More Canadians to observe permanent daylight saving time. Why can’t the US?

(NEXSTAR) – More Canadians will not set their clocks back in November as they instead start to observe permanent daylight saving time, a move more than a dozen U.S. states stand ready to make but cannot .

Spurred by a survey of nearly 72,000, Manitoba officials announced in mid-September that daylight saving time is now permanent in the province.

“We heard from Manitobans loud and clear – no more changing the clocks in Manitoba,” Premier Wab Kinew said in a press release . Of surveyed residents, 92% wanted to see an end to seasonal time change, with 58% indicating they prefer permanent daylight saving.

A report by the Manitoba Health, Seniors and Long-Term Care department determined that getting rid of the twice-a-year clock change “would be better for population health than maintaining the status quo,” an argument some health officials in the U.S. agree with (though they support permanent standard time ).

On Sept. 23, officials in the Northwest Territories made a similar announcement , saying that over 87% of the more than 3,500 residents surveyed wanted to stop changing the clocks. Permanent daylight saving time was most commonly preferred.

In March, when daylight saving time began, British Columbia announced it was the final time it would change its clocks. Officials there suggested “recent actions from the U.S.” sparked the decision to make daylight saving time permanent. Alberta followed suit over the summer.

Yukon and most of Saskatchewan abandoned the twice-annual changing of the clocks in recent years.

Nineteen U.S. states , including five that share a border with Canada, have enacted legislation calling for their clocks to lock on permanent daylight saving time. It has yet to happen for any of them, however.

States can opt into year-round permanent standard time , as Hawaii and much of Arizona have done , but they need action by Congress to observe permanent daylight saving time. Legislation has been introduced in the House to allow states to lock their clocks on year-round daylight saving time, but the chamber won’t be back in session until November .

Outlook dim for daylight saving time bill in Senate

The House passed the Sunshine Protection Act earlier this year, and President Donald Trump has expressed his support for the bill. It would make daylight saving time permanent throughout the U.S., except for states like Hawaii and Arizona that opt for permanent standard time.

However, it seems unlikely that the bill will pass through the Senate anytime soon.

Wednesday night, the Senate adjourned for the midterm election . Senators are not scheduled to return to the Capitol until the week of Nov. 9. That not only leaves several key priorities in limbo but also likely means our clocks will be falling back as usual in a few weeks.

Daylight saving time ends on the earliest possible date this year , Nov. 1. That’s roughly a week before lawmakers are set to return, meaning the Sunshine Protection Act likely won’t be enacted in time to skip the seasonal time change.

The legislation faced an uncertain future in the Senate even before the chamber adjourned, but it’s possible that lawmakers pick the bill back up when they return.

In the meantime, our clocks will “fall back” to standard time on Nov. 1, the earliest possible date daylight saving time can end.