Saskatoon, Canada · UTC-6 ☆

Saskatoon is the largest city in Saskatchewan and one of the few major cities in North America that stays on the same clock all year. The province moved toward permanently adopting Central Standard Time (UTC-6) without daylight saving through the Time Act of 1966, which applied to eastern Saskatchewan first, with western Saskatchewan following by 1972.[1]

The decision was driven by a desire for a single, consistent time standard across the province. The Government of Saskatchewan determined that one uniform time year-round was more practical than the complexity of seasonal clock changes, given the difficulty of reaching consensus between communities that preferred different base standards.[1]

The consequence is notable. In summer, when the rest of Canada observes DST, Saskatoon sits on Central Standard Time while neighboring Manitoba to the east is on Central Daylight Time (UTC-5) and Alberta to the west is on Mountain Daylight Time (UTC-6). The result: Saskatoon shares its UTC-6 offset with Alberta’s MDT during summer, even though the two provinces are technically in different “timezone zones.”

dramatic daylight and the DST holdout

At 52 degrees north, Saskatoon has dramatic daylight variation. In June, the sun sets past 9:30pm on Central Standard Time. That is already late light. Moving clocks an hour forward would push sunset past 10:30pm, which the province decided was unnecessary.

Regina, Saskatchewan’s capital, shares the same fixed UTC-6 offset.

9am in Saskatoon is 3pm in London in winter, but during summer when the UK observes BST, the gap widens to 7 hours.

Read more about time in Canada →