Alberta stops changing its clocks: how to fix your calendars

The short answer. On Sunday, November 1, most of North America turns its clocks back an hour. Alberta will not. Phones, computers and calendar apps that have not learned the new rule will turn back anyway, so a meeting can show up an hour late. Here is what to check before Monday, November 2.

Why a meeting can show the wrong time

Say your team meets at 9:30 every morning. Your calendar saves that meeting with a time zone label, like a note that says "9:30, Alberta time". Each app keeps its own rule book for what that label means. Every rule book used to say Alberta turns its clocks back in November. An app with the old rule book still turns back, and your 9:30 meeting shows up at 10:30.

Two things can be out of date:

• Your device. The rule book arrives with your phone or computer updates. Installing them fixes it.
• The meeting itself. A repeating meeting saved under the old rule keeps it until the person who set it up saves it again.

Outlook

1. Install the latest Windows updates. The Alberta change arrived in the September preview and the October update. Then open Settings, Time & language, Date & time, and pick "(UTC-06:00) Mountain Time (Alberta)".
2. Set your Outlook calendar to the same zone. In classic Outlook, go to File, Options, Calendar, Time zones. In new Outlook and Outlook on the web, go to Settings, Calendar, View.
3. For repeating meetings you organize, open the series, choose Edit series, set the time zone to Mountain Time (Alberta), and save. Any single session you moved resets, so check those afterwards.

Outlook on a phone follows the phone's time zone and does not change existing meetings yet. Use a computer or Outlook on the web for those.

Google Calendar

Google is moving most affected meetings back to their original time this month. It skips meetings that arrived as Outlook invitations and repeating meetings with moved sessions. Open Google Calendar in a web browser: those meetings show a banner with a "Move one hour earlier" button.

Apple Calendar (iPhone, iPad, Mac)

Apple delivers time zone updates to its devices over the air, one device at a time. British Columbia made the same change this year. Apple's update for it took about five weeks to reach devices. We expect Alberta's to follow, but we could not find an Apple notice that says when. Install every update and restart, then open a meeting on Monday, November 2 and check its time. We will update this guide when Apple confirms Alberta.

Old software is how most break-ins start, so updating helps beyond calendars. Run a free check on your domain.

Make every invite clear

Alberta's gap with its neighbours changes on November 1:

• Most of British Columbia: Alberta is one hour ahead, all year.
• Montana and Colorado: one hour ahead until March 14, 2027. Arizona: one hour ahead, all year.
• Saskatchewan: the same time, all year.

When you invite someone outside Alberta, write the time as "9:30 Alberta Time" so nobody has to guess.

How WILDCARD helps

WILDCARD ✱ Managed IT Services is a Canadian team based in Edmonton. No business should be too small to be safe. So we run on FairPlay™: month to month, no minimums, no long contracts. We look after computers, email and calendars for small teams.

Talk to us. We'll tell you the first thing we'd fix. Or see our pricing.

Questions people ask

Do I change my clocks on November 1?

No. Alberta stays on the same time all year. Leave your wall clocks, oven and car as they are.

Is anywhere else changing?

Yes. Most of British Columbia, Manitoba and parts of the Northwest Territories also keep a fixed time from November 1. Saskatchewan and Yukon already did. Most other provinces still change their clocks.

How do I know if a repeating meeting is wrong?

Look at it on Monday, November 2. If it starts an hour later than before, ask the person who set it up to open the series, choose Mountain Time (Alberta) as the time zone, and save.