Daylight Saving Time Ends Across North America Amid Continued Debates on its Future

As North America "falls back," ongoing legislative efforts to make daylight saving time permanent remain stalled in the U.S. House of Representatives, with 19 U.S. states ready to adopt it permanently if Congress allows it, while Canada awaits U.S. decision to change their system.

• Daylight Saving Time (DST) ended across North America on November 5, with clocks turned back one hour, marking shorter days and longer nights.
• In the United States, ongoing legislative efforts to make DST permanent have stalled in the House of Representatives, despite the Senate passing appropriate legislation in 2022; 19 U.S. states have passed legislation to permanently use DST if Congress allows it.
• Canada is ready to adopt DST permanently and has passed a similar bill, contingent on the U.S. making the change; Mexico has already ended its time changes.
• The original motivation for DST was to conserve energy and extend summer daylight hours; however, studies show little or no energy saving from the shift, and there are adverse health effects linked to DST such as increased fatal traffic accidents, heart attacks, strokes, and sleep deprivation in the days following the forward clock adjustment.
• Outside North America and Europe, the majority of countries do not observe DST, with exceptions including Australia, which sets its clocks forward one hour on the first Sunday of October. Countries like Japan and Egypt have considered adopting DST for specific events or to ration energy use, but have faced popular opposition or technical challenges.

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