VICTORIA -- It's that time of year again. British Columbians should be prepared to lose an hour of sleep as the province is scheduled to "spring forward" in recognition of daylight saving time this weekend.
On Sunday, March 14, clocks will move forward one hour at 2 a.m. The change will see evenings brighter for longer, though mornings will be darker in the early hours.
While the majority of British Columbians are opposed to the annual time change, daylight saving time is not expected to end any time soon.
In 2019, the B.C. government passed legislation to allow the province to observe permanent daylight saving time, after more than 200,000 British Columbians overwhelmingly supported ending the annual time change in an online survey.
However, the province says it will only do so once year-round DST is passed in the American states of Washington, Oregon and California.
In 2020, B.C. Premier John Horgan said the move to permanent daylight saving time had been delayed on both sides of the border due to COVID-19.
"I think it’s quite clear that in the middle of a pandemic, making changes to daylight saving is not an urgent issue on people’s minds," said Horgan in a statement on Sept. 18, 2020.
"Our government is currently focused on putting in place the details of the economic recovery while taking the steps we need to protect British Columbians during this pandemic," he said.