Is Canada really cold on winter time?

Question

My friend said to me Canada is good place to live but it is too cold on winter time. so it is not nice. hm... I am curious.
Is there any place not too cold on winter time in Canada?
Curious.

Answer 1

Or to put it another way....

I moved to Canada in 2004. January 2004. I picked up my fiancee in Ontario and drove the Trans Canada highway to the West. It was very VERY cold in Ontario. About -45F, with a personal record of -52F on the north shore of Lake Superior. As we proceeded west, it gradually warmed, until it was a balmy +25F in Alberta. Yet even further west, we drove through patches where it was 33-36. And winters on the west coast can hit highs of 50 or even the rare 55. Nothing to write home about; but summer is different...

The west coast stays mild year round, so 50 in the winter, 75 in the summer. Never gets too warm. The mountains are comparable to Montana summers and the plains are like ND or SD. Ontario gets plenty of New-York style summer warmth, as does southern Quebec. Meanwhile, Atlantic provinces are comparable to living in Maine.

Canada is a GREAT place to live, I was there for 2 years, and it's so laid back and welcoming. Plus, it's beautiful, and unbeknownst to Americans, Canadians are quite passionate about the beauty of their land.

For this reason, I would recommend moving to the Victoria (Vancouver Island) area. It's smaller than Vancouver (500,000 compared to 3.8 mil), and it's even a bit milder. It typically gets about 1.5 times as much sun as the big soggy city. As an added bonus, Killer and other whales can be spotted throughout the year, and the island and mountains and water are goregous! Yes, I'm partial, I stayed on the Gulf Islands. Warmest winters in Canada, guaranteed - only 10 days of snow in 2004-2005.

Answer 2

Vancouver doesn't get too terribly cold in the winter, but in my experience, it does get very wet.

Ottawa winters are quite cold, but what helps make it bareable (well, sorta) is that you don't have a wide variety of temperature changes. During 24 hours, the temp might fluctuate 5-8 degrees F at most. Compare this to California where the temp can fluctuate 20 degrees F in one day. For some reason, that makes it feel colder to me.

Canadian winters are manageable if you have the proper clothing. And you have the perks of winter festivals.

Answer 3

Depends what you consider cold, and where you are. I live on the West Coast, which is the mildest. The city I live in had *NO* snow last winter...none. This despite the stereotypes. Living in the prairies (midwest) or even Eastern Canada can lead to very cold winters, however.

Answer 4

Vancouver never gets cold. And only beautiful people live there. Thus the rest of Canada despises Vancouver... I'd recommend it.

Or you could go to Iqaluit - it will let you redefine your understanding of the word 'cold' and the word 'winter', so then the rest of Canada will seem positively tropical!

Answer 5

I live like 20 min away from the Blue Water Bridge in Michigan that connects to Sarnia, Canada. It gets cold here. I mean it gets colder in northern Canada. Sarnia is cool. They have casinos and waterparks. I'm going there in a few weeks to go to the waterpark.

Answer 6

what is cold to you? it gets about -15 degrees in Canada

Answer 7

of course canada is cold in the winter....
its freakin CANADA!!! duh

im from florida, so anywhere north of south carolina is cold

Answer 8

It really depend where you are. It is a pretty big country. Where I was born it would get to -50C but then I have lived in places that were 45C in the summer.

Answer 9

It's very cold. That's all I know.