Temperature in Canada

Climate in Canada varies widely from region to region. In many parts of the country, particularly in the interior and Prairie provinces, winters are long, very cold, and feature frequent snow. Most of Canada has a continental climate, which features a large annual range of temperatures, cold winters, and warm summers. Daily average temperatures are near, but can drop below with severe wind chills. In non-coastal regions, snow can cover the ground for almost six months of the year, while in parts of the north snow can persist year-round. Coastal British Columbia has a more temperate climate, with a mild and rainy, cloudy winter. The British Columbia Southern interior has a semi-desert climate in many locations, with long warm to hot, dry summers, and short moderate winters. The immediate area adjacent to the town of Ashcroft, features Canada's only true desert. On the east and west coasts, average summer high temperatures are generally in the low 20s °C, while between the coasts, the average summer high temperature ranges from, with temperatures in some interior locations occasionally exceeding.
Much of Northern Canada is covered by ice and permafrost; however, the future of the permafrost is uncertain because the Arctic has been warming at three times the global average as a result of climate change in Canada. Canada's annual average temperature over land has warmed by, with changes ranging from in various regions, since 1948. The rate of warming has been higher across the North and in the Prairies. In the southern regions of Canada, air pollution from both Canada and the United States—caused by metal smelting, burning coal to power utilities, and vehicle emissions—has resulted in acid rain, which has severely impacted waterways, forest growth and agricultural productivity in Canada.

Averages

The following tables show the average maximum and minimum temperatures of Canada of various cities across Canada, based on the climate period from 1981 to 2010 for the months of January and July.
The two major Canadian cities that fall outside the continental climate schema are Vancouver and Victoria. Vancouver experiences an oceanic climate, bordering warm-summer mediterranean with a marked summer dry season. Victoria, BC is the only major Canadian city entirely in a warm-summer mediterranean climate. Of the eight largest Canadian cities, Ottawa, Montreal and Toronto have the warmest summers, Winnipeg the coldest winters, while Vancouver's winters are far milder than any other large city in Canada.
In mountainous regions such as British Columbia the variety of elevations creates micro-climates with average temperatures that can vary wildly within relatively small distances. A few small towns in southern BC outside of Vancouver, for example, have a humid continental climate with average winter temperatures and cold snaps comparable to other parts of the country.
Central Canada and northern Canada experiences subarctic and Arctic climates, much of them arid. Those areas are not heavily populated due to the severe climate, where it drops below on most winter days and has a very brief summer season.
Some Mountain passes in southern BC also have a subarctic or subalpine climate, creating extremely dangerous driving conditions, as drivers may be unaware of wintry road conditions when they come from nearby areas like Vancouver and Kamloops which is semi-desert, that are much warmer.
The table can be reordered by clicking on the box in each column. Places in italics are provincial capitals, bold is the national capital.

Community	Weather station	Location	Elevation	January Avg. high °C	January Avg. low °C	July Avg. high °C	July Avg. low °C	Annual Avg. high °C	Annual Avg. low °C
Alberton, PE
Baker Lake, NU	YBK
Baie-Comeau, QC	YBC
Calgary, AB	YYC
Charlottetown, PE	YYG
Churchill, MB	YYQ
Corner Brook, NL
Dawson City, YT	YDA
Edmonton, AB	YXD
Edmundston, NB
Fort Nelson, BC	YYE
Fredericton, NB	YFC
Halifax, NS	YHZ
High Level, AB	YOJ
Inuvik, NT	YEV
Iqaluit, NU	YFB
Kamloops, BC	YKA
Kugluktuk, NU	YCO
La Ronge, SK	YVC
Mayo, YT	YMA
Moncton, NB	YQM
Montreal, QC	YUL
Nain, NL	YDP
Norman Wells, NT	YVQ
Ottawa, ON	YOW
Princeton, BC	CYDC
Quebec City, QC	YQB
Regina, SK	YQR
Resolute, NU	YRB
Saskatoon, SK	YXE
St. John's, NL	YYT
Summerside, PE	YSU
Sydney, NS	YQY
Thompson, MB	YTH
Timmins, ON	YTS
Toronto, ON	YYZ
Vancouver, BC	YVR
Victoria, BC	YYJ
Whitehorse, YT	YXY
Windsor, ON	YQG
Winnipeg, MB	YWG
Yarmouth, NS	YQI
Yellowknife, NT	YZF

