The British Columbia government recently announced the province will adopt permanent daylight saving time (DST). It framed the decision as a way to improve health, reduce disruptions, simplify scheduling and provide more evening daylight.

The adoption of permanent DST raises significant concerns about social jetlag and long-term health impacts. Scientific evidence indicates that permanent DST results in a chronic mismatch between people's daily clock-based schedules and their internal biological clock.

This mismatch is known as social jetlag, results in sleep deprivation and negatively impacts health, as detailed by the Canadian Sleep Society, Canadian Society for Chronobiology, Canadian Sleep Research Consortium and the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.

As nurses conducting pediatric sleep research, our focus is on promoting adequate sleep for children, adolescents and their families. We are particularly concerned about the effect of permanent DST on adolescents' sleep because they already experience social jetlag.

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