Time Zones changes in British Columbia and Alberta - Amicus Calendar Synchronization Impact

Effective November 1, 2026, British Columbia and Alberta will stay on permanent Daylight-Saving Time (DST) and stop observing DST changes.

If you are in one of these provinces and you sync your Amicus Attorney calendar with Outlook, you WILL need to take a few steps beforehand to make sure your events keep their correct times. If you don’t use Outlook calendar sync, no action is needed.

New time zone settings

After the change, users will need to use the following time zones. Choosing the new Time Zone ensures your events stay correct once the region stops changing clocks.

• British Columbia: (UTC-07:00) Pacific Time (British Columbia)
• Alberta: (UTC-06:00) Mountain Time (Alberta)

Concerns

Microsoft recommends manually adjusting the time zone on every existing calendar event. However, doing so will cause problems for firms using Amicus Calendar synchronization. We therefore recommend that you do not manually adjust time zones in Outlook. Instead, treat Amicus as the source of truth and push fresh events from Amicus to Outlook with the correct time zone.

Interim solution

The Amicus Attorney Outlook integration does not yet support the new British Columbia and Alberta time zones. An update to support them is under development. In the meantime, Amicus and Microsoft recommend the following workaround:

• British Columbia: use the Arizona time zone (UTC-07:00).
• Alberta: use the Saskatchewan time zone (UTC-06:00).

Firms will be notified separately when the Amicus update is available.

Follow the steps below to make the necessary changes.
 

Recommend Steps

1. Back up your Amicus data. Create a backup of the Amicus Attorney database.
   • AS FIRM ADMINISTRATOR: Go to Firm Settings and click the "Utilities" option under the maintenance heading
   • Click the "Backup Now" button to perform the backup (provided the backup location has already been specified).
   • Click OK to close the prompt indicating the backup is complete.
   • Click OK to close the window.
       
2. Temporarily Disable Exchange/Outlook Integration. Each user will need to temporarily disable the integration (including Calendar, Tasks & Contacts)
   • As each firm member with Calendar sync enabled, login to Amicus Attorney.
   • Go to Preferences and click "Calendar & Contacts" under the Links heading.
   • Uncheck the check box in Step 3 called "Enable the Link" so that it will be temporarily disabled.
   • Click OK to confirm the change.
      
3. Export Outlook Calendar to CSV. Create a CSV export of Appointments for future reference. 
   • In Outlook Classic for Windows, click "File" > "Open & Export".
   • In the window that appears, click "Import/Export".
   • Select "Export to a file" and click Next.
   • Select "Comma Separated Values" and click Next.
   • Select your calendar and click Next.
   • Choose a location to save the exported information and click Next.
   • Review the CSV output to confirm events appear as expected.
      
4. Move Future Outlook events to a sub-folder.  Move future calendar events to a sub folder so Amicus can re-populate the calendar later with events in the correct time zone.
   • In Outlook Classic for Windows, go to Calendar and click "Folder" in the top ribbon bar.
   • Click "New Calendar" in the ribbon and give it a name and save it.
   • Click "View" in the top ribbon bar, select "Change View" and then select "List".
   • Sort list by Start Date, then select all future events in the list and drag them to the newly created calendar on the left. 

     • This will remove the events from the default calendar view and keep them in a safe place for future reference.

        

5. Change Computer Time Zones. Change the time zone on all computers to the appropriate new time zone. Follow Microsoft instructions to adjust Date/Time settings.
   Interim solution:

   • BC customers are advised to use the Arizona time zone (UTC-07:00)
   • Alberta customers are advised to use Saskatchewan time zone (UTC-06:00)

   Following time zone change, each computer will need to be restarted for the changes to take effect. 
    

6. Set the Firm's TIME ZONE. Log into Amicus Attorney by CARET as an Administrator and set the correct Time Zone.
   • Log into Amicus Attorney by CARET as an Administrator.
   • Go to Office > Administration - Firm Settings.
   • Select the Firm Basics option under the General heading.
   • In the window that appears, set the correct Time Zone from the dropdown, then click OK to exit the window while saving the change.
      
7. Re-initialize Calendar Sync. Re-enable the integration and re-initialize the Calendar Sync (One way only from Amicus->Outlook)
   • As FIRM MEMBERS: Each firm member will need to log back into Amicus Attorney.
   • Go to Preferences and click "Calendar & Contacts" under the Links heading.
   • Click the "Configure..." button.
   • In the window that appears, click the "Reset" button at the bottom of the list.
   • Click OK to the warning message that appears (since you are following specific instructions).
   • For Reset Appointments, click on the drop-down list and select "One way: Amicus->Exchange"
   • Check the "Exclude Appointments dated before" and pick the appropriate date to only include today and future events.
   • Leave all other options as "DO NOT RE-INITIALIZE".
   • Click "Send Sticky" to notify the firms Amicus Administrators of the request to Re-Initialize.
   • Click "Finish" to close the dialog.
   • As a FIRM ADMINISTRATOR: When the sticky notification arrives indicating that firm members are ready to re-initialize go to Firm Settings and click the "Exchange Management" option under the Outlook/Exchange/Office 365 Link heading.
   • In the window that appears, double-click any user with a Pending request.
   • In the new window, select the "Scheduled For" date and then fill in the Date and Time when the field appears. Then click OK to close the window.
   • Note: User and Firm Admin will get a sticky when the re-initialization is complete.
      
8. Review Outlook to confirm events have been placed in the correct time zone.

  Please contact the Amicus Attorney Technical Support team for further assistance.