2026 Daylight Savings Changes (or not)
Alberta stops changing its clocks on 1 November
Alberta is moving to permanent UTC−6, which the province calls "Alberta Time". On Sunday 1 November 2026 the clocks do not go back an hour. Phones, computers and calendars that haven't been updated will still go back an hour, and from then on they'll show the wrong time.
What happens on the night
Your current device
This uses the time zone data in the browser you're reading this with. On an iPhone, iPad or Mac using Safari, that's the system's own data. Chrome, Edge and Firefox carry their own copy, so on Windows and Android also follow the steps below for the device itself.
- Time zone
- Checking…
- On 2 Nov 2026
- Checking…
- Alberta rules
- Checking…
This takes a moment.
Check your phone
iPhone and iPad
Settings
- Open Settings › General › Software Update and install anything offered.
- Restart the phone. Apple sends time zone fixes over the air, and they apply after a restart.
- Open Settings › General › Date & Time. Turn on Set Automatically. The time zone should read Edmonton, Calgary, or another Alberta city, or possibly Regina (as it is for me) or another Saskatchewan city, not Denver.
- Open this page in Safari on the phone. The check above should say the device is ready.
Android
Settings
- Open Settings › System › Software update (on Samsung: Settings › Software update) and install anything offered.
- Open Settings › Security & privacy › System & updates › Google Play system update and install it. Google sends time zone data this way. Menu names vary by brand; search Settings for "Google Play system update".
- Restart the phone.
- Open Settings › System › Date & time. Turn on Set time automatically and Set time zone automatically, and check the zone shows an Alberta city or Mountain Time with Edmonton.
The check above reflects Chrome's copy of the data, not Android's. If your phone no longer gets updates, use the workaround further down.
Check your computer
Windows 10 and 11
Windows Update
- Open Settings › Windows Update, select Check for updates, install everything and restart.
- Open Settings › Time & language › Date & time.
- Turn off Set time zone automatically, then choose (UTC−06:00) Mountain Time (Alberta). If that entry isn't in the list, the update isn't installed yet.
Microsoft shipped the new zone in these updates:
| Windows version | Update |
|---|---|
| Windows 11 24H2, 25H2 | September 22, 2026 preview (KB5124010) or the October 13, 2026 security update |
| Windows 11 23H2 | October 13, 2026 security update (KB5126653) |
| Windows 10 with Extended Security Updates, LTSC 2021 | KB5126657 |
| Windows Server 2025 / 2022 / 2019 / 2016 | KB5126646 / KB5126655 / KB5126651 / KB5126868 |
Windows 10 without Extended Security Updates won't get the new zone. Use the workaround below.
Mac
System Settings
- Open System Settings › General › Software Update, install anything offered and restart.
- Open System Settings › General › Date & Time. Turn on Set time zone automatically using your current location, or pick an Alberta city as the closest city.
- Open this page in Safari. The check above should say the Mac is ready.
Linux and servers
tzdata 2026c or later
The change is in the IANA time zone database from release 2026c (8 July 2026). Update the tzdata package, then check:
zdump -v America/Edmonton | grep 2026
Look at the line for Sun Nov 1 08:00:00 2026 UT. Updated data shows CST … gmtoff=-21600: a new name, but the same UTC−6. Old data shows MST … gmtoff=-25200, which is the clocks going back to UTC−7.
Databases, Java runtimes and apps that bundle their own time zone data need their own update.
Check your calendar
- Set your calendar's own time zone to the new Alberta zone too. In Outlook it's under Settings › Calendar › View (new Outlook) or File › Options › Calendar (classic).
- Look at recurring meetings that run past 1 November, especially ones with people in other provinces or countries. Only the organiser can fix a meeting that has attendees.
- If you change a recurring series' time zone, any single occurrences you'd moved go back to the series time. Move them again afterwards.
- On Monday 2 November, check that your first few meetings show at the time you expect.
If you can't update a device
From 1 November, set its time zone to Saskatchewan (Regina, "(UTC−06:00) Saskatchewan" on Windows). Saskatchewan is UTC−6 all year, which is now the same as Alberta.
Before 1 November, leave it on Mountain Time (Edmonton). Times from before the switch may show an hour out in a Saskatchewan zone, so go back to the proper Alberta zone once an update arrives. Don't pick "Mountain Time (US & Canada)" or Denver after 1 November: those still fall back.
Other provinces changing on 1 November
The United States isn't changing
No US state changes its time zone rules on 1 November. US clocks go back an hour at 2:00 a.m. local time that night, as usual, except in Hawaii and most of Arizona, which don't use daylight time. Many states have passed "lock the clock" laws, but those only take effect if Congress allows it, and it hasn't.
That means Alberta now lines up with different US cities in winter and in summer:
| Alberta compared with | 1 Nov 2026 – 14 Mar 2027 | From 14 Mar 2027 |
|---|---|---|
| Denver (US Mountain) | Alberta 1 h ahead | Same time |
| Phoenix (Arizona) | Alberta 1 h ahead | Alberta 1 h ahead |
| Chicago, Houston (US Central) | Same time | Alberta 1 h behind |
| Los Angeles, Seattle (US Pacific) | Alberta 2 h ahead | Alberta 1 h ahead |
| New York, Toronto (Eastern) | Alberta 1 h behind | Alberta 2 h behind |
The US moves its clocks forward on the second Sunday in March, which is 14 March 2027. Meetings with US offices that are booked in Alberta time will move against the US clock twice a year from now on.
