How close is B.C. to getting rid of daylight saving time change?

If you like your sleep, it’s the bad weekend — the one where we wind our clocks forward and lose an hour of snoozing to daylight saving time.

But the semi-annual time change could soon be a thing of the past, as the United States gets closer than ever to making daylight saving time permanent.

The Sunshine Protection Act, spearheaded by Florida Senator Marco Rubio, has been reintroduced in the U.S.

The legislation has repeatedly failed since Rubio first tried in 2018 but it has seen growing support recently from lawmakers and the American public.

This is something that has been simmering in B.C. for a few years as well, and Premier David Eby says it is still on his radar.

“There were business concerns about us being on a different time zone from our major trading partner to the south, which is our sole reason for pause here, to make sure we don’t have unintended economic impacts.”

Eby says otherwise he very much looks forward to getting rid of the time change.

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In B.C., legislation was passed four years ago to allow the province to permanently stay on daylight time.

But then-premier John Horgan said the change would depend on Washington, Oregon and California doing the same. In Ontario, Premier Doug Ford has said a switch would require New York state to also ditch the time change, while Quebec Premier François Legault has said he is open to making daylight time permanent.

Eby echoed Horgan’s position, saying B.C.’s close integration with U.S. states gives rise to legitimate business concerns if the province moves to a different time zone, and the need to stay aligned is the “sole reason” changes have not already been made.

“I think all of us would be delighted to see the back end of daylight-saving time,” he said. “But at the same time, we want to make sure we are aligned with major trading partners’ efforts.”

Prepare for the switch well in advance

Considering the switch to daylight saving time is happening for at least another year, how do you avoid the dreaded daylight saving hangover?

The experts recommend you try not to sleep in an extra hour on Sunday and if you need a nap, take one. The Mayo Clinic suggests a short 15 to 20-minute snooze early Sunday afternoon, not too close to bedtime.

Dr. Brynn Dredla, a Mayo Clinic sleep neurologist, says switching the clocks by an hour may not seem like much, but it can have a pretty dramatic effect on our bodies.

“If someone sleeps from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. and then we spring forward, on Monday morning we’re asked to now be driving when we should normally be sleeping,” she says. “So, that can be a big impact because our body is under the impression it should be asleep when we’re asking it to perform a pretty complex task.”

Dredla compares it to jet lag when you are suddenly hours ahead of the time your body thinks it is, upsetting its internal clock and making you feel sluggish and foggy-headed.

“And it usually takes two days before we’re able to get back into our normal routine.”

She suggests preparing for the change in the days ahead of daylight saving time by going to bed 15 minutes earlier and waking up 15 minutes earlier, allowing your body a slower, more gradual adjustment.

–With files from The Canadian Press