Legault Is 'Looking At' Changing Red Zone Curfew Hours Since We Have More Daylight

At a press conference on Monday morning, Premier François Legault said that he's "looking at" changing curfew hours in Quebec's red zones since we have more daylight now. 

In response to a journalist's question about the curfew and daylight savings time, the premier said he had had a discussion with National Public Health Director Dr. Horacio Arruda on the topic.

Editor's Choice: Only 2 Spots In Quebec Made The '20 Best Places To Travel In Canada For 2021' List

What did Legault and Arruda discuss?

On Saturday, Legault and Arruda were discussing changing the curfew times in red zones. "It was part of the discussion, to say [...] 'should we change the curfew from 8 to 9 or 9:30?'," Legault said.

"We're looking at that right now and we may have to announce something soon," he concluded.

The government first announced a provincewide, 8 p.m to 5 a.m. curfew on January 6. In orange zones, curfew was later pushed to 9:30 p.m.

When will the curfew be lifted?

As of right now, the province has no set-in-stone plans for when the curfew will be lifted.

At a press conference two weeks ago, Legault suggested that health officials will look into lifting the curfew once all "vulnerable people" are vaccinated.

Though vaccinations are ramping up across the province, with 744,108 doses administered as of March 15, Legault said on March 4 that "It's difficult to predict exactly where we'll be."

In Montreal, people over the age of 65 can now register to get their first dose.

Is the curfew still being enforced?

Yes indeed. Rule-breakers who are caught outside during curfew hours can still be fined upwards of $6,000 by local police authorities.

In January, Legault called the curfew a "shock treatment" to reduce the number of cases and hospitalizations in Quebec.

According to a Leger survey conducted in January, 74% of Quebecers support the curfew.