Ontario mirrors U.S. plan to extend daylight savings time

TORONTO — Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty has agreed to harmonize the province’s daylight savings time with a new U.S. plan.

Starting in 2007, Ontarians will be changing their clocks on different dates in the spring and fall as the province adopts extended daylight saving time, said Attorney General Michael Bryant. Daylight saving time will start on the second Sunday in March, and end on the first Sunday in November.

A similar rule was adopted by Congress this summer, Currently daylight saving begins the first Sunday in April and ends on the last Sunday in October.

“It is important to maintain Ontario’s competitive advantage by coordinating time changes with our major trading partner, and harmonizing our financial, industrial, transportation and communications links,” said Bryant. “This is in the best interest of Ontario.”

The Ontario Trucking Association applauded the move.

“With tight scheduling windows at shipping and receiving docks there is little tolerance for error, and accessorial charges can be imposed for missing these windows. (Not harmonizing with the U.S.) would also add further complication for carriers and drivers, who are already coping with a myriad of new trade and security measures along the Canada-US border, such as customs pre-notification,” OTA President David Bradley, told McGuinty a few months ago. “Shorter distance transborder shipments where time windows are much shorter – say from Windsor to Detroit – may be particularly impacted.

“In the end, the prevailing view of the trucking industry is that it would be better to be in synch with our largest trading partner and customer than to not be,” Bradley added.