The last word on Canadian Winters

Deeana · #1 (**permalink**) 6th March 2009, 02:21 AM

Honestly guys, let's get this straight. There is no way Canadian winters can be described as anything other than cold. Harsh even. You may enjoy snow, enjoy winter sports, enjoy freezing standing in a bus queue, but get this. IT IS VERY COLD IN CANADA IN THE WINTER. PERIOD.
Vancouver area is the exception, and the ONLY exception. There, it rains instead.
I am putting this up as a sticky, because nine trillion people have asked the same question. YES IT IS DAMN COLD IN CANADA IN THE WINTER.
If it wasn't there would be more than 30 million people over there. The country would be FULL UP.
It's a great country. Absolutely FULL of nature. Full of great people, great sport, great everything. BUT IT IS VERY COLD IN WINTER.
READ THIS. It is cold enough to freeze your hair solid if you come out of the pool with damp hair. Cold enough to keep a frozen turkey on the deck for weeks before Christmas if it doesn't fit in your freezer. Cold enough to freeze your car radiator as you drive up the highway at 70 mph.
By the way, people who come from Winnipeg call it WINTERPEG because the winters are cold and endless. Children freeze to death if they escape from their houses and wander across to the neighbours in the middle of the day. Within minutes. This is true, not an urban myth.
DON'T LET THIS PUT YOU OFF. But don't go there thinking it will be all sunny, crisp wintery days like we get after a snowfall in England. And don't think it will be like Scotland, or Yorkshire or anywhere in the UK. It won't be. It will often be gray with snow for days and days on end. It can snow continuously for a week or more at a time.
This year Calgarians were complaining on the radio about the bad weather - first time I heard that. The roads weren't being properly cleared. The weather was bad and getting worse, and not lifting like it usually does.
Please don't reply to this mail saying it's not that bad. You can pretend all you like. I happen to believe it is better to realise what you are getting into and deal with it, rather than stick your head in the sand.

JCB · #2 (**permalink**) 6th March 2009, 05:23 AM

[QUOTE=Deeana;113638]Honestly guys, let's get this straight. There is no way Canadian winters can be described as anything other than cold. Harsh even. You may enjoy snow, enjoy winter sports, enjoy freezing standing in a bus queue, but get this. IT IS VERY COLD IN CANADA IN THE WINTER. PERIOD.
I am Irish but we are currently living in Melbourne. We are looking to move to Toronto in a couple of years. Absolutely love Melbourne but it is so far away from home that it is hard to visit home or for people to travel all that way to see us on a regular basis.
I have a small son and am looking at having another child this year. What I want to know is with the very cold weather, would it be difficult for me to manage the winter with small children. Basically with the weather are you very restricted to the house and could I end up very isolated while trying to establish new social networks which take time.
Any comments gratefully accepted.

Deeana · #3 (**permalink**) 6th March 2009, 12:38 PM

[quote=JCB;113695]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Deeana

Honestly guys, let's get this straight. There is no way Canadian winters can be described as anything other than cold. Harsh even. You may enjoy snow, enjoy winter sports, enjoy freezing standing in a bus queue, but get this. IT IS VERY COLD IN CANADA IN THE WINTER. PERIOD.
I am Irish but we are currently living in Melbourne. We are looking to move to Toronto in a couple of years. Absolutely love Melbourne but it is so far away from home that it is hard to visit home or for people to travel all that way to see us on a regular basis.
I have a small son and am looking at having another child this year. What I want to know is with the very cold weather, would it be difficult for me to manage the winter with small children. Basically with the weather are you very restricted to the house and could I end up very isolated while trying to establish new social /networks which take time.
Any comments gratefully accepted.

Yes, you definitely could. Many women have posted saying that they have experienced this problem. It would vary depending on where you were living and whether you had a friendship circle to start out with. I knew of a woman who located to Canmore from the UK and nearly went mad with frustration and boredom in the winter at first. I don't know what happened to her in the end, just that her husband was fine, because every day he drove into Calgary to work and met up with his chums. She was stuck indoors in the middle of a tiny town in the middle of the Rockies with no car, but afraid to drive in the snow even if she did have one, having walked the kids to school, knowing no-one. The cold makes it hard. You simply can't hang out and chat over the fence. BUT if you were to make an effort to meet people through indoor activities like the gym, mothers' groups, your own work environment etc. you would be fine socially. Canadians are friendly. Friends will come. But it will always be cold in the winter no matter what you do, and the outdoors life is going to be restricted.

Deeana · #4 (**permalink**) 6th March 2009, 03:48 PM

ROSE VALLEY, Sask. — The Saskatchewan man whose two toddlers froze to death last year is to be sentenced Friday afternoon. The case, which attracted nationwide attention, was the subject of an aboriginal sentencing circle last month, when elders and community members recommended Christopher Pauchay receive a conditional sentence to be served at home on the Yellow Quill First Nation reserve — the place where his daughters died.

The Crown has asked for a prison sentence of 2 1/2 to five years due to the seriousness of the crime and Pauchay's lengthy criminal record, which includes more than 50 prior convictions. A judge will decide.

Pauchay, 25, pleaded guilty last year to a single count of criminal negligence causing the deaths of his daughters, 15-month-old Santana and three-year-old Kaydance. Searchers found the girls' bodies, nearly buried in snow drifts not far from the family's home, on Jan. 29 and 30, 2008.

