Most of Canada transitioned into Daylight Saving Time (DST) which began at 2 a.m. on Sunday, March 10.
Rudraksha Kalia, a public relations student at York University, said the concept of DST is a “bit absurd,” especially because he comes from India where it is not recognized.
“It’s a minor inconvenience but other than that it doesn’t have much of an impact on day-to-day life,” he said. However, he said the first week after the transiting into DST often causes “little annoyance.”
Kalia came to Canada from India two years ago and to prepare for DST, he said he would “just sleep early” on Sunday, March 10.
Except for parts of Saskatchewan, British Columbia, Ontario and Nunavut, which remain on Standard Time year-round, the rest of the country moved clocks one hour ahead.
Ontario passed a bill in 2020 to remain on DST permanently, but there is a caveat as Quebec and New York state must also remain on DST.
And so once again, this weekend, people went into “spring forward” mode. However, the official spring season begins on March 20.
Everyone will lose an hour of sleep bringing with it longer daylight hours in the spring and summer months, which are just around the corner.
The lost hour of sleep this month is offset by the hour gained on the first Sunday in November.
Port Arthur, Ont., was the first place to use DST in 1908, and other Canadian cities, including Hamilton, Regina and Winnipeg, followed suit about a decade later.
However, Germany was the first country to implement it in 1916. DST was first implemented in Canada and the U.S. in 1918. In the U.S., it was called the Standard Time Act of 1918 and was used as a wartime measure for seven months during the First World War to add more daylight hours to conserve energy resources.
However, studies have revealed troubling trends in how the human body responds during the transition between Standard Time and DST, especially in March.
The issues range from an increase in mood changes and sleep disorders that can lead to motor vehicle collisions and heart complications.
This year more than 79,000 Canadians signed an online petition to stop DST in Canada.
Brampton resident Irene Shone, who started the petition on March 9 demanding Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to stop DST in the country, cited studies that show a detrimental effect on people.
“Changing clocks twice a year is hazardous to your health,” she said.
“I ask the Canadian Government to finally stop Daylight Saving Time and enact Permanent Standard Time,” she said in a statement on her petition on change.org. “Even if one person is saved from having a stroke or heart attack or is saved from a car accident, it’s worth it.”
A study published by Taylor and Francis Online said that after DST started, students who are neither early nor late sleepers went to bed later and slept longer. The study found all the students woke up later. The time between sunset and bedtime got shorter for everyone, but only late sleepers tended to wake up closer to sunrise.
Another study published in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine found DST negatively affects high school students’ sleep and alertness.
The article said after DST started, students slept about 32 minutes less each night, leading to a total sleep loss of nearly three hours a week. The study found their alertness also got worse, with slower reaction times and more mistakes on tests.
Parneet Kaur, a student at Centennial College, said she has no issue with DST because it ensures extra daylight time. However, she said, there is often a little lethargy after breaking the sleep cycle in the initial days.
“It’s easy but you get the hang of it. I will sleep early on Sunday for sure,” she said.
While it is still practiced in some nations, in a position statement published in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) is advocating the “elimination of daylight saving time.”
The “current evidence best supports the adoption of year-round standard time, which aligns best with human circadian biology and provides distinct benefits for public health and safety,” the statement said.