Time Zones in British Columbia, Canada

Time Zones Currently Being Used in British Columbia

Offset	Time Zone Abbreviation & Name		Example City	Current Time
UTC -8	PST	Pacific Standard Time	Vancouver	Mon, 7:55:08 pm
UTC -7	MST	Mountain Standard Time	Cranbrook	Mon, 8:55:08 pm

BC Time Zone

Most of British Columbia, including its largest city Vancouver, uses Pacific Standard Time (PST) during standard time and Pacific Daylight Time (PDT) during Daylight Saving Time (DST).

Neighbors on Mountain Time

All of British Columbia's neighbors in Canada use Mountain Time (MT). Yukon is on Mountain Standard Time (MST) all year, while the Northwest Territories and Alberta switch to Mountain Daylight Time (MDT) during Daylight Saving Time.

Some areas in the southeast and northeast of BC bordering these states either switch between MST and MDT during the DST period or use the standard time MST all year.

Southeastern BC on Mountain Time

Some locations in the southeast of British Columbia, close to the border of Alberta, observe MST during standard time and MDT during DST. They include Cranbrook, Golden, and Invermere.

Creston does not use DST and observes Mountain Standard Time all year.

Northeast on Mountain Standard Time

Northeast in the province, some areas also use MST all year: The Northern Rockies Regional Municipality, including Fort Nelson, and most of Peace River Regional District, including Dawson Creek and Fort St. John, don't change for DST.

The only exception in the Peace River Regional District is Fort Ware, which uses Pacific Standard Time (PST), switching to Pacific Daylight Time (PDT) during DST.

Generalized Time Zones in British Columbia

Time Zone Abbreviation & Name		Offset	Current Time
PT	Pacific Time	UTC -8:00 / -7:00	Mon, 7:55:08 pm
MT	Mountain Time	UTC -7:00 / -6:00	Mon, 8:55:08 pm

Note: Local time in these time zones changes when Daylight Saving Time begins and ends.

---

Time Zones Not Currently Being Observed in British Columbia

Offset	Time Zone Abbreviation & Name		Commences
UTC -7	PDT	Pacific Daylight Time	Mar 9, 2025
UTC -6	MDT	Mountain Daylight Time	Mar 9, 2025

The above time zones are used during other parts of the year. They will become active again after the next clock change as Daylight Saving Time begins or ends.

Need some help?