Top Ten Coldest Canadian Cities in Winter

Liz Osborn CurrentResults.com

Winnipeg, Manitoba has the coldest winter weather of any major Canadian city. It ranks first for the lowest average temperatures. Winnipeg also is Canada's city that most often drops to -30 degrees Celsius (-22 degrees Fahrenheit) or below and it is least likely to have a day above freezing during winter.

Other Prairie cities along with several in Ontario and Quebec round out the lists of Canada's coldest in winter.

The tables below list the major Canadian cities that rank for the lowest maximum and minimum temperature averages, the fewest freezing days and the most days of really cold weather.

The cities included in these rankings are Canada's largest metropolitan areas. These are the 33 urban regions that had over 100,000 people according to the 2011 census by Statistics Canada. The temperature data are averages of weather measurements made from 1981 to 2010.

Coldest Winter Climates

Daytime highs at Canada's coldest cities average less than -4 degrees Celsius (25 degrees Fahrenheit) during winter.

Average daily maximum temperature for December, January and February

City	High °F	High °C
Winnipeg, Manitoba	15	-9.3
Saguenay, Quebec	18	-7.7
Regina, Saskatchewan	18	-7.6
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan	19	-7.3
Thunder Bay, Ontario	21	-6.2
Sudbury, Ontario	21	-6.0
Québec City, Quebec	21	-5.9
Trois-Rivières, Quebec	23	-4.9
Edmonton, Alberta	24	-4.4

At ten Canadian cities the nighttime lows average less than -13 °C (8.4 °F) throughout winter.

Average daily minimum temperature in December, January and February

City	Low °F	Low °C
Winnipeg, Manitoba	-2	-19.2
Saguenay, Quebec	-1	-18.3
Regina, Saskatchewan	-1	-18.2
Thunder Bay, Ontario	-1	-18.1
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan	2	-16.5
Sudbury, Ontario	4	-15.5
Sherbrooke, Quebec	4	-15.4
Québec City, Quebec	4	-15.4
Trois-Rivières, Quebec	6	-14.5
Edmonton, Alberta	8	-13.4

Lowest Temperatures

Eleven of Canada's cities can expect at least one night of -30 °C weather each winter.

Average number of days in winter when the temperature drops below -30 °C (-22 °F).

City	Days
Winnipeg, Manitoba	12
Regina, Saskatchewan	11
Thunder Bay, Ontario	7
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan	7
Saguenay, Quebec	7
Sherbrooke, Quebec	5
Calgary, Alberta	3
Sudbury, Ontario	3
Edmonton, Alberta	3
Trois-Rivières, Quebec	3
Québec City, Quebec	1

Fewest Winter Thaws

These Canadian cities have fewer than 30 days a winter when the temperature gets warm enough to melt ice and snow.

Average number of days when the temperature rises above 0 °C (32 °F) in December, January and February.

City	Days
Winnipeg, Manitoba	13
Saguenay, Quebec	15
Sudbury, Ontario	19
Regina, Saskatchewan	21
Québec City, Quebec	21
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan	21
Thunder Bay, Ontario	22
Trois-Rivières, Quebec	23