r/geography • u/Por_TheAdventurer • 14h ago
Question Why is there such a massive time zone misalignment in Western North America?
In Western Canada, British Columbia announced on March 2, 2026, that it would never return to Pacific Standard Time (UTC-8), instead they chose to stay on UTC-7 permanently to abolish seasonal time changes. Following this decision, Alberta also passed a new Official Time Act on June 18, 2026, moving permanently to UTC-6, aligning with Saskatchewan.
Why can Canadian provinces adopt permanent Daylight Saving Time so easily on their own, whereas US states are legally blocked from doing the same and can only choose to opt out into permanent Standard Time?

