I thought I would check on the Canadian forum as my family and I are from Canada living abroad in UAE. My husband is from New Brunswick (moncton area) and I'm from Calgary, AB. Lived in Calgary all my life. We have to say we miss the snow and yes part of the cold winters.
You do adjust or you just make adjustments. Make sure you plug your cars in overnight if you leave them outside. Park them in your garage if you can. Newer cars will start in the -30 if not plugged in but will take a bit to get them started. We had our son Dec. 2007 and it was one of our bad cold snaps in Calgary. It was tough but we made sure that we had the bag for the carseat which are quite warm and then just added extra blankets.
For Ray..... Calgary is lovely. It was great because we would get chinooks which is change in winds over the mountains which can dramatically change the weather from -20 to +10.
Hint for your house... when it hits -40 with windchill place blankets on the floor of your front/back doors. It will help keep out some of the cold and frost. And let your car run for at least 15 mins in those cold snaps.