Washington and British Columbia Fall Out of Sync for the First Time in 52 Years, Adding an Hour for Seattle Travelers to Vancouver
On November 1, as Washington State residents set their clocks back one hour to return to standard time as usual, Canada's British Columbia to the north did not follow, choosing instead to keep daylight saving time permanently. Chinese residents of Seattle, in King County, Washington, are among the first to feel the change.
The shift means that, for the first time in 52 years, British Columbia is one hour apart from Washington; the two had previously differed only for about four months in 1974 under a temporary policy. For Seattle's Chinese community, used to driving to Vancouver on weekends for Chinese food and grocery shopping, crossing the border will now mean not only customs but also moving their watches one hour ahead. The mismatch will last until the United States returns to daylight saving time in spring 2027, when the two sides' clocks realign.
British Columbia's government surveyed 223,000 residents in the summer of 2019 on making daylight time permanent. Washington State's legislature also passed a similar permanent daylight-time bill by a wide margin in 2019, but federal law does not allow a single state to opt out of standard time on its own, so Washington's law has never taken effect. In late June this year, the U.S. House passed the Sunshine Protection Act, aimed at ending standard time nationwide, and in mid-July it was referred to the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee. Washington Congresswoman Marilyn Strickland strongly supports the bill, arguing that longer daylight hours matter for residents' health and outdoor activities.
Source: SeattleChinaRen
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：美加边境和平拱门口岸，华盛顿州与卑诗省交界。（美国驻加拿大使馆，公共领域，经 Wikimedia Commons） / Photo: The Peace Arch border crossing between Washington State and British Columbia. (U.S. Embassy Canada, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)
