Outlook for Mac Says Pacific Time (British Columbia) Is UTC−8?

In short. Outlook for Mac lists “(UTC-08:00) Pacific Time (British Columbia)” and “(UTC-07:00) Mountain Time (Alberta)”. Both offsets are wrong: BC is UTC−7 and Alberta is UTC−6, all year from Nov 1, 2026. Some people also report meetings showing an hour off in the Mac app while Outlook on the web is right.

Before you change any meeting, open it in Outlook on the web. If the time is right there, the meeting is fine.

What we saw

In Outlook for Mac version 16.114.1, the latest version on Nov 2, 2026, the time zone list for a meeting shows:

(UTC-08:00) Pacific Time (British Columbia)
(UTC-07:00) Mountain Time (Alberta)

Those are the old winter offsets. Since Nov 1, 2026, BC is UTC−7 and Alberta is UTC−6 all year. On Microsoft’s Q&A forum, people using new Outlook for Mac and Outlook for iOS report that BC and Alberta meetings show an hour late in those apps, while Outlook on the web and classic Outlook show the right time. Microsoft hadn’t confirmed a fix when we checked.

How to check your meetings

Pick a meeting on or after Nov 2 that’s set to Pacific Time (British Columbia) or Mountain Time (Alberta). Note the time it shows in Outlook for Mac.
Open Outlook on the web. Go to outlook.office.com for a work or school account, or outlook.live.com for a personal one, and sign in with the same account.
Open the same meeting and compare the time.

What you see	What it means	What to do
Web is right, Mac is an hour off	The meeting is fine. Only the Mac app is showing it wrong.	Leave it. Trust the web time until Microsoft fixes the Mac app.
Both are right	Nothing’s wrong.	Nothing.
Both are an hour off	The meeting is probably still saved in the old Pacific Time (US & Canada) or Mountain Time (US & Canada) zone.	If you’re the organizer, open the series in Outlook on the web, change its time zone to Pacific Time (British Columbia) or Mountain Time (Alberta), and send the update. If you’re not, ask the organizer.

Not sure which meetings are affected? Our free calendar check lists every meeting from Nov 1 on that’s saved in an old time zone.

A workaround for new meetings on a Mac

Until Microsoft fixes the labels, you can book new meetings in a time zone that has always matched yours all year:

BC: (UTC-07:00) Arizona
Alberta and the NWT: (UTC-06:00) Saskatchewan

The times will be right for everyone. The catch is that your invites will say “Arizona” or “Saskatchewan”, which can confuse people, and you’ll want to switch back to the BC or Alberta zone once Microsoft fixes it. For meetings that already exist, use the check above instead.

Don’t move meetings an hour earlier

It’s tempting to drag a meeting back an hour so it looks right on your Mac. Don’t. Everyone who sees it correctly, on the web, Windows or their phone, will see it an hour early, and it’ll be wrong for you too once the Mac app is fixed.

Tell Microsoft

In Outlook for Mac, go to Help › Contact Support and describe what you see. If you have an IT team, send them this page. The more reports Microsoft gets, the faster it gets fixed. You can also add your voice to the thread on Microsoft Q&A.

More on fixing meetings after the change: Outlook or Teams meeting an hour off.

FAQ

Is Pacific Time (British Columbia) UTC−8?

No. BC is UTC−7 all year from Nov 1, 2026. Outlook for Mac labels the zone “(UTC-08:00) Pacific Time (British Columbia)”, but that label is wrong. Outlook on the web is the place to check what time a meeting is really at.

Why does Outlook for Mac say Mountain Time (Alberta) is UTC−07:00?

The same labelling problem. Alberta is UTC−6 all year from Nov 1, 2026. Outlook for Mac shows the old winter offset for both new zones.

I already changed my meetings to Pacific Time (British Columbia). Are they wrong?

Not necessarily. Open one in Outlook on the web. If the time is right there, the meeting is fine and only the Mac app is showing it wrong, so leave it. If it’s also wrong on the web, fix it from Outlook on the web.

Should I move my meetings an hour earlier to fix it?

No. That makes them wrong for everyone who sees them correctly, and they’ll be an hour off again once Microsoft fixes the Mac app.

Has Microsoft fixed this?

Not as far as we can tell. People reported it on Microsoft’s Q&A forum in October 2026 and Microsoft hadn’t confirmed a fix. We still saw the wrong labels on Outlook for Mac version 16.114.1, the latest version, on Nov 2, 2026.

Edited by

Don Falconer

Don Falconer finds himself hosting or attending more than 800 online meetings a year, with clients and colleagues spread across more time zones than you want to know. So when four Canadian provinces rewrote their clocks in 2026, he didn’t just wait for it to wreak havoc on his calendar – he did something about it. By day he’s EVP of Operations at Big Room Creative. By nature he’s a workflows-and-procedures obsessive (wdfalconer.com) who can’t leave a gap unfilled. Time Zone Hell is what happens when that instinct meets a curiosity for vibe coding and (hopefully) helping someone have a little less stress. It also runs in the family: Don’s great-great-grand-uncle was Sir Sandford Fleming, the Canadian engineer known as the father of standard time. In 1876 Fleming missed a train in Ireland because of a timetable error, and went on to propose the system of time zones the world still runs on. A century and a half later, his great-great-grand-nephew is still keeping those clocks honest.

LinkedIn · About Time Zone Hell · How we check our facts · Published November 2, 2026, last reviewed November 2, 2026

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