Impact of Alberta Time transition on technology and software

Alberta has adopted permanent Alberta Time (previously called Mountain Daylight Time, or MDT, in Alberta) to end the previous practice of semi-annual clock changes. This means that effective Nov. 1, 2026, Alberta will stay in the same time zone year-round and will not adjust clocks by one hour in the spring or in the fall.

To ensure a smooth transition, please review the following technology impacts and required actions.

Software or devices showing incorrect time stamps

During updates and testing, IST has identified issues in browsers and other software caused by adding a new time zone which required vendor software updates to resolve. It is expected that we will experience additional issues once the new Alberta time comes into effect. As software vendors work to resolve these issues, it is important for everyone to keep all software up to date and apply all available patches. 

For detailed instructions on manually adjusting your computer time zone on a U of A-managed or a personal device, visit our support article.

Zoom

If you use Zoom in your work, teaching or learning, ensure you update your Zoom Workplace desktop client to version 7.1.0 or later, then restart Zoom. For detailed instructions on managing the time change with Zoom, visit their support article here.

Digital Teaching & Learning Tools

Many of our Digital Teaching & Learning tool service providers have advised that the change should not affect their underlying processes and will adjust timing automatically; others have provided instructions users must follow to ensure their event or assignment dates are accurate. Specific services and steps are listed below.

Services where no action is required:

• Canvas
• Edufide (Assign2 and SEM)
• Wooclap
• FeedbackFruits
• Yuja

Services where users must take action:

• Canvas-STACK Integration: Those affected will be contacted directly by email as users will have settings to review.
• eClass External: Those affected will be contacted directly by email as users will have settings to review.

Google Calendar

IST is aware of instances where Google Calendar has shifted some events occurring after Nov. 1 by one hour. To fix this, Google has adjusted most of the impacted events.

For any events not automatically fixed, the Google Calendar web application will flag any events affected by the Alberta Time change with a "!" badge and provide a simple one-click tool for the event organizer to fix them. Badges will not appear in the Calendar app on Android, iPhone, iPad, or in third-party calendar apps. 

Managing unresolved calendar events

To prevent scheduling disruptions and missed events, please complete the following steps for any events the automated solution has not addressed before Friday Oct. 30, 2026. 

1. Review badged events on Google Calendar Web: Identify affected events that extend past Nov. 1, 2026. Events will have a “!” badge. See the affected events by visiting calendar.google.com or by selecting the calendar icon from the Google Workspace Apps dialer.
2. Update impacted events: 
   • Click on each affected event in Google Calendar.
   • Organizers can use the one-click assistive flow to move the event to the correct time. Guests will need to RSVP again.
3. Verify third-party integrations: Confirm that external calendar sync tools or API clients interacting with Google Calendar use the latest time zone definitions.
4. Reach out to external collaborators: Confirm with your external collaborators that the meeting time you intend is the meeting time reflected in their calendar.

Step-by-step instructions can be found in this Google Support article.