When do the clocks change in Ontario?
Daylight saving time ends on Sunday, November 1, 2026, at 2:00 a.m. local time. Clocks go back one hour, to 1:00 a.m. You get an extra hour of sleep, and it gets darker earlier in the evening.
That applies to most of Ontario: Toronto, Ottawa, Hamilton, London, Sudbury, Thunder Bay and every other community on Eastern time.
The exception is new this year. The Ontario government says Kenora and the parts of northwestern Ontario on Central time will not turn their clocks back on November 1. They will stay on daylight time all year, the same as Manitoba.
Need to line up a call or a shift across the two zones? Use the time zone converter.
Which parts of Ontario are on Eastern vs Central time?
Ontario has two time zones. The dividing line in the province's Time Act is the 90th meridian (90° west longitude), which runs just west of Thunder Bay.
| Area | Time zone | Clocks go back Nov 1, 2026? |
|---|---|---|
| Most of Ontario, including Toronto, Ottawa and Thunder Bay | Eastern | Yes, at 2:00 a.m. |
| Kenora and northwestern Ontario communities on Central time (west of the 90th meridian) | Central | No, stays on daylight time |
A few communities near the line keep their own local time arrangements, so the line on the map is not the whole story. If you live or work close to the 90th meridian, check with your municipality or First Nation.
Northwestern Ontario's permanent daylight time
On October 13, 2026, the Ontario government announced it is moving Kenora and the northwestern Ontario regions that have long kept the same time as Manitoba to permanent daylight saving time, starting November 1, 2026. Manitoba announced the same change in September, so the two stay in step.
- Who it affects: communities in Ontario's Central time zone, west of the 90th meridian, such as Kenora. Communities on Eastern time, such as Thunder Bay, will still fall back.
- How: the province says it intends to make the change through a regulation under the Time Act in time for November 1. It follows talks with municipal and First Nation leaders in the northwest.
- Local support: the City of Kenora says 5,261 people answered its survey, more than 93% supported permanent daylight time, and council backed it unanimously on October 9, 2026.
What it means in practice: this winter, Kenora's clocks will show the same time as Toronto's. Central daylight time and Eastern standard time are both five hours behind UTC. In summer, Kenora will again be one hour behind Toronto, as usual.
This is separate from Ontario's Time Amendment Act, 2020, which would put the whole province on permanent daylight time. That law has passed but is not in force, so the rest of Ontario keeps changing its clocks.
Night shifts and pay when the clocks go back
If you work overnight on October 31 into November 1, the clock passes 1:00 a.m. twice. A shift from 11:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. on the clock is 9 hours of actual work, not 8.
Ontario's Employment Standards Act requires your pay to work out to at least minimum wage for each hour you work. So the extra hour is paid. In Toronto, Thunder Bay or anywhere else that falls back, a $20-an-hour worker earns $180 for that shift instead of the usual $160. In Kenora and the other communities that stay on daylight time, the shift is a normal 8 hours.
Work out your own shift with the hourly paycheque calculator.
The extra hour also counts toward overtime. For most Ontario employees, overtime starts after 44 hours in a work week and pays 1½ times your regular rate. Read more in our Ontario overtime rules guide.
The reverse happens in spring. When clocks go forward on Sunday, March 14, 2027, an 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. shift is only 7 hours of work in the parts of Ontario that still change their clocks.
What employers should check
- Pay for hours worked, not scheduled clock times, on the night of October 31.
- Check time clocks and scheduling software, especially for staff in Kenora and other Central-time communities. Systems set to "Central time with daylight saving" may still fall back on November 1 unless updated.
- Meetings across Ontario: from November 1, Kenora and Toronto show the same time. Update recurring meetings and delivery windows.
Sources
- Government of Ontario news release, October 13, 2026: Ontario moving to permanent daylight saving time in parts of northwestern Ontario
- City of Kenora, October 2026: City welcomes Ontario's decision
- National Research Council Canada (time services): daylight saving time ends the first Sunday in November at 2:00 a.m. local time
- Ontario.ca: Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, overtime pay