diff --git a/ext/opentelemetry-ext-opencensusexporter/src/opentelemetry/ext/opencensusexporter/metrics_exporter/__init__.py b/ext/opentelemetry-ext-opencensusexporter/src/opentelemetry/ext/opencensusexporter/metrics_exporter/__init__.py
index bb1a1ee888c..69c3234527d 100644
--- a/ext/opentelemetry-ext-opencensusexporter/src/opentelemetry/ext/opencensusexporter/metrics_exporter/__init__.py
+++ b/ext/opentelemetry-ext-opencensusexporter/src/opentelemetry/ext/opencensusexporter/metrics_exporter/__init__.py
@@ -15,9 +15,10 @@
 """OpenCensus Collector Metrics Exporter."""
 
 import logging
-from typing import Sequence
+from typing import Optional, Sequence
 
 import grpc
+from google.protobuf.timestamp_pb2 import Timestamp
 from opencensus.proto.agent.metrics.v1 import (
     metrics_service_pb2,
     metrics_service_pb2_grpc,
@@ -65,6 +66,8 @@ def __init__(
             self.client = client
 
         self.node = utils.get_node(service_name, host_name)
+        self.exporter_start_time_proto = Timestamp()
+        self.exporter_start_time_proto.GetCurrentTime()
 
     def export(
         self, metric_records: Sequence[MetricRecord]
@@ -89,16 +92,21 @@ def shutdown(self) -> None:
     def generate_metrics_requests(
         self, metrics: Sequence[MetricRecord]
     ) -> metrics_service_pb2.ExportMetricsServiceRequest:
-        collector_metrics = translate_to_collector(metrics)
+        collector_metrics = translate_to_collector(
+            metrics, self.exporter_start_time_proto
+        )
         service_request = metrics_service_pb2.ExportMetricsServiceRequest(
             node=self.node, metrics=collector_metrics
         )
+        # for testing, will delete
+        print(collector_metrics)
         yield service_request
 
 
 # pylint: disable=too-many-branches
 def translate_to_collector(
     metric_records: Sequence[MetricRecord],
+    start_timestamp: Optional[Timestamp],
 ) -> Sequence[metrics_pb2.Metric]:
     collector_metrics = []
     for metric_record in metric_records:
@@ -121,9 +129,15 @@ def translate_to_collector(
             label_keys=label_keys,
         )
 
+        is_cumulative = metric_descriptor.type in (
+            metrics_pb2.MetricDescriptor.CUMULATIVE_INT64,
+            metrics_pb2.MetricDescriptor.CUMULATIVE_DOUBLE,
+            metrics_pb2.MetricDescriptor.CUMULATIVE_DISTRIBUTION,
+        )
         timeseries = metrics_pb2.TimeSeries(
             label_values=label_values,
             points=[get_collector_point(metric_record)],
+            start_timestamp=(start_timestamp if is_cumulative else None),
         )
         collector_metrics.append(
             metrics_pb2.Metric(
diff --git a/ext/opentelemetry-ext-opencensusexporter/tests/test_otcollector_metrics_exporter.py b/ext/opentelemetry-ext-opencensusexporter/tests/test_otcollector_metrics_exporter.py
index f538e5acecd..3a095967e96 100644
--- a/ext/opentelemetry-ext-opencensusexporter/tests/test_otcollector_metrics_exporter.py
+++ b/ext/opentelemetry-ext-opencensusexporter/tests/test_otcollector_metrics_exporter.py
@@ -148,7 +148,10 @@ def test_translate_to_collector(self):
         aggregator.update(123)
         aggregator.take_checkpoint()
         record = MetricRecord(test_metric, self._key_labels, aggregator,)
-        output_metrics = metrics_exporter.translate_to_collector([record])
+        start_timestamp = Timestamp()
+        output_metrics = metrics_exporter.translate_to_collector(
+            [record], start_timestamp,
+        )
         self.assertEqual(len(output_metrics), 1)
         self.assertIsInstance(output_metrics[0], metrics_pb2.Metric)
         self.assertEqual(output_metrics[0].metric_descriptor.name, "testname")
@@ -169,6 +172,9 @@ def test_translate_to_collector(self):
         )
         self.assertEqual(len(output_metrics[0].timeseries), 1)
         self.assertEqual(len(output_metrics[0].timeseries[0].label_values), 1)
+        self.assertEqual(
+            output_metrics[0].timeseries[0].start_timestamp, start_timestamp
+        )
         self.assertEqual(
             output_metrics[0].timeseries[0].label_values[0].has_value, True
         )