{"id":34843,"date":"2026-10-05T12:23:33","date_gmt":"2026-10-05T16:23:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/?p=34843"},"modified":"2026-10-05T09:48:56","modified_gmt":"2026-10-05T13:48:56","slug":"when-the-clocks-stop-changing-what-time-is-best-for-health","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/2026\/10\/when-the-clocks-stop-changing-what-time-is-best-for-health\/","title":{"rendered":"When the clocks stop changing: What time is best for health?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Several Canadian jurisdictions are moving toward ending the twice-yearly clock change, but a new analysis published in CMAJ<\/em> (Canadian Medical Association Journal<\/em>) \u00a0https:\/\/www.cmaj.ca\/lookup\/doi\/10.1503\/cmaj.261089<\/a><\/em> argues that eliminating the clock change is only half the decision: governments must also decide whether to adopt permanent standard time or permanent daylight saving time. Both choices have trade-offs. Permanent daylight saving time keeps evenings lighter, which may support recreation, social activity, commuting, and some economic activity.<\/p>\n

But it also pushes sunrise an hour later, leaving more people waking, travelling to school, and commuting to work, in darkness during the winter. Permanent standard time preserves more morning light and better aligns clock time with human circadian biology, although evenings become darker earlier.<\/p>\n

\u201cEnding the clock change solves one problem, but it creates another decision: which time should we live on year-round?\u201d says lead author Dr.\u00a0Raymond Lam, professor of psychiatry at the University of British Columbia (UBC), Vancouver, BC. \u201cThe health evidence points to standard time, largely because morning light matters for our body clocks, sleep, and mood.\u201d<\/p>\n

Weighing the trade-offs<\/strong><\/p>\n

Major sleep and chronobiology organizations recommend permanent standard time. The authors note that morning light helps synchronize the body\u2019s circadian clock, while evening light delays it. Permanent daylight saving time, therefore, works against circadian alignment during winter by reducing morning light while extending evening light.
\n\u201cOur biological clocks need morning light to stay synchronized with the 24-hour day,\u201d says Dr.\u00a0Ralph Mistlberger, professor of psychology at Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, BC. \u201cPermanent daylight saving time moves that light an hour later just when winter mornings are already darkest.\u201d<\/p>\n

The effects may be especially important for mood and sleep. An estimated 1% to 3% of people in Canada experience seasonal affective disorder (SAD), while as many as 15% experience milder seasonal changes in mood, sleep, appetite, and energy. The authors also point to geographic studies showing that people living farther west within a time zone \u2014\u00a0where sunrise occurs later by the clock \u2014\u00a0experience several adverse health outcomes.<\/p>\n

Children and adolescents may be particularly vulnerable because puberty naturally shifts sleep timing later while school still starts early<\/strong>. Other potentially affected groups include shift and early-start workers, public transit users, pedestrians and cyclists, and people living in rural or lower-income communities with poorer lighting and transportation infrastructure.<\/p>\n

The authors acknowledge that permanent daylight saving time has advantages. Longer evening light may make it easier to exercise, socialize, or shop after work and school.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe attraction of permanent daylight saving time is easy to understand. People like more light after work and school,\u201d says Dr.\u00a0Patrick Baylis, associate professor at the Vancouver School of Economics at UBC. \u201cBut those evening benefits have to be weighed against evidence linking later solar time with less sleep, lower productivity, and worse educational outcomes.\u201d<\/p>\n

International experience also provides cautionary examples. The United States adopted permanent daylight saving time during the 1974\u00a0energy crisis but reversed the policy within a year amid opposition to dark winter mornings and concerns about children travelling to school before sunrise. Russia adopted permanent daylight saving time in 2011\u00a0and reversed it in 2014\u00a0after public dissatisfaction. Chile similarly reversed a national move to permanent daylight saving time after its 2015\u00a0experiment.<\/p>\n

The authors of the Analysis emphasize that whichever policy governments choose, its effects should be monitored<\/strong>. Under permanent daylight saving time, possible measures include safer roads and pedestrian infrastructure, later or more flexible school and work start times, increased morning light exposure in schools and workplaces, and monitoring of sleep, mood, injuries, and other health outcomes. Permanent standard time would require fewer measures, mainly addressing earlier evening darkness in winter and earlier dawn in summer.<\/p>\n

\u201cTime policy is a public health policy,\u201d says Dr.\u00a0Alexandra Choi, medical health officer with Vancouver Coastal Health. \u201cIf governments choose permanent daylight saving time, they should plan for the consequences before the first winter \u2014\u00a0from safer morning travel and flexible start times to monitoring sleep, mental health, and injuries.\u201d
\nThe authors conclude that the preponderance of health evidence favours permanent standard time.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have focused for years on whether to stop changing the clocks,\u201d Dr.\u00a0Lam says. \u201cThe more important question now is what happens the morning after we stop.\u201d<\/p>\n

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JOURNAL<\/h4>\n

Canadian Medical Association Journal<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Several Canadian jurisdictions are moving toward ending the twice-yearly clock change, but a new analysis published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) \u00a0https:\/\/www.cmaj.ca\/lookup\/doi\/10.1503\/cmaj.261089 argues that eliminating the clock change is only half the decision: governments must also decide whether to adopt permanent standard time or permanent daylight saving time. Both choices have trade-offs. Permanent daylight… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":20272,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"no","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"off","neve_meta_content_width":70,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[526,1037,1078,351,43,1166],"tags":[522,1167,1168,403,405,682],"class_list":["post-34843","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-behaviour","category-children","category-light","category-mind-body-2","category-sleep","category-time","tag-circadian","tag-daylight","tag-savings","tag-shift-work","tag-society","tag-time"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34843","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34843"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34843\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34844,"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34843\/revisions\/34844"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20272"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34843"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34843"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34843"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}