B.C. Time Zone: Impacts and what you need to know
On November 1, 2026, British Columbia will move to permanent Pacific Time (British Columbia), ending seasonal clock changes. While the change itself is straightforward, its effects on technology can be more complex. Many of the systems and services we rely on use time-zone information to schedule activities, display dates and times, or coordinate work across locations.
A plain-language example:
If you scheduled a meeting or event for 9 a.m. Pacific Time (UTC−08:00), it may appear at 10 a.m. when B.C. moves to UTC−07:00. The meeting itself has not moved; B.C’s clock has.
For meetings or events with people in regions that still change their clocks, you will likely need to decide whether to keep the scheduled time, or move the meeting one hour earlier, and let participants know.
1. Managing Recurring and Future Meetings in Outlook, Teams and Zoom (anytime before November 1st)
Any meetings spanning across or occurring after November 1st require attention to prevent scheduling conflicts:
- Existing Recurring Meetings: Recurring meetings extending past November 1st must be resubmitted in the new time zone, while all dates before November 1st are unaffected.
- New Meetings: Any new meetings created for dates on or after November 1st must be set up using the correct time zone from the start.
In MS Outlook – New Meeting or Appointment
In MS Teams – Calendar/New Event
In Zoom Workplace – Schedule
2. Microsoft Bookings Users (Action Required Now)
- Current Action: Update your backend Bookings setting to Pacific Time (British Columbia).
In addition to checking your Windows device time zone, please also verify the online version of Microsoft 365 Outlook time zone settings. These are separate and can cause calendar and meeting times to appear one hour off if you use the online Outlook client.
To check (Outlook on the web):
- Go to Settings
- Click on Calendar
- Within View under Time zones, set Display my calendar in time zone to: (UTC-07:00) Pacific Time (British Columbia)
Note: If you see a prompt about updating your meeting hours time zone, choose the option that keeps (or sets) it to (UTC-07:00) Pacific Time (British Columbia), i.e., do not switch it to Pacific Time (US & Canada).
What ITS and Vendors Are Doing
- Device Updates: ITS is systematically updating the system time zone on all campus devices to the correct Pacific Time (British Columbia) time zone.
- Vendor Software: All external vendor software platforms are being reviewed and managed by their respective providers to align with the November 1st changes.