Daylight saving time ends soon: Here’s what you need to know

What does changing the clock do to your health? As Canadians prepare for the end of Daylight savings time, experts say switching the clocks serves no real purpose.

Daylight saving time will end Sunday and to prepare for it, CTV News Toronto has made a list of all you need to know about the tradition.

What does it do?

Most Canadians will have to turn their clocks back one hour at 2 a.m. on Sunday as we return back to standard time. This means it will get lighter earlier in the morning and darker earlier in the evening. Most cell phones will change time on their own, but other clocks in your home may need to be changed manually.

What does it mean for drivers?

The City of Toronto issued a news release Friday warning residents to be alert because fewer daylight hours can mean reduced visibility for road users. The city said that pedestrian collisions increased by more than 30 per cent during the evening commute hours from November to March.

The city has launched a safety campaign promoting road safety in light of daylight saving time. The city said that similar efforts around this time in New York City helped reduce fatalities.

What it can do to our bodies?

Many people who change their clocks will experience a shock to their bodies’ internal clock much like the jet lag experienced after flying across time zones, according to Patricia Lakin-Thomas, a professor at York University.

Lakin-Thomas said that research shows that the disruption to the internal clock can cause increased rated of car accidents, heart attacks, stroke, weight gain, anxiety and workplace injuries.

“Some people think it's nice to give us more light in the evening, but there are good biological reasons why that's a bad idea,” she said.

What's the history?

Most Canadian provinces observe daylight saving time, but Saskatchewan decided to not follow the herd and uses only standard time year round. British Columbia recently introduced legislation to end the time change altogether, and stick to permanent daylight saving time.

Daylight savings time started in Ontario in 1918. The reason behind it was to save energy, Lakin-Thomas told CTV News Toronto.

“The idea was to save energy by giving us more light in the evening,” she said. “Those energy savings were never realized but we have stuck with the time changes anyway.”

Lakin-Thomas said daylight saving time has come and gone throughout the years. She said it disappeared after the First World War, and returned during the Second World War.