If this week’s icy blast has you questioning whether winter will ever end, here’s a little light at the end of the tunnel — literally.
Ontario will officially “spring forward” on Sunday, March 8, when clocks jump from 2 a.m. to 3 a.m. Yes, we lose an hour of sleep. But in return, we gain something far more valuable this time of year: longer evenings and later sunsets.
It may not feel like it yet, but we’ve already survived the darkest stretch of the year. From mid-November through late January, daylight hours are at their shortest. In fact, Toronto hasn’t seen a sunset past 6 p.m. since November 1, and throughout December, the sun dipped below the horizon before 5 p.m. every single day.
Since the winter solstice on December 21, the light has been slowly creeping back. And by next week, Toronto will experience its first sunset after 6 p.m. in more than 100 days — a small but meaningful milestone.
Once daylight saving time kicks in on March 8, the difference will be immediate. That Sunday’s sunset is set for 7:15 p.m., giving the province a noticeable boost of evening daylight. By mid-April, sunsets will arrive after 8 p.m., and by mid-June, we’ll be enjoying those long, golden evenings stretching past 9 p.m.
Of course, not everyone is a fan of the twice-yearly time change. Critics argue the practice is outdated, and discussions about eliminating it resurface almost every year. Ontario has expressed openness to making the shift permanent, but any decision would likely hinge on New York State making the same move. While legislation has been proposed south of the border, nothing has passed yet.
Elsewhere in Canada, Yukon scrapped the seasonal time change in 2020, and most of Saskatchewan stays on the same time year-round.
For now, though, Ontario is sticking with tradition. So while we may have a few more snowy days ahead, brighter evenings are just around the corner — and after months of early darkness, that’s something worth looking forward to.
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