Pauchay was extremely drunk when he left the house the previous night — when temperatures had fallen below -50 with the wind chill — with both girls dressed only in shirts and diapers, the court heard.

Pauchay was initially released on bail while the negligence charge was pending.
He was returned to custody Jan. 8, after RCMP arrested him at a small-town bar near the reserve. He's accused of violating his release conditions by drinking alcohol on two separate occasions this winter.

Yellow Quill is about 220 kilometres southeast of Saskatoon.

With files from the Saskatoon StarPhoenix

© Copyright (c) Canwest News Service

piper · #5 (**permalink**) 15th March 2009, 01:42 AM

Hey,
I'm from Canada, and I will say: yep, it's cold allright. I go for morning jogs (yes, even in -30 temps) and I have to stop and thaw my eyelashes because they freeze shut. There are days when children have to stay inside from the cold and play cards in the school gym instead of enjoying the Canadian outdoors.
I love Canada, even its winters. But I must say that I get rather cheery when I see the first robins searching the frozen grounds for grubs and when I see the welcoming flying "V" of the geese returning to our lakes!
Happy Spring!

Chelsea · #6 (**permalink**) 9th April 2009, 02:52 AM

THE SNOW IS MELTING
THE SNOW IS MELTING
THE SNOW IS MELTING
Dude, I'm from Mississippi. It is literally painful to walk out the door. I actually sank up to my hips and had to have a friend pull me out of the snow a few weeks ago.

ChungyUK · #7 (**permalink**) 9th April 2009, 11:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chelsea

THE SNOW IS MELTING
THE SNOW IS MELTING
THE SNOW IS MELTING
Dude, I'm from Mississippi. It is literally painful to walk out the door. I actually sank up to my hips and had to have a friend pull me out of the snow a few weeks ago.

Hey guys Steve here!

How cold can it get in Vancouver normally in the winter? and what is the weather like all year round. I heard that Vancouver rains a lot but the temperature isn't so bad compare to other parts of Canada. Can anyone tell me more info on this, thank you!!

Steve from the UK

Chelsea · #8 (**permalink**) 9th April 2009, 02:36 PM

I've only been to Vancouver once. It was a little rainy, but I'd rather that over 9 months of snow any day. Vancouver is a GORGEOUS city. Cliffs overhanging the highway and when it rains (which apparently IS rather frequent) these little tiny waterfalls come over the rockface onto the road.
It is quite a bit warmer there, I guess they rarely get snowfall and ice. Last spring we still had a couple feet of snow on the ground and I saw a news clip of people there wearing shorts and hoodies.

Raymapleleaf · #9 (**permalink**) 15th April 2009, 08:48 PM

hi we are moving to calgary does it take a long time to get used to the long winters we heard it takes five years ? or you move but we like calgary a lot
and think we we be o.k (praying)

I am putting this up as a sticky, because nine trillion people have asked the same question. YES IT IS DAMN COLD IN CANADA IN THE WINTER.
If it wasn't there would be more than 30 million people over there. The country would be FULL UP.
It's a great country. Absolutely FULL of nature. Full of great people, great sport, great everything. BUT IT IS VERY COLD IN WINTER.
READ THIS. It is cold enough to freeze your hair solid if you come out of the pool with damp hair. Cold enough to keep a frozen turkey on the deck for weeks before Christmas if it doesn't fit in your freezer. Cold enough to freeze your car radiator as you drive up the highway at 70 mph.
By the way, people who come from Winnipeg call it WINTERPEG because the winters are cold and endless. Children freeze to death if they escape from their houses and wander across to the neighbours in the middle of the day. Within minutes. This is true, not an urban myth.
DON'T LET THIS PUT YOU OFF. But don't go there thinking it will be all sunny, crisp wintery days like we get after a snowfall in England. And don't think it will be like Scotland, or Yorkshire or anywhere in the UK. It won't be. It will often be gray with snow for days and days on end. It can snow continuously for a week or more at a time.
This year Calgarians were complaining on the radio about the bad weather - first time I heard that. The roads weren't being properly cleared. The weather was bad and getting worse, and not lifting like it usually does.
Please don't reply to this mail saying it's not that bad. You can pretend all you like. I happen to believe it is better to realise what you are getting into and deal with it, rather than stick your head in the sand.[/QUOTE]

Auld Yin · #10 (**permalink**) 15th April 2009, 09:11 PM

There cannot ever be a LAST WORD on Canadian winters. As Raymapleleaf says it gets verrry, verrry cold in most part of the country in winter. So many people come here believing they know all about how cold it's going to be, but, believe me, most do not. I recall going to work at 7am in the UK during the winter. It was often cold but generally by midday it had warmed up to plus side of freezing. In Canada one goes out at 7am and it's -15C and it might warm up to -10 by midday if the sun comes out. If it doesn't then no warmup takes place.
The cold weather is, without a doubt, the most discussed thread in expats' websites. People *****, whine, moan about it and that serves no purpose. For those already here who hate it, get used to it. It's going to come around every November and will be here until March. For those contemplating emigrating to Canada please get it into your heads that, except for the west coast, it is going to be bloody cold in Canada from November until March. Not quite cold, not really cold, not very cold BUT very, very f*****g cold, day in and day out.