UTC−5 time now

About UTC−5

UTC−5 is 5 hours behind Coordinated Universal Time: when it is noon UTC, it is 7:00 AM at UTC−5.

9 zones keep UTC−5 all year, covering 9 countries or territories: Peru, Colombia, Ecuador, Jamaica, Mexico, Canada, Brazil, Panama and Cayman Islands.

15 zones use it only in winter and move to UTC−4 in summer, for example New York City, Toronto and Havana.

12 zones reach it only in summer, from standard time UTC−6, for example Chicago, Reynosa and Ojinaga. So the set of places on UTC−5 changes twice a year.

For a fixed offset in software, tzdata provides Etc/GMT+5; note the inverted sign of these POSIX-style names.

Abbreviations for UTC−5: EST (Eastern Standard Time), CDT (Central Daylight Time).

UTC−5 and the sun

Across the large cities that keep UTC−5 all year, the clock runs 29 minutes behind mean solar time in Rio Branco (-67.8°) and 89 minutes ahead of it in Winnipeg (-97.1°). The offset’s own meridian is 75° west: the further a city lies from it, the further its clocks drift from the sun.

Neighbouring offsets: UTC−6 (Mexico City and Calgary) and UTC−4 (Caracas and Manaus).

Zones that moved to or from UTC−5 since 1970

Changes of the winter (standard) offset recorded in tzdata; ordinary seasonal daylight saving changes are not counted:

• Sunday, March 8, 2026: Winnipeg (America/Winnipeg) moved from UTC−6 to UTC−5
• Sunday, November 4, 2018: Providenciales (America/Grand_Turk) moved from UTC−4 to UTC−5
• Sunday, March 8, 2015: Providenciales (America/Grand_Turk) moved from UTC−5 to UTC−4
• Sunday, February 1, 2015: Cancún (America/Cancun) moved from UTC−6 to UTC−5
• Sunday, November 10, 2013: Benjamin Constant (America/Eirunepe) moved from UTC−4 to UTC−5
• Sunday, November 10, 2013: Rio Branco (America/Rio_Branco) moved from UTC−4 to UTC−5
• Tuesday, June 24, 2008: Benjamin Constant (America/Eirunepe) moved from UTC−5 to UTC−4
• Tuesday, June 24, 2008: Rio Branco (America/Rio_Branco) moved from UTC−5 to UTC−4
• Sunday, October 29, 2006: Knox (America/Indiana/Knox) moved from UTC−5 to UTC−6
• Sunday, October 29, 2006: Tell City (America/Indiana/Tell_City) moved from UTC−5 to UTC−6
• Sunday, October 29, 2006: Havana (America/Havana) moved from UTC−4 to UTC−5
• Sunday, March 28, 2004: Havana (America/Havana) moved from UTC−5 to UTC−4
• Sunday, April 2, 2000: Monticello (America/Kentucky/Monticello) moved from UTC−6 to UTC−5
• Wednesday, January 1, 1997: Managua (America/Managua) moved from UTC−5 to UTC−6

Since when UTC−5 has been used

The tzdata record of each zone that keeps UTC−5 as its standard time, with the date it moved to UTC−5 and the time it kept before. The earliest is New York City, on UTC−5 since Sunday, November 18, 1883; the most recent is Winnipeg, since Sunday, November 1, 2026.

And 10 more zones.

UTC−5 converted to other offsets

Fixed offsets only, so the table holds on any date; a city that observes daylight saving time is an hour later than its standard column in summer.

On UTC−5 all year

On UTC−5 in winter only

On UTC−5 in summer only

Neighbouring offsets and related pages

• UTC−6 time
• UTC−4 time
• UTC time
• EST time
• CDT time
• Time zones of the world
• Daylight saving time