TORONTO -- Daylight saving time begins Sunday and to prepare for it, CTV News Toronto has made a list of all you need to know about the tradition.

What does it do?

Most Canadians will have to turn their clocks forward one hour at 2 a.m. on Sunday as we return back to daylight saving time. This means it will stay darker later in the morning and will remain lighter later into the evening.

Most cell phones will change time on their own, but other clocks in your home may need to be changed manually.

What it can do to our bodies?

Many people will experience a shock to their bodies’ internal clock, much like the jet lag experienced after flying across time zones, according to Patricia Lakin-Thomas, a professor at York University.

“That’s because we have a clock in our brain, that’s our central body clock, but we also have clocks all over the rest of our body, so we have clocks in our liver and gut and our heart,” Lakin-Thomas told CTV News Toronto. 

“The central brain clock is going to be reset by light but then it has to send messages around to the rest of the body clocks and try to reset them.”

Lakin-Thomas said that research shows that the disruption to the internal clock can cause increased rates of car accidents, heart attacks, stroke, weight gain, anxiety and workplace injuries.

She said it would be best to stick to the standard time, or the winter time, because that’s more in tune with people's internal clocks. 

Why do we do it?

Lakin-Thomas said the whole tradition started at the end of the 19th century when someone wanted to play golf later in the afternoon during the summer. 

She said daylight saving time has come and gone throughout the years. She said it disappeared after the First World War, and returned during the Second World War.

She said there have also been “rumours” it helps save energy.

“The energy saving never came about,” she said. “It’s a good question why we hold on to it, everybody is irritated by the switch.”

Most Canadian provinces observe daylight saving time, but Saskatchewan decided to not follow the herd and uses only standard time year round.

British Columbia introduced legislation to end the time change altogether, and stick to permanent daylight saving time.