Northwestern Ontario to keep permanent daylight time from Nov. 1 to stay aligned with Manitoba

KENORA, Ont. — Ontario said Tuesday it intends to make daylight saving time permanent in Kenora and other northwestern communities that have historically kept time with Manitoba, with the change targeted for Nov. 1, 2026, so clocks in the affected area would not turn back this fall, the province announced.

The proposed regulation under the Time Act would cover communities west of the 90th meridian in Ontario’s central time zone. Attorney General Doug Downey said keeping alignment with Manitoba would “avoid unnecessary disruptions and ensure economic stability.” Minister Greg Rickford said consultations with municipalities and First Nations showed “unanimous support across the region” after Manitoba moved to permanent daylight time.

Manitoba announced on Sept. 17 that it would stay on daylight saving time year-round starting Nov. 1, 2026, after a provincial survey drew nearly 72,000 responses, according to Manitoba’s news release. Ontario’s Tuesday decision is framed as matching that neighbour so cross-border business, health appointments and travel stay on the same clock.

Rickford told CBC News that northwestern residents in the central zone “just thought it made more sense to go with Manitoba, because our transactions are more typically with them,” and that health entities wanted as few time-zone mismatches as possible for electronic records and appointments. He said Eastern Time communities such as Thunder Bay are not affected and will keep changing clocks twice a year.

Kenora Mayor Andrew Poirier welcomed the move, saying Manitoba is where Kenora’s economic and social ties run. A city survey drew just over 5,300 responses, with more than 93 per cent favouring the change, CBC reported. Northwestern Ontario Municipal Association president Rick Dumas called it “a practical solution” that maintains consistent time zones with Manitoba.

Ontario noted that the broader Time Amendment Act, 2020 — which would make daylight time permanent province-wide — has not been brought into force and would require co-ordination with jurisdictions such as Quebec and New York. For now, only the northwestern central-time strip is slated to stop the fall time change.

Sources: Ontario Newsroom (Oct. 13, 2026); CBC News Thunder Bay (Oct. 13, 2026); Province of Manitoba (Sept. 17, 2026).