In most parts of the world, Canada is associated with snow and extremely cold weather. In fact, the Canadian climate varies greatly from one region to another and from one season to another. Even in mid-winter, a good sweater is all you need to keep you warm when you visit Victoria. But go to Churchill in the same season and you'll need to dress like a real Inuit. (In fact, you'll need to dress much more warmly than the Inuit, unless you are as used to icy winds as they are!) Return to this corner of the Far North in mid-summer and you'll find that the afternoons are as mild as they are long.

Weather and climate for the Rockies and Pacific

Bathed by currents of warm, humid air from the Pacific, the coast of British Columbia has the most moderate climate of any region in Canada. Vancouver and Victoria, the province's most populous cities, enjoy pleasant and relatively dry summers and mild, wet winters. Snowfalls are rare in low-altitude regions and when snow falls it generally melts the same day.

The same is true for Prince Rupert, even though it is much farther north: only a few centimetres of snow remain on the ground during winter. Its more northerly location sometimes results in cooler temperatures, however, especially in summer.

The city of Jasper lies in the Rockies, giving it a much more severe climate. Its mountain location brings a much colder, longer and snowier winter. Summer, however, is just as warm as on the coast.

Weather and climate for the Prairies and northern Manitoba

Stretching from the Rocky Mountains to the Great Lakes, the plains of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba are among the richest grain-growing regions in the world. These vast prairies have a typical continental climate: winters are cold, summers are hot and rainfall is relatively sparse. In Saskatoon, for example, the average annual precipitation is only about 350 mm (compared with about 1,000 mm in Vancouver and Montréal).

The "Chinook" is one of the most surprising climatic features of the Prairies. In winter this warm, normally dry wind occasionally descends from the Rockies, boosting temperatures by up to 15 °C in a single day.

Churchill, lying at the northern tip of Manitoba on the shore of the vast inland sea known as Hudson Bay, has an extreme northern climate. Hemmed by the Canadian Shield, a rocky region that is rich in minerals of every kind, this is Canada's Far North at its most intense (the cold and the length of winters) and at its most beautiful (icy landscapes and northern lights).

Weather and climate in Ontario

Because of the influence of the Great Lakes, Ontario experiences smaller variations in temperature and higher precipitation than would otherwise be expected for a region in the heart of a continent.

In summer, this imposing body of water has a cooling effect on neighbouring cities. However, in the south of the province, such as in Windsor or Toronto, heat waves lasting up to a week, with temperatures higher than 30 °C, are not uncommon.

In the fall, the release of heat stored in the lakes has a moderating effect. Comfortable, sunny days and cool, bracing nights make this season a favourite time of year.

Winter is characterized by alternating currents of cold arctic air and relatively warm air masses from the Gulf of Mexico. A city such as Sudbury, at north of the Great Lakes, is obviously more subject to arctic air currents and consequently has a more severe winter.

Weather and climate in Québec

Southern Québec has a temperate climate, with four strongly contrasting seasons, including a short, mild spring and a colourful but often chilly fall.

The two main seasons, however, are the hot and frequently humid summers and the cold, long and snowy winters that Quebecers have learned to live with. Temperatures can exceed 30°C in summer and drop below -25°C in winter.

There is snow on the ground for about 12 weeks in Montréal and up to 23 weeks in Gaspésie. Having said that, Montréal has more snow than such northern cities as Moscow and Oslo. In general, there are five or six snowstorms each winter, during which the wind brings temperatures even further down, sometimes causing "blowing snow" (very fine snow carried on the wind). In spite of this, Québec has more hours of winter sunshine than either Paris or London.

Cities and towns in the Gaspé peninsula enjoy the ocean's moderating effect on extreme temperatures, making winter a little milder and summer a little cooler.

Weather and climate for the Atlantic region

The Atlantic provinces are subject to the combined influences of continental air masses and winds blowing in from the ocean. This causes a variable climate, with sudden temperature changes and frequent freeze-thaw cycles, even in the depths of winter.

Snowfalls are often heavy, but the snow cover melts completely several times over the course of the winter. In Halifax, for example, there is snow on the ground at Christmas only one year in two.

Summers are warm, but not fiercely hot. Coastal cities are also subject to the influence of the humid Atlantic air for the greater part of the year. The closer you come to the ocean, the greater the sea's moderating effect on temperatures: it tends to make summers a little cooler and winters a little milder.

Halifax has a well-deserved reputation as a city of fog, especially from mid-spring to early summer. On average, the city's inhabitants awake to fog one day in three.