Current Time in Toronto

Quick Time Zone Facts

Time Zone: Eastern Time (ET) — Standard Offset: UTC-5 (EST) — DST Offset: UTC-4 (EDT)

Country: Canada

This city observes Daylight Saving Time, so the UTC offset changes twice per year. Always verify the current offset when scheduling across time zones.

Canada's Financial Capital

Toronto operates on Eastern Time, identical to New York. As Canada's largest city and financial capital, Toronto is home to the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) — the third-largest in North America and ninth-largest globally. The TSX trades from 9:30 AM to 4:00 PM ET, perfectly aligned with NYSE hours. This time zone match makes Toronto-New York business coordination seamless, supporting the massive cross-border trade relationship between Canada and the US.

Tech & Immigration Hub

Toronto has emerged as a major tech hub, ranking among the top cities in North America for tech job growth. The city's time zone alignment with New York and the Eastern Seaboard makes it an attractive location for US companies establishing Canadian offices — no time zone conversion needed. Major tech employers include Shopify, OpenText, and offices of Google, Microsoft, and Amazon.

Daylight Saving Time

Ontario follows the same DST schedule as the US — second Sunday of March through first Sunday of November. The Ontario legislature passed the Time Amendment Act in 2020 to adopt permanent DST, but it's contingent on New York and Quebec making the same change to avoid cross-border scheduling chaos. Until then, Toronto's clocks change with New York's.

Cross-Border Business

The US-Canada border near Toronto is the busiest international border crossing in the world (Ambassador Bridge and Detroit-Windsor Tunnel handle billions in trade annually). Eastern Time alignment eliminates one friction point in this massive trade relationship. Montreal (also ET) and Ottawa (ET) share Toronto's time zone, meaning all three of Canada's major Eastern cities coordinate without time conversion.