Daylight saving time a good time to check smoke alarms, fire department

Quebecers woke up Sunday morning to daylight saving time as watches and clocks were set to move forward one hour overnight, or their phones adjusted the time for them.

The Montreal fire department (SIM) is reminding citizens that the passage to daylight saving time is the ideal moment to verify the operation and the conformity of smoke alarms in dwellings.

In the metropolis alone, firefighters fought nearly 4,000 fires in 2021, including 319 in residential buildings and 358 fires that were related to cooking fires.

Daylight saving time remains a hot topic of debate.

The premiers of Quebec, Ontario and British Columbia have said they are open to the idea of abandoning daylight saving time.

British Columbia Premier John Horgan passed legislation three years ago to allow the province to remain on daylight saving time year-round.

But Horgan said Friday that his province will not abandon the twice-a-year time change without the three U.S. states in the same time zone - Washington, Oregon and California - doing so as well.

Horgan hopes a bill by the governor of Washington State will win approval from Congress this year, which means British Columbians could be on their last time change.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford also said Friday that he would like to see the province stick with Daylight Savings Time and is looking forward to the long summer days.

Most provinces, as well as Nunavut and the Northwest Territories, will set their clocks ahead one hour on Sunday night.

However, the Yukon and most of Saskatchewan remain on standard time year-round.

-- This report by The Canadian Press was first published on March 13, 2022.