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Time difference between Canada and Australia

12 hours to 17 hours, depending on the city

Why there is no single answer

Canada spans 2 different offsets in this data — Toronto at UTC−5, Vancouver at UTC−8; and Australia spans 2 different offsets in this data — Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne at UTC+10, Perth at UTC+8. One number cannot cover 2 and 2 offsets, so any single figure for "Canada to Australia" is a choice of city — declared or not. That is why two sources can both be right and still disagree, and why the useful answer is the table rather than the number.

Every combination

FromToUsual differenceChanges in the year
TorontoBrisbane14 hours aheadyes — also 15 hours
TorontoSydney14 hours aheadyes — also 16 hours, 15 hours
TorontoMelbourne14 hours aheadyes — also 16 hours, 15 hours
TorontoPerth12 hours aheadyes — also 13 hours
VancouverBrisbane17 hours aheadyes — also 18 hours
VancouverSydney17 hours aheadyes — also 19 hours, 18 hours
VancouverMelbourne17 hours aheadyes — also 19 hours, 18 hours
VancouverPerth15 hours aheadyes — also 16 hours

When the gap moves

8 of these 8 combinations change by an hour at some point in the year. Toronto and Vancouver go forward on the second Sunday in March and back on the first Sunday in November; Brisbane and Perth do not change their clocks; Sydney and Melbourne go forward on the first Sunday in October and back on the first Sunday in April. Where the two sides change on different weekends, there is a stretch of days when the difference is what neither party expects.

Frequently asked questions

What is the time difference between Canada and Australia?

There is no single figure. Australia spans 4 of the offsets in this data, so the difference runs from 12 hours (Toronto to Perth) to 17 hours (Vancouver to Brisbane). Any converter giving one number for this pair has quietly picked a city.

How many hours ahead is Australia of Canada?

It depends which part of Australia you mean. The table on this page gives every combination; the extremes are 12 hours and 17 hours.

Does the difference between Canada and Australia change during the year?

Yes. 8 of the 8 city combinations here shift by an hour at some point, because the two sides change their clocks on different weekends or one of them does not change at all.

About these places

Toronto. Toronto keeps the same clock as New York and changes on the same dates, so the two cities are never apart. Canada follows the US daylight-saving schedule rather than the European one, which is why Toronto and London drift for the same weeks New York and London do.

Vancouver. Vancouver keeps the same clock as Los Angeles and Seattle and changes on the same dates. British Columbia legislated for permanent daylight saving in 2019, conditional on the US west coast doing the same, and is still waiting.

Brisbane. Brisbane is UTC+10 and does not change its clocks, while Sydney and Melbourne — the same offset in winter — go an hour ahead in October. For half the year Queensland is an hour behind its southern neighbours, which is a standing annoyance for anyone scheduling across the east coast.

Sydney. Sydney is UTC+10 in winter and UTC+11 from October to April. Its summer is the northern hemisphere's winter, so the gap to Europe and North America swings by two hours over the year rather than staying put.

Melbourne. Melbourne keeps the same clock as Sydney, UTC+10 in winter and UTC+11 in summer, and changes on the same dates. The pair are the reason "Australian Eastern Time" needs the Standard or Daylight qualifier to mean anything between October and April.

Perth. Perth is UTC+8, the same as Singapore and Beijing, and is the only Australian capital that does not change its clocks. Western Australia has rejected daylight saving in four referendums, most recently in 2009.

The same pair from the other end

This page reads the difference as Australia against Canada. Australia to Canada states the same gap the other way round, which is the one to send someone if they are the one doing the travelling.

Other country pairs

Every Canada pair · Every Australia pair · All country pairs · City pairs