How to use this page
The panel at the top shows the local time and date in Montreal, updating every second. Below it you will find:
- the time zone name and its IANA identifier, the code that computers and phones use for the zone;
- the current UTC offset and the time zone abbreviation in use;
- the time difference between Montreal and the time zone set on your device;
- whether daylight saving time is in effect, and the date of the next clock change, if one is scheduled;
- today’s sunrise, sunset and day length;
- the coordinates used for the sun times;
- links to other cities in Canada, which is useful when a country spans several time zones.
Everything is calculated in your browser from the clock on your device, so the time keeps ticking without reloading the page.
How local time is determined
Local time in Montreal is set by the authorities in Canada, who decide the standard offset from Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) and whether clocks change in summer. These rules are collected in the IANA time zone database, the public reference used by operating systems and browsers around the world.
Governments do change their rules, sometimes with only a few weeks’ notice: they adopt or abandon daylight saving time, move the dates of the change or shift to a different offset altogether. When that happens, the database is updated and devices pick up the change through software updates. This page always uses the rules built into your browser, so keeping your device up to date keeps the times here correct. For more on summer time around the world, see daylight saving time, and for the meaning of the abbreviations, see time zone abbreviations.
Planning calls and meetings with Montreal
Knowing the current time is only half the job when you need to reach someone. A few practical points:
- Check the date as well as the time. Late in the evening for you can already be tomorrow in places to the east, and still yesterday in places far to the west.
- Watch for clock changes. The difference between two cities can shift by an hour for a few weeks a year when their daylight saving dates differ. The next change date above shows when this applies.
- Working hours vary. The working week and typical office hours differ between countries, and so do public holidays.
To find a time that suits several people, use the meeting planner. To see exactly how many hours separate Montreal from another place, and when that gap will change, use the time difference calculator. To follow several cities at once, open the world clock.