Yukon to stay on daylight time as territory scraps seasonal time change

The government of Yukon is cancelling seasonal time changes.

The territorial government announced Wednesday evening it is putting an end to the twice-annual seasonal time changes originally meant to align daytime schedules with available sunlight.

Yukon is making the change after a majority of Yukoners who responded to a survey said they were in favour of keeping the same time year-round.

This Sunday, most Canadians across the country will turn their clocks forward for daylight time. After that, the territory will remain on Pacific daylight time, the government said in a press release.

The decision comes after Paolo Gallina, MLA for Porter Creek Centre, brought a motion in May 2017 to end the practice of changing the time by an hour each spring and fall.

After that, the government sought public input between Jan. 6 and Feb. 16 of this year, the news release said.

According to the territorial government, a seasonal time change survey yielded more than 4,800 responses from Yukon residents. Most wanted to stop springing forward and falling back. 

The government said it found 93 per cent of respondents wanted to end seasonal time changes and, of that group, 70 per cent wanted "permanent" Pacific daylight time.

"Yukoners clearly want to see an end to seasonal time change and we are listening," Premier Sandy Silver said in a statement. 

"The response to this engagement speaks to the importance of this issue for people. Thank you to everyone who took the time to voice an opinion. This helped our government make an informed decision for Yukon."