Last week, Manitoba announced it is moving to permanent daylight time. In doing so, it joins Alberta and B.C., which also moved to permanent daylight time this year.
Similar changes could be on the horizon out east too. In 2020, Ontario said it would switch to permanent daylight time if Quebec and New York State did so as well.
These changes stand to impact everyone in certain ways. They will prolong daylight hours in the evenings, providing people more time to enjoy recreational activities. They will also make winter mornings darker and potentially more dangerous for pedestrians on their way to work and school.
A lesser known impact is their effect on religious groups, particularly Jewish communities.
Observant Jews pray three times a day: at sunrise, midday and sunset. The purpose of the prayers is to keep God at the centre of daily life.
Of the three, morning prayers will be most affected since they can only be recited right when the sun rises — not before. In Manitoba, for example, a change to permanent daylight savings time will mean the sun will rise between 9 to 9:30 a.m. CDT during much of the province’s winters.
Not only would this mean a later start for personal morning rituals, it would also affect synagogue prayer services.
Yosef Benarroch, a rabbi at the Adas Yeshurun Herzlia Orthodox synagogue in Winnipeg, says the change would make things difficult for his community since they require 10 men to gather at sunrise to pray.
“That would really be a huge challenge,” he said. “I don’t think that we could get a quorum of 10 men at 9 a.m.”
The Rabbinical Assembly of the Conservative Movement, which represents 1,500 rabbis around the world, has expressed support for a permanent standard time, says Carnie Shalom Rose, a member of the assembly and senior rabbi at the Congregation Shaarey Zedek in Winnipeg.
With permanent standard time, a jurisdiction stays on the “winter” clock all year and the sun is always roughly overhead around noon. Winter mornings are brighter, but it gets dark earlier in the evening.
Saskatchewan has been on permanent standard time for decades.
Standard time aligns more closely with natural circadian rhythms and minimizes disruptions to Jewish religious practices, says Rose.
“Judaism — and I would contend all religious traditions — are about human flourishing, and human flourishing only happens when people get the right kinds and amount of rest, stimulation and exercise,” he said.
By sticking with standard time year-round, people would be able to be “the best, the highest and holiest versions of ourselves,” Rose said.
Mosques ready to ‘adjust’
Muslims will be impacted differently by the switch to permanent daylight time, says Sikander Hashmi, executive director of the Canadian Council of Imams.
Muslims’ prayers occur before sunrise and after sunset.
No matter what time is chosen, Muslims will adjust, Hashmi says.
And mosques in provinces staying on one time will be glad not to have to remind people about twice-annual changes to worship times, he says.
“Having daylight time throughout the year would mean that timing would be fairly consistent,” he said.
Christians who use the sun for prayer times will not be significantly affected, says Father Matthew Beynon of the Holy Trinity Orthodox Church in Winnipeg.
“We are flexible,” he said. “There is a fair bit of wiggle room . . . morning prayers don’t have to correspond to when the sun comes up.”
‘A cultural change’
British Columbia switched to permanent daylight time this year. In November, it will stay on daylight savings time, instead of clocks falling back.
Andrew Rosenblatt, the rabbi at the modern Orthodox synagogue Congregation Schara Tzedeck in Vancouver, says the shift will be “a big adjustment” for his community.
“People’s lives are built around their schedules,” he said, adding it will impact who can participate in the morning minyan.
Rosenblatt does not think the province thought about the implications for religious groups when it decided to stay on daylight savings time.
“It’s not just a technical change,” he said. “It’s a cultural change. We will have no choice but to adjust.”
Rose, of Winnipeg’s Congregation Shaarey Zedek, agrees.
“We will most assuredly find a way to continue our unyielding support for thrice daily worship, linking our praise for the Almighty at the stages of the day, morning, noon and night, as well as for the needs of contemporary adherents,” Rose said.
