Sanford Fleming was born in Kirkaldy, Scotland on July 7, 1827. He emigrated to Quebec on April 24, 1845 at age 17. He began work in Canada as a surveyor, and later became Chief Engineer for construction of the Intercolonial Railway. In 1871 he was appointed Chief Engineer for construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway, and was directly responsible for surveying routes through the Rocky Mountains.

In 1878 he wrote a series of papers for the Canadian Institute for the Advancement of Scientific Knowledge proposing that there be a prime meridian from which all countries would measure time. The normal practice was for each community to set 12 noon by the local position of the sun, which resulted in considerable problems in keeping train schedules. Fleming proposed a global system of 24 time zones, with a one hour time difference between each zone. After considerable discussion, Standard Time was adopted in 1884 and came into effect on January 1, 1885. Sandford Fleming became known as the "Father" of Standard Time.

Sandford Fleming also designed the first Canadian stamp, known as the three penny beaver. Fleming retired in 1880 and was knighted in 1897. He died in Halifax in 1915.