Quebec eliminating daylight saving time seems unlikely without the US

As the return to standard time approaches on Nov. 2, it seems doubtful that Quebec will move forward with eliminating the time change, but U.S. President Donald Trump could force it to do so.

The Canadian Press encountered a series of non-answers, hesitation, and sometimes fear of committing a crime when it came to determining whether Justice Minister Simon Jolin-Barrette, who is responsible for this issue, would end the practice of changing the clocks twice a year this fall. The issue, it seems, is much more sensitive than one might think, and the various stakeholders interviewed by The Canadian Press treated the issue like the proverbial hot potato.

Popular Will, Public Health, and the Economy

At Minister Jolin-Barrette’s office, we received a purely political response: “No decision has yet been made,” despite the imminence of the next time change. We were informed, however, that the Minister would “certainly take the views of Quebecers into consideration.”

Based on the consultation conducted by the Ministry in late 2024 and early 2025, the opinion of Quebecers is very clear: 91 per cent of the 214,000 respondents to the online survey no longer want to change their time, and nearly three-quarters of them would prefer to maintain daylight saving time year-round.

A letter from the Minister’s office, however, states that “the Ministry’s teams are analyzing the various briefs received as part of the public consultation. Furthermore, the Minister himself is meeting with several experts from the health and economic sectors to gain a better understanding of the situation and the decision required for the health and well-being of Quebecers.”

The time change is indeed considered a public health nuisance, according to several experts. Although many people have no difficulty with this practice, sleep experts speak of a disruption of the biological clock, and the Canadian Sleep Research Consortium, in its brief on the sidelines of this consultation, mentioned harmful effects on cardiac function, blood pressure, hormone regulation, metabolism, the immune system, mood, certain intellectual functions, anxiety, and depression.

Public Health: State Secret

Except that, when we asked the National Directorate of Public Health, we received the following message: “In response to your questions, at the request of the Ministry of Justice, the National Directorate of Public Health responded to a survey in the summer of 2023 on the issue of changing the clocks in Quebec society. At this time, the National Directorate of Public Health has not officially taken a position on the subject.”

We therefore turned once again to the Ministry of Justice to find out the position of the national public health department and, at the same time, the results of that famous 2023 survey. It took eight days for the Ministry’s media relations to respond with this: “The Ministry of Justice regularly consults various ministries as part of its work. Comments are collected for analytical purposes and there are no plans to make them public (sic).”

What public health thinks therefore remains a closely guarded secret until now.

But since we are told that the Minister is also consulting with experts from the economic community, we turned to major business organizations such as the Conseil du patronat du Québec (CPQ) – representing large companies –, the Quebec branch of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) – which represents SMEs – and the Fédération des chambres de commerce du Québec.

CPQ: “Neither for nor against”

Their responses suddenly shed a completely different light on the issue.

The CPQ explained to us via email that “the CPQ is neither for nor against abolishing the time change.”

However, we were informed that the issue raises important concerns that concern the corporate world, primarily the possibility that Quebec will go it alone: ​​”This bill should ensure that our time is aligned with that of our American partners.”

Pointing out that they still represent 55 per cent of our foreign trade despite the trade war, they explained that “if we are not on the same time as New York, Boston, Miami, etc., we could end up with a productivity problem.”

And while the CPQ acknowledges “that the time change has an effect on mental and physical health, as we can read in the medical literature to this effect, we currently have no evidence to confirm that the time change has a measurable effect on Canadian or Quebec productivity.”

On this issue, it appears that there are no comparative productivity studies between workers in provinces that change their time and those in Saskatchewan and Yukon, the only Canadian jurisdictions that do not change their time.

The Fédération des chambres de commerce du Québec, for its part, confirmed that it had been approached, but its director of media relations, Mathieu Lavigne, explained that the organization didn’t really have much to say on the matter: “We told them that it’s not a subject we’ve researched and on which we have a strong position. So, we declined the invitation.”

CFIB: Yes, but…

At the CFIB, the Vice-President of the Quebec branch, François Vincent, explained that a survey conducted among members, the results of which had not been made public until his interview with The Canadian Press, also showed a desire to end the time change. Approximately 75 per cent of respondents said they wanted to end the practice, with 32 per cent preferring daylight saving time (summer time), 27 per cent standard time, and 16 per cent having no preference.

But there was a “but,” explained Vincent.

“We never made the results public because when we read the comments, we saw that many entrepreneurs voted yes, but added in the comments that it should also be done in a coordinated manner with our main partners, the United States or other provinces.”

“Even those who said they agreed, many will want more daylight for their customers, particularly retail and hospitality businesses, and others who want more light in the evening to save money on their electricity bills.”

Who will do it first? Possibly Trump

This issue of harmonization with the United States and Ontario is crucial for the business world.

Ironically, Ontario passed a law in 2020 to eliminate daylight saving time, provided Quebec did the same. And now business people would like to see daylight saving time disappear, provided Ontario does the same—a real vicious circle.

And this is where President Trump could undo the Gordian knot by acting unilaterally, as he usually does. Last April, he pressed Congress to pass legislation making daylight saving time permanent, saying he wanted more light at the end of the day.

“If the United States ever decides to stop changing its time, I think everyone in Canada will be forced to follow suit,” says Vincent.

It therefore appears that the decision, ultimately, will not rest with Minister Jolin-Barrette.

–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews