As B.C. scraps time change, experts have a warning about the risks

For the first time in more than a century, B.C. won’t change its clocks back this fall and experts warn it could have wide-ranging effects on people.

Vancouver Coastal Health has released a warning that the morning commute will be darker than usual and could discourage walking or biking to school or work.

They recommend improving visibility by wearing bright colours, reflective gear and making eye contact with drivers.

Drivers are warned that they should slow down and drive for the conditions.

Vancouver Coastal Health also says that morning light plays an important part in setting the body’s internal clock, which helps to support healthy sleep patterns.

“Humans are dependent on the morning light,” Ralph Mistlberger, a psychology professor at Simon Fraser University, told Global News.

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He co-authored a report in the Canadian Medical Association Journal on the potential dangers of adopting year-round daylight saving time.

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“When you move the morning light later, the clock moves later, so what does that mean?” Mistlberger asked.

“It’s easier to stay up later and it’s harder to wake up early. It’s easier to sleep in longer, so your whole sleep-wake cycle shifts. But if your social calendar, your social schedule, your social clock doesn’t shift… then you generate a misalignment.”

Patrick Baylis with the University of British Columbia’s School of Economics said it will also affect work schedules.

“The rule of thumb is the less flexible your work hours are and the closer that start is to when sunrise would have been, the more effective you are going to be,” he said.

“So whereas you know, if you’re just required to be at work at eight, this matters a lot because you’re now going from a few weeks where the sunrise was going to be after the time where you were supposed to be at work, to a few months.”

4:44 Daylight saving changes impact on Canucks schedule

British Columbians should also expect to encounter a disconnect with parts of the Pacific Northwest that have historically been on the same time as B.C.

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For example, after Nov. 1, B.C. will be one hour ahead of Washington State and residents should remember that when crossing the border.

Alberta and Manitoba have also announced they are ending the practice of changing the clocks this year. On Wednesday, Quebec’s government announced it also plans to scrap the time change.

Saskatchewan has not changed its time since 1966, while Yukon ended the practice in 2020.