diff --git a/container/docker/handler.go b/container/docker/handler.go
index 05f0d0a3..b9d7c1f6 100644
--- a/container/docker/handler.go
+++ b/container/docker/handler.go
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ import (
 	"os"
 	"path"
 	"strings"
+	"time"
 
 	"github.com/docker/libcontainer"
 	"github.com/docker/libcontainer/cgroups"
@@ -68,6 +69,9 @@ type dockerContainerHandler struct {
 	usesAufsDriver bool
 	fsInfo         fs.FsInfo
 	storageDirs    []string
+
+	// Time at which this container was created.
+	creationTime time.Time
 }
 
 func DockerStateDir() string {
@@ -119,6 +123,7 @@ func newDockerContainerHandler(
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to inspect container %q: %v", id, err)
 	}
+	handler.creationTime = ctnr.Created
 
 	// Add the name and bare ID as aliases of the container.
 	handler.aliases = append(handler.aliases, strings.TrimPrefix(ctnr.Name, "/"))
@@ -235,23 +240,23 @@ func libcontainerConfigToContainerSpec(config *libcontainer.Config, mi *info.Mac
 	return spec
 }
 
-func (self *dockerContainerHandler) GetSpec() (spec info.ContainerSpec, err error) {
+func (self *dockerContainerHandler) GetSpec() (info.ContainerSpec, error) {
 	mi, err := self.machineInfoFactory.GetMachineInfo()
 	if err != nil {
-		return
+		return info.ContainerSpec{}, err
 	}
 	libcontainerConfig, err := self.readLibcontainerConfig()
 	if err != nil {
-		return
+		return info.ContainerSpec{}, err
 	}
 
-	spec = libcontainerConfigToContainerSpec(libcontainerConfig, mi)
-
+	spec := libcontainerConfigToContainerSpec(libcontainerConfig, mi)
+	spec.CreationTime = self.creationTime
 	if self.usesAufsDriver {
 		spec.HasFilesystem = true
 	}
 
-	return
+	return spec, err
 }
 
 func (self *dockerContainerHandler) getFsStats(stats *info.ContainerStats) error {
diff --git a/container/raw/handler.go b/container/raw/handler.go
index 83a6c231..5edfb9b4 100644
--- a/container/raw/handler.go
+++ b/container/raw/handler.go
@@ -18,9 +18,11 @@ package raw
 import (
 	"fmt"
 	"io/ioutil"
+	"os"
 	"path"
 	"strconv"
 	"strings"
+	"time"
 
 	"code.google.com/p/go.exp/inotify"
 	dockerlibcontainer "github.com/docker/libcontainer"
@@ -180,6 +182,20 @@ func (self *rawContainerHandler) GetSpec() (info.ContainerSpec, error) {
 
 	// The raw driver assumes unified hierarchy containers.
 
+	// Get the lowest creation time from all hierarchies as the container creation time.
+	now := time.Now()
+	lowestTime := now
+	for _, cgroupPath := range self.cgroupPaths {
+		// The modified time of the cgroup directory is when the container was created.
+		fi, err := os.Stat(cgroupPath)
+		if err == nil && fi.ModTime().Before(lowestTime) {
+			lowestTime = fi.ModTime()
+		}
+	}
+	if lowestTime != now {
+		spec.CreationTime = lowestTime
+	}
+
 	// Get machine info.
 	mi, err := self.machineInfoFactory.GetMachineInfo()
 	if err != nil {
diff --git a/info/container.go b/info/container.go
index b5ef4fcf..b3816336 100644
--- a/info/container.go
+++ b/info/container.go
@@ -40,6 +40,9 @@ type MemorySpec struct {
 }
 
 type ContainerSpec struct {
+	// Time at which the container was created.
+	CreationTime time.Time `json:"creation_time,omitempty"`
+
 	HasCpu bool    `json:"has_cpu"`
 	Cpu    CpuSpec `json:"cpu,omitempty"`
 
@@ -88,6 +91,7 @@ type ContainerInfo struct {
 	Stats []*ContainerStats `json:"stats,omitempty"`
 }
 
+// TODO(vmarmol): Refactor to not need this equality comparison.
 // ContainerInfo may be (un)marshaled by json or other en/decoder. In that
 // case, the Timestamp field in each stats/sample may not be precisely
 // en/decoded.  This will lead to small but acceptable differences between a
@@ -111,7 +115,7 @@ func (self *ContainerInfo) Eq(b *ContainerInfo) bool {
 	if !reflect.DeepEqual(self.Subcontainers, b.Subcontainers) {
 		return false
 	}
-	if !reflect.DeepEqual(self.Spec, b.Spec) {
+	if !self.Spec.Eq(&b.Spec) {
 		return false
 	}
 
@@ -125,6 +129,37 @@ func (self *ContainerInfo) Eq(b *ContainerInfo) bool {
 	return true
 }
 
+func (self *ContainerSpec) Eq(b *ContainerSpec) bool {
+	// Creation within 1s of each other.
+	diff := self.CreationTime.Sub(b.CreationTime)
+	if (diff > time.Second) || (diff < -time.Second) {
+		return false
+	}
+
+	if self.HasCpu != b.HasCpu {
+		return false
+	}
+	if !reflect.DeepEqual(self.Cpu, b.Cpu) {
+		return false
+	}
+	if self.HasMemory != b.HasMemory {
+		return false
+	}
+	if !reflect.DeepEqual(self.Memory, b.Memory) {
+		return false
+	}
+	if self.HasNetwork != b.HasNetwork {
+		return false
+	}
+	if self.HasFilesystem != b.HasFilesystem {
+		return false
+	}
+	if self.HasDiskIo != b.HasDiskIo {
+		return false
+	}
+	return true
+}
+
 func (self *ContainerInfo) StatsAfter(ref time.Time) []*ContainerStats {
 	n := len(self.Stats) + 1
 	for i, s := range self.Stats {
diff --git a/info/test/datagen.go b/info/test/datagen.go
index 519e28c1..1be1dd19 100644
--- a/info/test/datagen.go
+++ b/info/test/datagen.go
@@ -51,8 +51,9 @@ func GenerateRandomStats(numStats, numCores int, duration time.Duration) []*info
 
 func GenerateRandomContainerSpec(numCores int) info.ContainerSpec {
 	ret := info.ContainerSpec{
-		Cpu:    info.CpuSpec{},
-		Memory: info.MemorySpec{},
+		CreationTime: time.Now(),
+		Cpu:          info.CpuSpec{},
+		Memory:       info.MemorySpec{},
 	}
 	ret.Cpu.Limit = uint64(1000 + rand.Int63n(2000))
 	ret.Cpu.MaxLimit = uint64(1000 + rand.Int63n(2000))