GFT — French Guiana Time
See what GFT means, where it is used, its UTC-3 offset, and how to compare or convert it with other time zones.
How to Convert GFT to Other Time Zones
Open the GFT converter page: Go to https://www.xconvert.com/time-converter/gft-time-zone to open the visual comparison tool with French Guiana Time (GFT, UTC-3) pre-loaded as the reference row. This page is useful when you need to line up working hours for activities such as coordinating with teams in Cayenne, planning calls with partners in Paris or New York, or checking whether a shipment or flight update from French Guiana fits your local business day.
Add comparison cities with the “+ Add City” button: Click “+ Add City” and search for specific cities such as Paris, New York, and São Paulo to compare GFT against major business and travel hubs. These are practical comparisons because French Guiana has administrative ties to France, aviation and trade links across South America, and many users need to see whether a morning in GFT overlaps with European office hours or U.S. East Coast support windows.
Drag across the grid to select a meeting window: Click “Select” to enter selection mode, then drag on the GFT row from 9:00 AM to 11:00 AM to highlight a purple range; you can adjust it with the left and right handles or move it by dragging the center. That example shows a concrete overlap: 9:00–11:00 AM GFT is 1:00–3:00 PM UTC, 9:00–11:00 AM in New York during Eastern Daylight Time (UTC-4) becomes 10:00 AM–12:00 PM GFT, and 9:00 AM GFT is 2:00 PM in Paris during Central European Time or 3:00 PM during Central European Summer Time, which helps confirm whether a same-day call is realistic.
Export the selected time range for scheduling: Once the purple range is selected, use the export options shown by the tool: ICS download, Google Calendar, Gmail, Copy to clipboard, or Share link. This is especially useful for remote team coordination, because an ICS file lets everyone import the same meeting into their local calendar automatically, while a share link is convenient when sending a proposed call window to a logistics contact, client, or government office working on French Guiana time.
About French Guiana Time (GFT)
GFT stands for French Guiana Time, the standard civil time used in French Guiana, an overseas department and region of France located on the northern coast of South America between Suriname and Brazil. Its exact offset is UTC-03:00, meaning local time in French Guiana is 3 hours behind Coordinated Universal Time and 3 hours behind GMT in winter, but still written more precisely as UTC-3 rather than “GMT-3” in technical scheduling contexts.
French Guiana Time is used across the territory, including the capital Cayenne, which has a population of roughly 60,000+, while French Guiana as a whole has a population of about 300,000+ residents. Because the territory is part of France but geographically located in South America, GFT is frequently relevant for government administration, European space activity around Kourou, cargo planning, travel itineraries, and cross-Atlantic business coordination.
In practical conversion terms, GFT is 3 hours behind UTC, 2 hours ahead of New York when New York is on Pacific? No—more accurately, GFT is usually 1 hour ahead of New York during Eastern Standard Time (UTC-5) and the same as Atlantic Daylight Time (UTC-3), while it is 4 hours behind Paris in winter (UTC+1) and 5 hours behind Paris in summer (UTC+2). That means when it is 9:00 AM in Cayenne, it is 12:00 PM in UTC, 8:00 AM in New York during EST, 9:00 AM in Halifax during ADT, and 1:00 PM in London during GMT or 2:00 PM during British Summer Time.
Although several abbreviations share the same UTC-3 offset at certain times of year—such as ADT, ART, BRT, CLST, FKST, PMST, PYST, SRT, UYT, and others listed on this page—those abbreviations do not always represent the same legal time year-round. For scheduling, the key detail is that GFT itself is fixed at UTC-3 and does not seasonally shift, so it is often more stable for recurring coordination than zones that move in and out of daylight saving time.
GFT and Daylight Saving Time
French Guiana Time does not observe Daylight Saving Time, so it does not switch to any summer or winter variant during the year. Its offset remains UTC-03:00 on every date of the current year, including January 1, 2026 through December 31, 2026, and there are no DST transition dates to track.
This fixed offset matters because many comparison locations do change seasonally even though GFT does not. For example, Paris moves to Central European Summer Time on March 29, 2026 and returns to Central European Time on October 25, 2026, while New York moves to Eastern Daylight Time on March 8, 2026 and back to Eastern Standard Time on November 1, 2026; as a result, the time difference between GFT and those cities changes during the year even though GFT itself stays constant.
For recurring meetings, this means a call set for 10:00 AM GFT will always be 1:00 PM UTC, but it may appear as 8:00 AM or 9:00 AM in New York depending on the season, and 2:00 PM or 3:00 PM in Paris depending on whether Europe is on standard time or summer time. Users planning monthly operations reviews, launch support windows, or travel check-ins should therefore verify the comparison city’s DST rules even when the GFT side is stable.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does GFT stand for?
GFT stands for French Guiana Time, the time standard used in French Guiana, a French overseas region in northern South America. It is a fixed time zone with an offset of UTC-03:00, so local time there is always three hours behind UTC.
Is GFT the same as GMT?
No, GFT is not the same as GMT. GMT is UTC+0, while GFT is UTC-3, so GFT is 3 hours behind GMT; for example, when it is 3:00 PM GMT, it is 12:00 PM in French Guiana.
Which cities use GFT?
The main city associated with GFT is Cayenne, the capital of French Guiana, and the time zone is used across the territory, including places such as Kourou, Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni, and Matoury. Kourou is especially notable internationally because of the Guiana Space Centre, which makes GFT relevant for aerospace scheduling, launch operations, and international technical coordination.
What is the UTC offset for GFT?
The UTC offset for GFT is UTC-03:00. This means you subtract 3 hours from UTC to get local French Guiana time, or add 3 hours to GFT to convert to UTC; for example, 7:00 AM GFT = 10:00 AM UTC.
When does GFT change?
GFT does not change during the year because French Guiana does not observe Daylight Saving Time. There are no spring-forward or fall-back dates, so the local clock remains on UTC-3 year-round, which simplifies planning for local operations but still requires attention when comparing with cities that do switch.
Is GFT the same as UTC-3?
Yes, GFT is a UTC-3 time zone, but it is more accurate to say that GFT is one specific regional time standard that uses the UTC-03:00 offset. Other abbreviations such as ART, BRT, SRT, or UYT may also equal UTC-3 at certain times, but they refer to different countries or seasonal regimes and are not interchangeable in every month.
How far behind UTC is French Guiana Time?
French Guiana Time is 3 hours behind UTC at all times of year. So if a satellite operation, shipment update, or remote meeting is scheduled for 18:00 UTC, the local time in French Guiana will be 15:00 GFT.
Why does the time difference between GFT and Europe or the U.S. change if GFT does not use DST?
The difference changes because Europe and many parts of North America do observe Daylight Saving Time, while GFT stays fixed at UTC-3. For example, Paris is 4 hours ahead of GFT in winter and 5 hours ahead in summer, while New York is 2 hours behind GFT during Eastern Standard Time but only 1 hour behind during Eastern Daylight Time.