Heat, cold and frost averages

Location	Region	Days >30°	Days >20°	Frosts	Max temp <0°	Days <-10°	Days <-20°	First frost	Last frost	Frost-free
Baker Lake	NU	0.21	13.1	270.5	225.5	206.3	158.2	Aug 30	Jun 25	65 days
Brandon	MB	15.9	109.8	202.3	110.0	108.6	52.6	Sep 14	May 24	112 days
Calgary	AB	5.1	87.2	194.4	59.3	71.3	21.7	Sep 16	May 21	117 days
Charlottetown	PE	0.9	79.3	160.2	72.6	54.6	6.5	Oct 17	May 16	153 days
Churchill	MB	1.1	28.0	247.5	193.7	171.0	117.2	Sep 15	Jun 19	87 days
Corner Brook	NL	0.7	58.5	159.3	79.0	43.0	3.4	Oct 13	May 19	146 days
Dawson Creek	BC	2.6	62.1	243.7	156.9	162.4	104.1	Aug 13	Jun 3	70 days
Edmonton	AB	4.0	88.4	179.7	82.6	75.3	24.6	Sep 22	May 9	135 days
Fort Frances	ON	6.9	100.4	195.4	106.6	90.8	44.2	Sep 17	May 27	108 days
Fort McMurray	AB	5.9	84.2	212.1	115.8	119.5	57.5	Sep 6	May 30	97 days
Fort Nelson	BC	3.3	78.1	214.2	133.6	139.1	79.8	Sep 11	May 16	117 days
Fort Simpson	NT	4.2	73.8	224.3	159.3	157.3	101.1	Sep 1	May 26	97 days
Fredericton	NB	9.0	104.4	172.9	69.1	72.6	20.0	Sep 25	May 17	130 days
Halifax	NS	1.0	78.2	131.0	47.0	29.8	0.8	Oct 31	May 1	182 days
Hamilton	ON	18.5	119.8	129.0	48.6	32.6	2.5	Oct 16	Apr 21	177 days
High Level	AB	2.7	76.5	224.8	136.3	138.9	79.9	Sep 1	Jun 1	91 days
Iqaluit	NU	0.0	2.1	265.8	212.2	182.4	130.6	Sep 3	Jun 20	74 days
Kamloops	BC	32.8	132.0	119.2	34.5	19.9	3.4	Oct 10	Apr 24	169 days
Kuujjuaq	QC	0.3	21.7	244.0	177.1	155.6	104.5	Sep 9	Jun 18	82 days
Labrador City	NL	0.4	33.1	232.8	155.3	144.5	90.6	Sep 14	Jun 9	95 days
Liverpool	NS	3.3	102.7	146.8	42.0	34.6	3.6	Oct 5	May 15	142 days
Medicine Hat	AB	26.5	120.4	174.6	58.4	64.4	22.8	Sep 25	May 13	134 days
Moose Jaw	SK	21.7	115.1	188.7	86.7	87.7	37.7	Sep 17	May 17	121 days
Moncton	NB	6.8	99.1	166.9	70.0	58.9	14.0	Oct 2	May 23	131 days
Montreal	QC	9.3	117.1	147.7	74.0	62.9	14.3	Oct 12	Apr 29	165 days
Moosonee	ON	6.1	66.3	224.9	129.1	125.6	78.4	Aug 25	Jun 26	58 days
Nain	NL	0.5	16.4	230.1	148.1	126.7	62.4	Sep 24	Jun 18	96 days
Nanaimo	BC	6.7	96.9	71.5	2.6	1.8	0.0	Oct 26	Apr 14	194 days
Osoyoos	BC	36.0	142.4	105.5	25.3	10.7	0.3	Oct 9	Apr 22	169 days
Ottawa	ON	13.0	116.4	154.9	77.5	67.9	16.3	Oct 7	Apr 30	157 days
Princeton	BC	24.2	107.6	177.8	50.6	33.6	6.4	Sep 17	May 23	116 Days
Quebec City	QC	5.1	94.1	170.7	94.9	84.8	31.1	Oct 4	May 11	145 days
Regina	SK	16.2	108.1	201.2	103.0	102.3	43.1	Sep 12	May 20	115 days
Saguenay	QC	7.7	86.8	189.7	104.9	99.2	46.6	Sep 23	May 22	123 days
Saint John	NB	0.9	74.3	167.2	60.7	65.7	14.1	Oct 2	May 16	138 days
Saskatoon	SK	13.1	103.1	200.4	108.0	105.6	47.1	Sep 15	May 21	117 days
St. John's	NL	0.1	52.6	166.6	65.9	34.9	0.6	Oct 17	May 30	139 days
Sydney	NS	2.3	74.9	160.8	60.0	43.2	2.7	Oct 17	May 21	149 days
Thompson	MB	3.8	66.9	238.6	152.5	150.0	100.0	Aug 27	Jun 14	74 days
Toronto	ON	11.5	117.2	100.8	45.9	21.9	1.2	Nov 3	Apr 13	203 days
Toronto Airport	ON	15.8	122.3	136.5	52.8	38.9	3.9	Oct 16	Apr 30	168 days
Vancouver	BC	0.3	76.5	40.9	3.4	1.6	0.0	Nov 10	Mar 18	237 days
Victoria	BC	2.1	78.9	46.0	2.0	0.4	0.0	Nov 5	Apr 7	211 days
Windsor	ON	23.5	138.9	116.3	44.3	24.1	1.2	Oct 30	Apr 17	195 days
Winnipeg	MB	13.3	109.7	193.7	113.0	102.2	50.1	Sep 22	May 23	121 days
Whitehorse	YT	0.9	41.5	221.3	118.7	106.4	48.7	Aug 25	Jun 5	80 days
Yarmouth	NS	0.0	56.7	126.1	36.0	21.7	0.1	Oct 21	Apr 27	176 days
Yellowknife	NT	0.4	42.8	224.5	175.2	160.9	105.2	Sep 18	May 25	115 days

