B.C. Stays on Pacific Time: Device & Calendar Changes

On November 1, 2026, clocks in British Columbia stay where they are. The province has moved to permanent Pacific time, and the work lands in your devices and calendars.

What Changes

B.C. has adopted permanent year-round daylight saving time. The new name is Pacific time (PCT) at UTC-7, the offset the province has used every summer. PCT replaces PST and PDT.

The transition began March 8, 2026, when clocks moved forward. The Province confirmed that was the final time change. November 1 arrives with the clocks unchanged.

Where to look: your wall clock already reads correctly. The systems needing attention are the ones still expecting a fall-back and applying one anyway.

Devices

Windows

Microsoft's October 2026 update adds a new time zone entry. Devices running it on a supported Windows version receive the corrected data.

Windows:

• Install the October 2026 cumulative update.
• Restart.
• Open Settings → Time & language → Date & time.
• Set Time zone to (UTC-07:00) Pacific Time (British Columbia).

macOS and iOS

Apple has updated macOS and iOS with the new B.C. time zones, shown by city location at UTC-7. The data loads during a restart.

macOS:

• Install the latest macOS update.
• Restart so the new time zone data loads.
• Open System Settings → General → Date & Time.
• Confirm Time Zone is set automatically for your location.

iPhone and iPad:

• Install the latest iOS update.
• Open Settings → General → Date & Time.
• Turn on Set Automatically.

Calendars

A meeting created before November 1 carries a time zone reference, typically the older Pacific Time (US & Canada) entry, which resolves to a different offset once November 1 passes. Microsoft lists confirmed impact on Outlook and Exchange Online, Teams Rooms, Teams Auto Attendant, Bookings, Power Automate, SharePoint On-Premises, and Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations.

Who does the work: meeting organizers. Only the creator can change a meeting's time zone, and attendees then receive an updated invitation.

Outlook

Step one — set the calendar time zone (new Outlook):

• Open Settings → Calendar → View.
• Under Time zones, open the Display my calendar in time zone dropdown.
• Select (UTC-07:00) Pacific Time (British Columbia).
• Select Save.

In classic Outlook the same setting lives under File → Options → Calendar.

Step two — update existing meetings:

• Open the meeting.
• For a recurring series, choose Edit Series.
• Select the time block, then the Time zone globe button.
• Change the time zone to (UTC-07:00) Pacific Time (British Columbia).
• Save, or send the update so attendees receive a revised invitation.

Recurring meetings: changing the time zone on a series resets any exceptions in it, such as a single instance moved to a different time. Re-create those exceptions afterwards.

Google Workspace

The common fault is a user who set a fixed GMT-8 offset where a named time zone belongs.

Google Calendar:

• Open Settings → General → Time zone.
• Select America/Vancouver.
• Save.

Tooling Still Landing

Vendor tooling arrives after the change takes effect, so check the first week of November by hand. Non-recurring meetings have an Exchange Online PowerShell cmdlet planned for around November 4. Recurring meeting remediation remains in development, so review those manually.

Regional Exceptions

• Peace region and Northern Rockies — Mountain Standard Time, UTC-7 year-round. Same offset as PCT.
• East Kootenay (Cranbrook, Golden) — UTC-6, aligning with Alberta.
• Alberta — UTC-6. Manitoba — UTC-5.
• Washington, Oregon, California — still observe daylight saving. Cross-border meetings need attention in both directions.

Before November 1

Checks to run:

• Confirm the October Windows update and a recent macOS restart across the fleet.
• Set calendar time zones to the new British Columbia entry for every affected user.
• Review meetings beyond November 1, starting with recurring series.
• Update Edge and WebView2 on Teams Rooms devices, then confirm the room clock matches Windows.
• Test a pilot group: meetings, free/busy, Bookings appointments.
• Check Google Workspace users for fixed GMT-8 settings.

Where We Come In

This is fleet work: knowing which machines are current, which run unsupported versions, and which users still carry a stale time zone. We manage Apple and Windows fleets with the reporting to answer that directly, and we can run the calendar migration with your team.

If November 1 is close and the checks are outstanding, book a free IT assessment and we will tell you where you stand.