In the graph below you see the time zone difference between Eastern Daylight Time and Central Daylight Time. Drag the bubble to adjust the time and to see the corresponding time in the other time zone.
Eastern Daylight Time is the time zone of the Canadian and US East Coast when observing daylight saving time in the summer, including cities like Montreal, Ottawa, New York, Washington D.C. And Miami. Central Daylight Time is the time zone of the central US and Canada, as well as most of Central America when observing daylight saving time in, with places like Winnipeg, Chicago, Dallas, Houston and Mexico City.
Usually it is preferable to schedule meetings any time from the morning for the person in EDT and any time from the morning for the person in CDT.
More EDT conversions
EDT to CEST, EDT to MDT, EDT to GMT, EDT to EST, EDT to PST
More CDT conversions
CDT to PDT, CDT to MST, CDT to CET, CDT to BST, CDT to MDT
This is the summer time of the Eastern US, Canada and parts of the Caribbean. It is in effect between March and October for most locations and is four hours behind UTC. It is important to note that even within certain states, e.g. Florida, Michigan, and Tennessee there are locations that do NOT observe EST/EDT but instead belong to other time zones. The same goes for the Canadian provinces Ontario and Quebec.
Most of the Eastern seaboard of the US observe Eastern Daylight Time, as well as most locations in Eastern Canada although there are a few exceptions. Locations such as New York, Washington, Quebec and Ontario are all on Eastern Standard Time. Also some Caribbean locations such as Jamaica, Haiti and Panama are in this time zone.
With the exception of Panama, Jamaica and a couple of locations in Canada and the US daylight saving time is observed. Unless you are sure that the location you have in mind is truly in EST/EDT it is always better to use the exact location name rather than the time zone abbreviation.
Central Daylight Time is the time zone of the central US and Canada, as well as Mexico and most of Central America. It is five hours behind UTC and is observed during the summer months, between March and November. Sometimes the zone is referred to as CDST – Central Daylight Saving Time Zone. In the winter CDT becomes CST – Central Standard Time.
CDT is observed in the US, Canada, Mexico, Belize, Costa Rica, Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Panama and Honduras i.e. all Central American countries. In the US it is only the states in the central US that observes CDT, from Wisconsin in the West to Tennessee in the East, and from Michigan in the North to Florida in the South. Similarly, only Canadian provinces in the middle of the country observe CDT. All of Mexico observes CDT, except the North West corner of the country.
US: Alabama, Iowa, Louisiana, Texas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Illinois and many more.
Canada: Manitoba, Ontario (most parts), Saskatchewan (only Creighton and Denare Beach)
Mexico: Chiapas, México, Oaxaca, Yuca tán, San Luis Potosi and more.
CDT is the daylight saving time of Central Standard Time. There are only a handful of exceptions in this time zone that do not observe DST, so it is advisable to always check the exact location (e.g. using our time zone converter) instead of relying on time zone abbreviations.