Windows clock wrong in BC, Alberta or Manitoba after November 1: how to fix it

What changed on November 1

Each province now keeps one time all year. The provincial governments describe it in slightly different terms:

Province	New official time	Offset	Old Windows zone that is now wrong
British Columbia	Pacific time (PCT), permanent since March 8, 2026	UTC-7	(UTC-08:00) Pacific Time (US & Canada)
Alberta	Alberta Time (ABT), from November 1, 2026	UTC-6	(UTC-07:00) Mountain Time (US & Canada)
Manitoba	Manitoba Standard Time (MBT), from November 1, 2026	UTC-5	(UTC-06:00) Central Time (US & Canada)

In practice, all three kept their summer clock time. The old Windows zones still follow the US pattern and fell back an hour on November 1, which is why the clock is now an hour behind. Not every part of each province moved: the BC government notes that northeastern BC was already on UTC-7 all year, and southeastern BC (around Cranbrook and Golden) stays on the same time as Alberta. Microsoft also lists Yellowknife and Inuvik as following Alberta, and northwestern Ontario as following Manitoba.

Step 1: Install the update with the new time zones

Windows can only offer the new zones after an update adds them. According to Microsoft’s time zone blog, BC and Alberta arrived in the September 22, 2026 optional update for Windows 11 24H2 and 25H2, and every supported version got all three provinces in the October 13, 2026 security update or later. Microsoft lists these updates:

Windows version	Update
Windows 11, versions 25H2 and 24H2	KB5124010 or later
Windows 11, version 23H2	KB5126653 or later
Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC 2021	KB5126657 or later

Open Settings > Windows Update, select Check for updates, install what’s offered and restart. Any later monthly update also includes the change. If nothing appears, see how to force Windows Update to check for updates.

Step 2: Pick the new time zone

Microsoft says PCs with automatic time zone turned on should move to the new zone by themselves after the update. Everyone else has to choose it by hand. Microsoft’s date and time settings guide uses this path:

1. Open Start > Settings > Time & language > Date & time.
2. If the zone shown is still the old one, turn Set time zone automatically off.
3. In the Time zone list, choose (UTC-07:00) Pacific Time (British Columbia), (UTC-06:00) Mountain Time (Alberta) or (UTC-05:00) Manitoba.
4. Under Additional settings, select Sync now so the minutes are right as well.

If the new names aren’t in the list, the update isn’t installed yet. For BC, Microsoft’s blog gave (UTC-07:00) Yukon as a temporary choice until the update arrives, and says not to keep it as a permanent fix. Switch to the new BC zone once it appears. If the time is wrong by minutes rather than exactly an hour, the problem is time sync instead; see Windows time not syncing.

Why turning off daylight saving adjustment doesn’t work

It’s tempting to keep the old zone and turn off Adjust for daylight saving time automatically. That holds the clock at the zone’s winter offset, which is the wrong one: Pacific Time would stay at UTC-8 instead of BC’s UTC-7, and the same one-hour error applies to Mountain and Central. Use the new province zones instead.

Set it from the command line

On several PCs, or in a script, the built-in tzutil command does the same job. Open Command Prompt as administrator and list the zones to find the exact ID Windows uses:

tzutil /l | findstr /i "Columbia Alberta Manitoba"

Each display name in the full list is followed by its ID on the next line. If the filter only shows the display names, run tzutil /l on its own and look for them. Set the zone with the ID in quotes, then check it:

tzutil /s "<ID from the list>"
tzutil /g

We haven’t listed the IDs here because Microsoft’s announcements only give the display names, so reading them from your own PC is the reliable way.

Fix meetings in Outlook

Changing Windows doesn’t move meetings that are already booked. Microsoft’s Outlook guidance for the Canadian changes says events after November 1 can show an hour off until they’re updated:

1. Set your Outlook calendar time zone to the new province zone. In new Outlook it’s under Settings > Calendar > View > Time zones; in classic Outlook it’s under File > Options > Calendar, in the Time zones section.
2. Open each upcoming meeting you organized and change its time zone to the new one. For a recurring meeting, edit the whole series.
3. Only the organizer can make this change; attendees then get an updated invitation.
4. Changing a series’ time zone resets its exceptions, so recreate any one-off changes afterwards.

If you’re an attendee and a meeting looks wrong, ask the organizer to update it rather than moving your own copy. If whole calendars have vanished, that’s a different problem; see Outlook calendar keeps disappearing.

Related guides

• Windows time not syncing? How to fix the clock in Windows 11 and 10
• Outlook calendar keeps disappearing: how to get it back
• How to force Windows Update to check and install updates
• How to open Command Prompt as administrator in Windows 11 and 10

Official sources

• British Columbia 2026 time zone update available now (Microsoft DST blog)
• Time zone changes for Canadian provinces in Outlook (Microsoft Support)
• How to set your time and time zone in Windows (Microsoft Support)