There were 223,273 responses to an online survey on whether BC should continue to observe daylight saving time, according to the province.

Premier John Horgan says it’s clear that the people of B.C. welcomed the opportunity to provide input on this issue.

“I did not expect that type of a response but certainly there is one. When we have the information and make that available for the public. We are looking at other jurisdictions on the west coast that are in the Pacific Standard time zone.”

The survey was open for four weeks, from June 24th through July 19th and it ended this past Friday.

Horgan says he hasn’t seen the results of the survey yet but he has a pretty good idea of “which way they’re leaning.” The province meanwhile will look to places like Washington, Oregon and California, and see what they are doing.

“Those jurisdictions are all taking steps to remain permanently on daylight saving time,” Horgan added. “In the United States, they require an act of Congress. In Canada, we require a decision by the provincial government. We’ll look at that and we’ll make a decision at the right time.”

Earlier this month, one of the two people behind the ‘Stop the Time Change’ movement Bob Dieno told Radio NL he was surprised by the number of responses one week into the survey.

Quick Facts:

Surveys completed by region (top five):
Lower Mainland: 98,549
Vancouver Island and South Coast/Sunshine Coast: 62,386
Thompson-Okanagan: 33,583
Kootenays: 12,209
Cariboo: 7,326

Surveys completed by age group:
Over 75 years: 4.1%
65-75 years: 16.7%
40-64 years: 48.8%
18-39 years: 29.6%
Under 18: 0.3%
No response: 0.5%