On 2026-08-31 09:03, Daylight Saving Time via tz wrote:
We are recommending the use of the abbreviation 'ABT' as a convenient way to refer to Alberta Time.
Thanks for the heads-up. This topic has come up on the tz mailing list. Because TZDB focuses on timekeeping rather than localization, its guidelines suggest sticking with English-language time zone abbreviations that are already widely used, falling back on numeric abbreviations like "-06" otherwise. The English-language abbreviations exist mostly for backwards compatibility; if we were to start TZDB over from scratch, we'd likely use only numeric abbreviations, as regional naming is now better handled by a different project: the Unicode Common Locale Data Repository (CLDR). For this reason CLDR is the best place to submit new time zone names and abbreviations. When making a submission (see [1]), it's helpful to suggest abbreviations and full names for every language of concern to you, not just English. CLDR experts can fill in translations for other languages, and they have excellent coverage: for example, for TZDB's America/Edmonton timezone they have, by my count, 177 translations for America/Edmonton itself and 202 translations for its time zone, in languages ranging from Abkhazian to Zulu. However, as you can imagine, after a new name or abbreviation is reported to CLDR it may take some time for CLDR to come up with suitable translations for all these languages; this contrasts with TZDB where, as we focus mainly on timekeeping, we can make changes more quickly. Although the abbreviation "ABT" is not widely used now for time in Alberta, if it eventually becomes so, we could adopt it into TZDB. For now, though, for timestamps starting November 1, TZDB (as of release 2026c dated 2026-07-08) just uses "CST", the most widely used English-language abbreviation for the time zone that Alberta has switched to. "CST" matches longstanding practice in nearby locations such as Saskatchewan and is well-understood by many existing software applications, such as the Microsoft Exchange email software you used to send your email and the Mozilla Thunderbird software I used to read it. If "CST" turns out to cause too much confusion, we plan to fall back on its numeric equivalent "-06" as an unambiguous, well known option that also follows our guidelines. Either "CST" or "-06" can be replaced later by "ABT", if "ABT" becomes widely used. When considering what abbreviations to suggest to CLDR, I suggest looking at areas neighboring Alberta and at the people who will use the abbreviations. If Alberta has its own name and abbreviation for the -06 time zone, should Saskatchewan have its own name and abbreviation too, even though they have the same time zone? Should the Northwest Territories as well? Should the parts of British Columbia that observe the same time as Alberta get their own abbreviations? It may be helpful to consult the relevant authorities in those jurisdictions to build a consensus name and abbreviation, as a single name should make things simpler for ordinary users who just want to set their clocks. Hope this helps. [1]: https://cldr.unicode.org/#translations-and-other-language-data
