Ottawans prepare for ‘fall back’ time change and some call for it to end

Clocks will roll back one-hour Sunday morning. As CTV’s Dylan Dyson reports, some people are calling for an end to the practice.

With the clocks set to turn back an hour at 2 a.m. on Sunday, Nov. 2, many across Ottawa are preparing to have their routines disrupted.

“It’s extremely daunting,” says Brittany Taylor, a new mom of 9-month-old twin girls.

“We just got these girls on a schedule where they’re synchronized. They’re sleeping mostly through the night. We’re getting some rest again.”

Certified Adult Sleep Coach Talia Shapero says even for those without young children, managing the time change can be difficult.

“Even though they’re excited about getting more sleep, they actually feel a lot more tired when the clocks are turned back,” says Shapero.

“About 30% of them are feeling less motivated, 27% are struggling to maintain those healthy habits and routine.”

“We have darkness one hour earlier in the afternoon,” adds Joseph De Koninck, professor emeritus at the Brain and Mind Research Institute at the University of Ottawa.

“So this has a depressing effect and people get seasonal depression.”

There have been pushes to end the bi-annual time change in Ottawa and across Canada.

Ottawa-area MP Marie-France Lalonde introduced a private member’s bill this fall to end what she calls the “outdated practice” of daylight time. The bill calls on the federal government to work with provincial and territorial officials to formalize an agreement to end daylight time.

According to the Canadian Encyclopedia, the Canadian government introduced daylight saving time in 1918 as a measure for increasing production during the First World War.

“It was done for the war, if people want to get up earlier in the summer to get the extra hour, they can do that. We can just shift our hours,” says Ottawa resident Christa Faubert.

“The science really recommends that we maintain solar time or standard time, the time that we will get into,” adds De Koninck.

“Because the maximum light is at noon and then the activity before and after is equal with the light.”

To help manage the time change and avoid any grogginess, Shapero recommends not making any drastic changes to your daily routine.

“What you can do is start shifting your bedtime a little bit later. So maybe go to bed 15 to 20 minutes later tonight. Go to bed 15, 20 minutes later tomorrow night and on Sunday when you wake up though, keep your wake time anchored, so wake up at the same time.”

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