Brief for MNAs
Québec must choose the time it will keep all year, and the National Assembly will set it in the Act respecting legal time1. A short parliamentary committee will hear experts in the coming months2. Here are the sourced facts and Ma lumière’s recommendations.
Based on the sleep hours reported by Quebecers aged 15 and over to Statistics Canada, and if everyone keeps them, daylight time gives 233 more hours of light a year while awake in Montréal, and from 207 to 262 hours depending on the region67. The method
Standard time would move sunset one hour earlier from spring to fall: 7:47 PM at the summer solstice in Montréal. The sun would rise at 3:51 AM in Québec City and Saint-Georges, 3:32 AM in Rimouski, 3:14 AM in Gaspé.
Since 1982, the aerobic fitness of 17-year-old Quebecers has dropped by about 18% in boys and 12% in girls8. On average, children are a little more active on days when the sun sets late9.
According to the SAAQ, between 5 and 8 PM, crashes injuring a pedestrian rise by 97.7% in the 30 days after the clocks fall back (compared with the 30 days before), and all injury crashes by 22.3%10. This before-and-after comparison does not isolate the effect of the clock, but it shows how exposed pedestrians are to darkness. In the United States, one more hour of evening light goes with about 7% fewer robberies11.
Ontario: 2020 law for daylight time, yet to be brought into force; the northwest of the province moves to permanent daylight time with Manitoba34. United States: the House of Representatives voted for daylight time in July 2026, 308 to 11712. Western Canada: B.C., Alberta, N.W.T. and Manitoba in 2026131415. On standard time, Québec would be on a different time from Ottawa, Toronto and New York 238 days a year (127 with daylight time), and two hours apart from New Brunswick in summer16.
Léger/Québecor poll, September 2024: 57% of Quebecers prefer daylight time all year, 18% standard time17. Angus Reid, March 2026: 56% versus 29% in Québec18. 2024 government consultation: over 214,000 responses; 91% want to stop changing the clocks, and 72% of them want to keep daylight time19.
Including the criteria that favour standard time, with how solid our knowledge is.
These criteria do not carry the same weight or the same certainty, and they do not add up like points. Weighing them is the job of elected officials.
Their central argument, that morning light sets the body clock, especially in teenagers, is serious215. But the best-documented effects come from the time change itself, which both options abolish20. No known study has measured the full balance of the two permanent times in Québec. The American model that projected millions of avoided obesity cases was corrected25, and a critique published in October 2026 reports a second error in it: once corrected, the gap in its indicator between the two permanent times would fall to about 0.2 hours per person per year2627. Sleep is one important criterion among others: evenings, safety, youth activity, the economy, neighbours, the will of citizens.
On December 21, the sun would rise at 8:31 AM in Montréal instead of 7:31 AM, earlier than in Paris today (8:41 AM). Western Québec is the most affected (9:04 AM in Rouyn-Noranda). The responses are targeted: high schools starting later in winter (the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends not starting before 8:30 AM28; California made it law29), well-lit routes, flexible hours.
Even then, daylight time reduces the gap with our main neighbours: 127 days a year instead of 238. And it keeps the door open to a common time with our neighbours, all year, if they also adopt daylight time.
The United States in 1974, Russia from 2011 to 2014: the answers in the FAQ.
The most populous town in each administrative region.
| Region | Town | Light while awake (gain per year) | Sunset Dec. 21 (standard → daylight) | Sunrise Dec. 21 (daylight time) | Sunrise June 21 (standard time) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bas-Saint-Laurent | Rimouski | +249 h | 3:41 PM → 4:41 PM | 8:23 AM | 3:32 AM |
| Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean | Saguenay | +239 h | 3:52 PM → 4:52 PM | 8:33 AM | 3:43 AM |
| Capitale-Nationale | Québec | +241 h | 3:59 PM → 4:59 PM | 8:27 AM | 3:51 AM |
| Mauricie | Trois-Rivières | +236 h | 4:06 PM → 5:06 PM | 8:30 AM | 3:58 AM |
| Estrie | Sherbrooke | +240 h | 4:07 PM → 5:07 PM | 8:24 AM | 3:59 AM |
| Montréal | Montréal | +233 h | 4:13 PM → 5:13 PM | 8:31 AM | 4:05 AM |
| Outaouais | Gatineau | +224 h | 4:22 PM → 5:22 PM | 8:39 AM | 4:14 AM |
| Abitibi-Témiscamingue | Rouyn-Noranda | +207 h | 4:24 PM → 5:24 PM | 9:04 AM | 4:15 AM |
| Côte-Nord | Sept-Îles | +254 h | 3:25 PM → 4:25 PM | 8:22 AM | 3:15 AM |
| Nord-du-Québec | Chibougamau | +224 h | 3:58 PM → 4:58 PM | 8:53 AM | 3:49 AM |
| Gaspésie–Îles-de-la-Madeleine | Gaspé | +262 h | 3:23 PM → 4:23 PM | 8:08 AM | 3:14 AM |
| Chaudière-Appalaches | Lévis | +241 h | 3:59 PM → 4:59 PM | 8:27 AM | 3:51 AM |
| Laval | Laval | +232 h | 4:14 PM → 5:14 PM | 8:32 AM | 4:06 AM |
| Lanaudière | Terrebonne | +232 h | 4:13 PM → 5:13 PM | 8:32 AM | 4:05 AM |
| Laurentides | Saint-Jérôme | +231 h | 4:14 PM → 5:14 PM | 8:34 AM | 4:06 AM |
| Montérégie | Longueuil | +233 h | 4:13 PM → 5:13 PM | 8:31 AM | 4:05 AM |
| Centre-du-Québec | Drummondville | +237 h | 4:08 PM → 5:08 PM | 8:28 AM | 4:00 AM |
Eastern time. The Magdalen Islands and the Lower North Shore live on Atlantic time. Every municipality has its own page: all regions.
Go further: the scientific analysis · the light calculation · the 2024 consultation · Canada · the sources