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The mayor of Fort Frances is applauding the province for allowing communities in the Central Time Zone to remain on the same time as Manitoba.

It avoids the region being an hour behind Manitoba, which decided last month to remain on Daylight Saving Time.

Andrew Hallikas says it also brings the region on the same time as Ontario, at least for the winter months.

“I think it just makes it nice and kind of uniform to know that we here in Fort Frances go to Thunder Bay and Winnipeg a lot,” says Hallikas.

“And for half the year, we’re not going to have to worry about time because we’re all on the same time zone for half of the year.”

Fort Frances will be an hour behind Thunder Bay when the rest of Ontario turns the clocks ahead one hour in the spring.

Provincial approval came after several meetings spearheaded by Kenora-Rainy River MPP Greg Rickford, who called on municipal and First Nation leaders for resolutions.

Area communities were unanimous in their decisions.

Local surveys also attracted strong support for remaining on the same time as Manitoba.

Hallikas says was surprised to see how important the time issue was to many people across the region.

“We found that the results varied from about 90% to about 95 % in favour of joining Manitoba on permanent Daylight Saving Time,” says Hallikas.

“That really is an astounding result to get from a survey. You never get that kind of agreement.”

The change does, however, put Fort Frances an hour behind International Falls, where clocks will still fall back one hour in November.

There is legislation moving through Washington that would also end clock turning, but it is stalled in a U.S. Senate committee and is doubtful of being passed before next month.

Hallikas feels residents on both sides of the border will adjust.

“We’ve all adjusted to the time difference with Thunder Bay,” says Hallikas.

“We just automatically take that into account. That’s what’s going to happen.”