Is Canada really one of the coldest places In the world?

depends where you're moving to - but Montreal winter is hell imho!

Thanks for the advise I'll plan for a hot country looool

That said - it's hot here in summer.  I come from Western Australia originally where it is hot and dry.  I feel hotter here in Montreal in summer and it is very humid.  I don't understand how it can be soooooo cold here in winter (there have been days where it hit -46C since I lived here) and soooo hot in summer (also a day when it got to +45).

It's a very big country though so I imagine it's a completely different climate on the west coast.

Sounds great what about torronto and ottawa

Umm i think pretty similar to Montreal though I've never been

The cold in Canada is attributed to the arctic air that flows down from the Arctic circle and goes all through Alberta eastwards. West coast BC enjoys the cover from the mountain range which prevents the arctic air from getting to it. But the west suffers from constant tremors and a lurking threat of a major quake. Cold in mid-west provinces can be brutal e.g. up to 50 C sometimes but they are short and ends in matter of a few days and then there'd be more normal bearable temp like 0 or even higher. Eastwards in Ontario and Quebec, cold hits a low of 30 and are also bone-chilling but does not have breaks like the mid west. It can last very long. Fortunately they don't have much ice on the road. Maritime provinces which are closer to the ocean are not as cold as the others as it has the sea to bring the temp higher. So cold is typically lowest at 20. But there's nasty black ice and that's very common there.

tjejen wrote:

That said - it's hot here in summer.  I come from Western Australia originally where it is hot and dry.  I feel hotter here in Montreal in summer and it is very humid.  I don't understand how it can be soooooo cold here in winter (there have been days where it hit -46C since I lived here) and soooo hot in summer (also a day when it got to +45).

It's a very big country though so I imagine it's a completely different climate on the west coast.

WOW!!! didn't realise that Montreal could reach temps as high as 45c!!! ... is that including humidity? (in other words, when you see forecasts stating "feels like").  Here in the Okanagan Valley in BC, we typically reach summer highs of 38c (maybe closer to 40c in Osoyoos to the south). 

A Typical winter here would see lows of -10c to -15c ... although a "cold snap" can produce anything as low as -25c or so.  As far as snow fall, you typically can expect a few coverings over winter, usually no more than 5-6 inches, although this past January, we broke records with the most snowfall in a 24hour period, which produced an accumulation of 17 inches.

All the best!

It does get pretty cold, depends where you find yourself in Canada. The Prairie provinces are the coldest generally

In Toronto it is 29 degrees Celsius... only cold late Dec to mid March

I have to put in a vote for Northern Ontario as one of the coldest regions  The last few winters have been brutal - regularly setting out for work in temperatures of -30c. That said, we don't get anywhere near as much snow here as other areas. When my husband was talking to his uncle in New Brunswick this winter, he said he literally couldn't see out of his house there was that much snow.

Calum wrote:

tjejen wrote:

That said - it's hot here in summer.  I come from Western Australia originally where it is hot and dry.  I feel hotter here in Montreal in summer and it is very humid.  I don't understand how it can be soooooo cold here in winter (there have been days where it hit -46C since I lived here) and soooo hot in summer (also a day when it got to +45).

It's a very big country though so I imagine it's a completely different climate on the west coast.

WOW!!! didn't realise that Montreal could reach temps as high as 45c!!! ... is that including humidity? (in other words, when you see forecasts stating "feels like").
All the best!

Correct .

Having lived and still living on/off on  the island since 1979 with  some yrs away for uni and for employment , the worst I have experienced is -25C  ( but with the humidity it can feel -40C , especially in the early days of January and if you are waiting for the bus outside or walking through the streets in downtown Montreal ,  the air/draft circulating through the skyscrapers can be b-----y hell).

The only two places I dread going to, in the winter, for business- Sudbury  ( I advise my American colleagues to wear long johns ) because most of the time the rental cars are left outside and it is hard to open because of ice accumulation ) and Yellowknife ( Montreal's cold is nothing if one experiences both )

Yes it is also very hot in Montréal ( today 33C and by the time the humidity kicks in it is going to feel like 42/45C) .Good thing electricity is not expensive as compared to Ottawa, for example for running the AC. Ottawa is as cold and sometimes colder than Montréal.

Over the past 15 yrs , I have noticed that the Maritimes are getting colder ( may be I am not in my 20's anymore  ) and travelling there is getting tougher in the winter - snow, black ice on the roads and plane delays.

Really? Montreal is humid? Coming from the UK, the air is so dry here! In the UK, my hair is straight, limp and lifeless. Or in the words of my hairdresser, sleek. I just towel dry and walk away. In Toronto and Montreal, I have to do this thing that others refer to as 'styling' my hair or it can do some crazy looking things that can only be tamed with a hairband. When there are heatwaves in the England, it's oppressively hot. The temperature isn't that high, it's just that no one has air conditioning and it's very humid and there just aren't a lot of places to go to cool off and the few that are around to go to, are packed with other people trying to cool off. It's a good thing we don't get a lot of heatwaves in England.

I find I don't mind heatwaves here. Most places have AC, the humidity is lower than the UK and there are a ton of lakes to swim in. I realize deserts are dryer, but I'd hardly call Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto region of cities humid.

MovingLady wrote:

Really? Montreal is humid? Coming from the UK, the air is so dry here!

Hi MovingLady!

I hear you!! ... yes indeed, compared with my current area (Okanagan Valley in BC) ... Montreal is humid, but not as much as the UK (comparing raw temps with humidity percentages around the British Isles).  On reflection, I don't miss walking out of an office on a "UK Summer's Day" ... as you were soaking wet before you reached your car!! (makes Canadian's laugh, based on the difference in heat, but humidity, well ... they would have to experience it for themselves, making UK temps feel more like 36c (not 26c).

Kind Regards.