What is the time difference between Chicago and Toronto?

Toronto is 1 hour ahead of Chicago. That figure is current — it changes by an hour when either city starts or ends daylight saving, and the exact dates are listed above.

When is the best time to call Toronto from Chicago?

Between 09:00–17:00 in Chicago, which is 10:00–18:00 in Toronto. That is the only stretch where both cities are inside a 09:00–18:00 day.

Does Chicago observe daylight saving time?

Yes. Chicago runs on UTC-6 in winter and UTC-5 in summer. The next change is on 2026-11-01, when clocks go back by 60 minutes.

Does Toronto observe daylight saving time?

Yes. Toronto runs on UTC-5 in winter and UTC-4 in summer. The next change is on 2026-11-01, when clocks go back by 60 minutes.

If it is midday in Chicago, what time is it in Toronto?

It is 13:00 in Toronto, on the same calendar date. That holds for the current offsets; it shifts by an hour around the daylight saving dates listed above.

Which time zones do Chicago and Toronto use?

Chicago uses America/Chicago, currently UTC-5 (CDT), and Toronto uses America/Toronto, currently UTC-4 (EDT). Those identifiers are the ones to use in code — abbreviations are ambiguous and offsets change.

Convert Chicago time to Toronto time

Toronto is 1 hour ahead of Chicago right now, so midday in Chicago lands in the afternoon in Toronto.

Convert a time

From

Date

Time

Converted time

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The converter needs JavaScript to run. Everything below — offsets, daylight saving dates and the hour-by-hour table — is part of the page and works without it.

Hour by hour

The whole day mapped across: read down the left for Chicago, across for Toronto.

Chicago	Toronto
00:00	01:00
01:00	02:00
02:00	03:00
03:00	04:00
04:00	05:00
05:00	06:00
06:00	07:00
07:00	08:00
08:00	09:00
09:00	10:00
10:00	11:00
11:00	12:00
12:00	13:00
13:00	14:00
14:00	15:00
15:00	16:00
16:00	17:00
17:00	18:00
18:00	19:00
19:00	20:00
20:00	21:00
21:00	22:00
22:00	23:00
23:00	00:00next day

Daylight saving time

Chicago and Toronto both observe daylight saving. Where their change dates differ, so does the gap between them for the weeks in between.

Chicago

Observes daylight saving time

Standard: UTC-6
Daylight: UTC-5
Next change: 2026-11-01 −60m

Toronto

Observes daylight saving time

Standard: UTC-5
Daylight: UTC-4
Next change: 2026-11-01 −60m

When you can actually talk

The window is 8 hours wide — 09:00–17:00 in Chicago, 10:00–18:00 in Toronto.

Chicago 09:00–17:00Toronto 10:00–18:00

Reference

The zone identifiers and offsets behind everything above.

	Chicago	Toronto
IANA zone	America/Chicago	America/Toronto
Abbreviation	CDT	EDT
Standard offset	UTC-6	UTC-5
Daylight offset	UTC-5	UTC-4
Clock changes this year	2	2
Country	United States	Canada

Example, not the current time. Live times appear once the page loads.

Common questions

What is the time difference between Chicago and Toronto?: Toronto is 1 hour ahead of Chicago. That figure is current — it changes by an hour when either city starts or ends daylight saving, and the exact dates are listed above.
When is the best time to call Toronto from Chicago?: Between 09:00–17:00 in Chicago, which is 10:00–18:00 in Toronto. That is the only stretch where both cities are inside a 09:00–18:00 day.
Does Chicago observe daylight saving time?: Yes. Chicago runs on UTC-6 in winter and UTC-5 in summer. The next change is on 2026-11-01, when clocks go back by 60 minutes.
Does Toronto observe daylight saving time?: Yes. Toronto runs on UTC-5 in winter and UTC-4 in summer. The next change is on 2026-11-01, when clocks go back by 60 minutes.
If it is midday in Chicago, what time is it in Toronto?: It is 13:00 in Toronto, on the same calendar date. That holds for the current offsets; it shifts by an hour around the daylight saving dates listed above.
Which time zones do Chicago and Toronto use?: Chicago uses America/Chicago, currently UTC-5 (CDT), and Toronto uses America/Toronto, currently UTC-4 (EDT). Those identifiers are the ones to use in code — abbreviations are ambiguous and offsets change.