Extremes

Extreme highs

Month	Temperature	Date	Location
January		January 26, 1950	Niagara Falls, Ontario
January		January 10, 1962	Pincher Creek, Alberta
February		February 27, 1992	Fort Macleod, Alberta
March		March 22, 2012	Lake Major, Nova Scotia
April		April 27, 1952	Emerson, Manitoba
April		April 21, 1980	Emerson, Manitoba
May		May 30, 1934	Morden, Manitoba
June		June 29, 2021	Lytton, British Columbia
July		July 5, 1937	Midale, Saskatchewan
July		July 5, 1937	Yellow Grass, Saskatchewan
August		August 3, 1984	Altawan, Alberta
September		September 3, 2025	Ashcroft, British Columbia
October		October 3, 1943	Roadene, Saskatchewan
October		October 5, 1943	Biggar, Saskatchewan
November		November 4, 1916	Jenner, Alberta
December		December 8, 1903	Fort Macleod, Alberta
December		December 4, 1943	Grand Forks, British Columbia

Extreme lows

Month	Temperature	Date	Location
January		January 11, 1911	Fort Vermilion, Alberta
January		January 19, 1952	Snag, Yukon
February		February 3, 1947	Snag, Yukon
March		March 18, 1965	Shepherd Bay, Nunavut
April		April 8, 1964	Eureka, Nunavut
May		May 13, 1935	Cambridge Bay, Nunavut
June		June 1, 1976	Bathurst Island, Nunavut
July		July 14, 1928	Aklavik, Northwest Territories
August		August 31, 1915	High River, Alberta
September		September 25, 1961	Eureka, Nunavut
October		October 29, 1953	Eureka, Nunavut
November		November 28, 1985	Braeburn, Yukon
December		December 31, 1933	Fort Vermilion, Alberta
December		December 13, 1946	Mayo, Yukon

Highest recorded June 29, 2021 Lytton, British Columbia.
Lowest recorded February 3, 1947 Snag, Yukon.

The table can be reordered by clicking on the box in each column. Places in italics are provincial capital, bold is the national capital.

Community	Weather station	Location	Elevation	January	January	July	July	Annual	Annual
Alberton, PE
Alert, NU	YLT
Baker Lake, NU	YBK
Baie-Comeau, QC	YBC
Calgary, AB	YYC
Charlottetown, PE	YYG
Churchill, MB	YYQ
Corner Brook, NL
Dawson City, YT	YDA
Edmonton, AB	YXD
Edmundston, NB
Fort Nelson, BC	YYE
Fredericton, NB	YFC
Halifax, NS	YHZ
High Level, AB	YOJ
Inuvik, NT	YEV
Iqaluit, NU	YFB
Kugluktuk, NU	YCO
La Ronge, SK	YVC
Mayo, YT	YMA
Moncton, NB	YQM
Montreal, QC	YUL
Nain, NL	YDP
Norman Wells, NT	YVQ
Ottawa, ON	YOW
Princeton, BC	CYDC
Quebec City, QC	YQB
Regina, SK	YQR
Resolute, NU	YRB
Saskatoon, SK	YXE
St. John's, NL	YYT
Summerside, PE	YSU
Sydney, NS	YQY
Thompson, MB	YTH
Timmins, ON	YTS
Toronto, ON	YYZ
Vancouver, BC	YVR
Victoria, BC	YYJ
Whitehorse, YT	YXY
Windsor, ON	YQG
Winnipeg, MB	YWG
Yarmouth, NS	YQI
Yellowknife, NT	YZF

Maps

Weather Stations locations in Canada.