A psychology professor who has been studying Daylight Saving Time for 20 years believes it would be a bad idea to adopt it year-round.
He believes if we stop changing our clocks, we should go with Standard Time permanently.
Dr. Mike Antle of the University of Calgary says spring forward changes are not good for our bodies.
“It creates a bit of a mismatch between what our body wants to do and what our boss or teachers want us to do. We have to show up to work an hour earlier on daylight saving time.”
Antle also says many cities across Canada wouldn’t have a sunrise until 9 a.m. or later in early winter which means kids would be going to school in the dark and the risk of car accidents would likely increase.
While we would get more daylight in the late afternoon, he adds morning light is what is necessary to set your body’s circadian clock.
Antle says it takes about three weeks for most of us to adjust to the spring time change.
“So it’s not just losing an hour of sleep on that Monday morning, but it’s actually getting up an hour earlier every day for three weeks relative to what your body wants to do.”
Antle has been advocating for year-round Standard Time but provinces like Ontario and British Columbia are considering permanent Daylight Saving Time if neighbouring American states do the same.
The U.S. Senate recently passed such legislation but there are no guarantees it will get a rubber stamp in the House of Representatives.
