Chamber
commons
Stage
1st Reading
Introduced
Oct 6, 2025
Progress
This bill requires the federal government to hold a national conference on whether Canada should change its time-change practices.
Key Changes
- Requires the federal government to hold a pan-Canadian conference on time change within one year of the Act coming into force
- Mandates that the conference include provincial governments, Indigenous governing bodies, and stakeholders from health, agriculture, education, and public safety sectors
- Sets a required agenda covering economic impacts, health and safety research, and the possibility of a uniform national approach to timekeeping
- Requires the minister to publish a report with findings and recommendations within six months of the conference
- Authorizes the Governor in Council to designate a minister responsible for carrying out the Act
Gotchas
- The bill only requires a conference and a report — it does not change any time-change laws or make any policy decisions itself
- Time regulation in Canada is a shared jurisdiction matter, meaning provinces have significant authority over their own timekeeping practices, which limits what the federal government can unilaterally decide
- Some provinces and territories already have unique time practices (e.g., Saskatchewan does not observe daylight saving time), which adds complexity to any push for national uniformity
- The bill does not specify funding or resources for organizing the conference, leaving implementation details to the government
- As a private member's bill, it faces a lower likelihood of passing compared to government-sponsored legislation
Who's Affected
- Federal and provincial governments responsible for timekeeping policy
- Indigenous governing bodies with rights under Section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982
- Health scientists and researchers studying the effects of time change
- Sectors such as agriculture, education, early childhood care, eldercare, and public safety
- Municipal governments
- All Canadians who are subject to daylight saving time changes
Vibes
0 responses
Gotchas
- The bill only requires a conference and a report — it does not change any time-change laws or make any policy decisions itself
- Time regulation in Canada is a shared jurisdiction matter, meaning provinces have significant authority over their own timekeeping practices, which limits what the federal government can unilaterally decide
- Some provinces and territories already have unique time practices (e.g., Saskatchewan does not observe daylight saving time), which adds complexity to any push for national uniformity
- The bill does not specify funding or resources for organizing the conference, leaving implementation details to the government
- As a private member's bill, it faces a lower likelihood of passing compared to government-sponsored legislation
Summary
Bill C-248, called the Time Change Act, requires the federal government to organize a pan-Canadian conference within one year of the bill becoming law. The conference would bring together provincial governments, Indigenous governing bodies, health scientists, and representatives from sectors like agriculture, education, and public safety to discuss the issue of daylight saving time and time changes in Canada. The conference must cover topics such as the economic impacts of time changes, scientific research on how time changes affect health and productivity, and whether Canada should adopt a more consistent approach to timekeeping across the country. Within six months after the conference, the responsible minister must publish a report online summarizing the discussions and any recommendations that came out of them. This bill was introduced as a private member's bill, meaning it came from an individual MP rather than the government. It reflects ongoing public debate in Canada and other countries about whether the practice of changing clocks twice a year should be eliminated or standardized.
Automatically generated from bill text using Claude
Vibes
0 responses