The Clocks Aren’t Falling Back This Year: What the B.C. Time Change Means for Your Building

By the Kimco Controls Team | October 2026

Chris Howard has looked after building automation for Kimco clients for 28 years. Long careers are common on our team, and Chris is a good example. Every fall, before the clocks change, he logs into client systems from his desk and checks that the heat and lights will run at the right time on Monday morning.

This fall he’s checking for the opposite problem. The B.C. time change on March 8, 2026, was the last one. On Sunday, November 1, 2026, clocks across the Interior stay right where they are. Any controller, time clock or thermostat that still plans to fall back an hour is about to be wrong.

This is a small error that has a big impact. One hour is the difference between a classroom that’s warm at the first bell and one that isn’t, or a parking lot that’s lit at closing and one that’s dark. The good news is that it’s easy to catch ahead of time, and most of the checking can happen without anyone having to drive to your site.

What’s Changing With the B.C. Time Change on November 1?

Most of the province is now on Pacific time year-round, at UTC-7. That’s the time we’ve had on our clocks since spring, according to the Province of B.C. When we sprang forward on March 8, we stayed there. There’s no fall back this year and no spring forward next March.

The East Kootenay works a little differently. Cranbrook, Fernie, Invermere, Kimberley, Sparwood, Elkford, and Radium Hot Springs follow Alberta, and Alberta is ending its clock changes in November, too. It’s calling its permanent time Alberta Time, at UTC-6.

Golden’s council has gone back and forth on its time zone this fall. If you manage a building there, confirm where the town landed before you trust any schedule.

Area	What Happens November 1	Year-Round Time
Kelowna, Penticton, Vernon, Kamloops and most of B.C.	Clocks stay put	Pacific time (UTC-7)
Cranbrook, Fernie, Invermere, Kimberley and the East Kootenay	Clocks stay put	Alberta Time (UTC-6)
Golden	Latest reports: clocks stay put, matching Alberta. Confirm with the Town of Golden.	Confirm locally

Our Cranbrook team stays an hour ahead of our Kelowna office, same as always. What’s new is that every community we serve, clocks should not move on November 1. If you manage buildings on both sides of that line, the hour between them doesn’t change. The only thing that goes away is the twice-a-year clock change.

Why Would a Building Automation System Fall Back on Its Own?

A building automation system (BAS) is the computer that runs a building’s heating, cooling, and ventilation on a schedule. Many of these systems, along with lighting time clocks, programmable thermostats and EV chargers, were set up years ago to handle daylight saving time automatically. They still carry the old rule: fall back on the first Sunday in November.

Your phone gets a software update with the new rules. The time clock on the wall of a warehouse electrical room doesn’t. Neither does the thermostat in a portable classroom that nobody’s opened up in a few years.

That’s what makes this change different from a normal fall. In past years, the self-adjusting equipment did the right thing, and the job was to catch the pieces that didn’t. This year it’s flipped. The equipment that adjusts itself is the equipment that’s wrong.

Equipment Worth Checking

If it keeps time and runs on a schedule, it belongs on the list:

• Building automation controllers that start and stop heating, cooling and ventilation.
• Lighting time clocks for parking lots, exterior signs, hallways and common areas.
• Programmable thermostats in smaller buildings, offices and portables.
• EV chargers with scheduled charging windows.

What Happens When a Schedule Slips an Hour

Chris has seen this one before. “If the time change didn’t adjust properly, equipment wouldn’t come on at the correct time,” he says. The building misses its setpoints, the target temperatures the system is aiming for, right when people walk in.

Chris points out that setpoints adjust automatically based on outdoor temperature and season, so by November, the system relies on its morning start schedule to warm the building before anyone arrives. Start that schedule an hour late, and the first people in the door find a cold building.

Lighting slips the same way. Lights that don’t switch on or off at their scheduled times mean a dark parking lot at closing, or an empty office lit up all evening. Nobody notices until someone complains.

The potential issue with a one-hour slip is that it most likely won’t present as a breakdown. The equipment runs. The screens show no alarm. Everything works, just at the wrong time, so it can go on for days before anyone connects the cold mornings to the clock.

The Buildings Chris Watches Closest

Schools top his list. A school has a hard start time, and a classroom that’s still cold at 8:30 a.m. makes for a long morning for students and staff. Kimco has worked with school districts across B.C.’s Interior for decades, and many districts manage several buildings from a single building automation system. That works in your favour here: a single remote check can cover an entire group of schools.

This one matters to our team for another reason, too. Our kids go to schools in the districts we serve. Our team members coach the teams, go to the events and live in these communities year-round. A warm classroom on November 2 is something we care about as parents and neighbours, not just as technicians.

Process buildings come next on his list. In the Okanagan, that means wineries, where equipment runs on schedules the operation depends on.

How Our Team Checks Your Site Before November 1

Here’s what Chris walks through on each site:

1. Log in remotely. He connects to the building automation system over the internet, so most checks don’t need a site visit. For you, that means no need to book a time to let a technician in.

2. Review how the HVAC equipment is running. He looks at how the equipment and systems are operating, not just what the clock says. A schedule can be right while the equipment behind it is struggling, and this is the time to catch both.

3. Confirm the schedule will hold on November 1. In past years, this check made sure the time would adjust correctly. This year it makes sure the time doesn’t adjust at all.

4. Adjust by hand where needed. If setpoints aren’t being met, the system gets adjusted manually.

What Property Managers Can Check Themselves

• On Monday, November 2, compare the time on your building automation screen, thermostats, and lighting time clocks against your phone.
• Walk the building early and late that first week. A cold office at opening or lights on in an empty space are the giveaways.
• Check the outside too. Parking lot lights, exterior signs and EV chargers run on their own schedules.
• Write down anything that’s an hour off and send it our way. We’d rather hear about it on day one than have you put up with it all week.

One Call for HVAC, Controls and Electrical

Heating schedules live in the building automation system. Lighting time clocks live in the electrical room. The time change reaches both. Kimco handles commercial HVAC, building automation, and electrical under one roof, so one technician can look at the whole picture instead of three trades sorting out whose clock is wrong.

Many of our technicians hold dual-trade certification, so the person checking your controls schedule can often deal with a lighting time clock on the same visit. And if something goes wrong after hours, our 24/7 emergency support runs through three staffed regional offices. You’ll reach our own people, not an answering service. 

Questions We’re Hearing This Fall

Q: Do I Need to Change the Clocks in My Building on November 1?

A: No. Across most of B.C. and the East Kootenay, clocks stay where they are. If for some reason they don’t, you will need to set them back.

Q: My Thermostat Already Fell Back. What Do I Do?

A: Set it forward an hour. If it has an automatic daylight saving setting, turn that off, or it’ll jump ahead again next March.

Q: Will I Have to Do This Again Next Spring?

A: Not if the automatic daylight saving settings are turned off now. Any device that still carries the old rule will try to spring forward in March, so fixing the setting this fall saves you a second round of cold mornings and mistimed lights.

Q: Is a Schedule Check Part of Commercial HVAC Maintenance?

A: It should be, and it’s a quick add to any commercial HVAC maintenance visit before November 1. Our post on building automation system maintenance covers what else drifts after a system goes in.

Book a Schedule Check Before November 1

Call us at 1-866-529-2895 ext. 1 or request service online, and Chris or one of our technicians will log in and take a look. If something slips after the fact, our 24/7 line is 1-866-529-2895

Kimco has been looking after buildings in B.C.’s Interior since 1984, and the people inside them are our neighbours. The clocks aren’t moving this year. Your building’s schedule shouldn’t either.