Microsoft Teams: Shifts updates for Canadian time zone changes

[What and why]

Starting November 1, 2026, Alberta, the Northwest Territories, most of British Columbia, and Manitoba will no longer change their clocks seasonally. Microsoft has updated Shifts to use the new time rules for these locations. Review your Shifts team settings and affected schedules to ensure shifts display at the intended times.

[Rollout schedule]

• Available in production for Shifts on desktop and web starting October 26, 2026.
• The new time rules take effect November 1, 2026.

[Impact on your organization]

Who is affected

• Organizations with Shifts teams in Alberta, the Northwest Territories, most of British Columbia, or Manitoba
• Teams elsewhere in Canada do not need to make changes for this update.

Platforms and services

• Microsoft Teams Shifts on web and desktop

What will happen

• Shifts uses the team's Closest city setting to calculate shift times.
• If your team already uses Edmonton for Alberta, Yellowknife or Inuvik for the Northwest Territories, Vancouver for British Columbia, or Winnipeg for Manitoba as its Closest city, no further action is needed.
• No new Alberta, British Columbia, or Manitoba time zone option is being announced as part of this update.
• The time zone dropdown may continue to show an older UTC offset. This label does not mean that the calculated time is incorrect.

[Action required and recommendations]

 Ask a team owner or Shifts manager to complete these steps before November 1, 2026:

1. Check each team's city. In Shifts, go to Settings and look at Closest city. If it is Edmonton (Alberta), Yellowknife or Inuvik (NWT), Vancouver (BC) or Winnipeg (Manitoba), no further action is needed. If it shows another city, such as Boise or Denver for an Alberta team, change it to the appropriate Canadian city.
2. Correct affected shifts if the team was using a city outside Canada. 
   • One at a time: Right-click the shift, select Edit shift, and correct the time.
   • Several at once: Open Day view, copy the shifts using right-click > Copy or Ctrl+C, delete the copied shifts using the Delete key, and paste them one hour earlier.
   • Do the same for time off and open shifts. Check the schedule, then select Share with team so employees see the corrected times.
   • Update and restart Teams. Shifts displays times using the browser built into Teams, and an outdated browser can display or save times one hour off. For Teams on the web, use an up-to-date browser.

[Compliance considerations]

No compliance considerations identified. Review as appropriate for your organization.