Time zone in Montreal
Montreal is on Eastern Standard Time (EST, UTC-5) in winter and switches to Eastern Daylight Time (EDT, UTC-4) in summer. Its identifier in the international time zone database is America/Toronto: it is what your phone and computer use to show the right time there.
Clock changes in Montreal:
- 2026: forward 1 h on Sunday, March 8, 2026 (2:00 AM becomes 3:00 AM), then back 1 h on Sunday, November 1, 2026 (2:00 AM becomes 1:00 AM).
- 2027: forward 1 h on Sunday, March 14, 2027 (2:00 AM becomes 3:00 AM), then back 1 h on Sunday, November 7, 2027 (2:00 AM becomes 1:00 AM).
Montreal follows the North American rule: clocks go forward on the second Sunday of March and back on the first Sunday of November, at 2:00 AM local time.
Montreal shares its time with Toronto, Ottawa and Quebec City.
Montreal is 166 km from Ottawa, the capital, and has the same time.
By the sun, noon in Montreal falls at about 11:54 AM in winter and 12:54 PM in summer (on average over the year). The city lies at 73.57° west, and every degree of longitude shifts the sun by 4 minutes. Clock time is close to sun time here. See the sunrise and sunset times in Montreal.
Time difference with major cities
When it is 12:00 PM (noon) in Montreal, it is:
| City | January | July |
|---|---|---|
| New York | 12:00 PM | 12:00 PM |
| Los Angeles | 9:00 AM | 9:00 AM |
| London | 5:00 PM | 5:00 PM |
| Paris | 6:00 PM | 6:00 PM |
| Tokyo | 2:00 AM, next day | 1:00 AM, next day |
| Sydney | 4:00 AM, next day | 2:00 AM, next day |
The gap with Tokyo changes by one hour during the year, because Montreal changes its clocks and this city does not. With Sydney, the gap is not the same in January and July: the clocks change at other times of the year there. With London and Paris, the gap is the same in January and July but one hour different for 21 days a year, because the clocks do not change on the same dates.
Best time to call Montreal from New York
To reach someone at work in Montreal from New York, the best window is from 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM in New York, which is 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM in Montreal.
Detailed time differences: Paris and Montreal. For any other city, use the time zone converter.