TORONTO, Ont. — Starting in 2007, Ontarians will be changing their clocks a bit later in the spring and fall as the province adopts extended daylight saving time to harmonize with the United States, Attorney General Michael Bryant announced today.

Beginning in 2007, daylight saving time will start on the second Sunday in March, and end on the first Sunday in November. Similar changes were recently adopted in the United States.

“It is important to maintain Ontario’s competitive advantage by coordinating time changes with our major trading partner, and harmonizing our financial, industrial, transportation and communications links,” Bryant said. “This is in the best interest of Ontario.”

“With tight scheduling windows at shipping and receiving docks there is little tolerance for error, and accessorial charges can be imposed for missing these windows,” Ontario Trucking Association president, David Bradley, told Premier Dalton McGuinty last July. “(Not harmonizing with the US) would also add further complication for carriers and drivers, who are already coping with a myriad of new trade and security measures along the Canada-US border, such as customs pre-notification. Shorter distance transborder shipments where time windows are much shorter – say from Windsor to Detroit – may be particularly impacted.”

“In the end, the prevailing view of the trucking industry is that it would be better to be ‘in synch’ with our largest trading partner and customer than to not be.”