Ontario’s Attorney General Doug Downey announced on Thursday that six north‑western communities will stay on daylight saving year‑round, effective Nov. 1. Kenora, Dryden, Fort Frances, Sioux Lookout, Red Lake and Rainy River will now match Manitoba’s time, which has already switched to permanent daylight saving.
Manitoba’s move came earlier this month; the province’s legislature voted to abolish the fall back on Nov. 1, 2026, and the Ontario government said it would mirror that change to avoid a split‑time zone in the border region. The change follows a 2020 bill that tried to extend permanent daylight saving across Ontario, but it stalled because neighboring Quebec and New York had not agreed.
Downey said the decision would keep businesses operating smoothly across provincial borders and make it easier for residents and service providers to coordinate health‑care appointments and travel. Local shopkeepers in Kenora, who run a cross‑border grocery chain, said the new schedule would cut delivery delays that used to happen each October.
The switch also means the rest of Ontario, including Toronto and Thunder Bay, will continue to fall back one hour on Nov. 1, keeping the province split into two time zones. Meanwhile, Alberta and British Columbia have already adopted permanent daylight saving, creating a patchwork of year‑round times across Canada.
Residents of the affected communities should set their clocks to daylight saving time on October 30 and keep them on that setting through the winter. The provincial government will launch a public information campaign in the coming weeks to explain the change and provide resources for businesses.