada’s, realized Standard was better than Daylight for a permanent time. In 2011, Russia moved to permanent Daylight Time but the error became clear quickly and the country reversed the policy in 2014, moving to permanent Standard Time.

Other provinces and states are considering or have implemented a move to permanent time. Governments choosing Daylight over Standard time are abdicating their responsibility to act in the best health interests of the people who elected them.

We are one of the most low-conflict, economically stable, democratic countries in the world.  We are shooting ourselves in the foot by adopting permanent Daylight Time.

Canadian jurisdictions are acting as followers in this regard when we can and should be leading and adopting permanent Standard Time.

The move would provide concrete economic benefits for Canadians, a more productive workforce, less acute trauma and less chronic disease. In turn, these benefits translate into less strain on healthcare budgets and improved gross domestic product.

If we do not fix this problem right now, status quo lethargy will develop around the policy, and the negative health consequences will compound over time.

Time is running out: the federal government along with all the provinces and territories of Canada should agree to enact permanent Standard Time for its proven health benefits.