On March 8, get ready to move your clocks ahead one hour because at 2 a.m., Daylight Saving Time (DST) in Alberta officially begins.
By definition, DST is a change in the standard time of each time zone (the formation of standard time being credited to Canada’s own Sir Stanford Fleming of course) first suggested by Benjamin Franklin. While an emissary to France, he initiated the idea in an essay titled "An Economical Project for Diminishing the Cost of Light." The essay was first published in the “Journal de Paris” in April 1784 but it wasn't for more than a century later that an Englishman, William Willett, suggested it again with a proposal presented in 1907. The idea was defeated in a Parliament committee vote in 1909 but he continued to lobby for the change until his death in 1915. That year, Germany was the first nation to adopt the practice with Britain instituting “British Summer Time” in 1916.
According to www.CBC.ca, several areas, including parts of Europe, Canada and the United States, followed suit during the First World War. DSL was observed in the U.S. for seven months in 1918 and 1919 but proved to so unpopular that it was repealed before being reinstated in the Second World War with a different rule reinstated by Britain. Clocks were set two hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) during the summer and this was known as Double Summer Time. The time shift didn't end with the summer, as clocks were rolled back to be one hour ahead of GMT through the winter. From 1945 to 1966, there was no U.S. law about Daylight Saving Time so states and localities were free to follow the practice at will. By 1966, some 100 million Americans were observing the practice through their own local laws and customs until Congress decided to step in end the confusion and establish one pattern across the country. The Uniform Time Act of 1966 stated Daylight Saving Time was to begin on the last Sunday of April and to end on the last Sunday of October. Any area that wanted to be exempt from DSL could do so by passing a local ordinance. The law was amended in 1986 to begin DSL on the first Sunday in April.
In Canada, DSL is determined by provincial legislation with exceptions existing in certain municipalities. In 2007, DSL changed so that it would start on the second Sunday in March and end on the first Sunday in November. This pattern is now followed by all provinces that observe the practice to keep Canada’s DSL pattern consistent with the States. Previously, Canada had observed Daylight Saving Time from the first Sunday in April until the last Sunday in October. While there were and are many pros as there were and are many cons associated with a time shift, if you live in the Alberta, get ready to make the change.