Temperature in Canada

Canada’s climate 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 parts of Canada that aren’t coastal, 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 (generally the lowest and highest average temperature months, but not in every case).

The two major Canadian cities that fall outside the continental climate schema are Vancouver and Victoria. Vancouver and Victoria experience an oceanic climate, with a brief summer dry season, and cool, wet, and cloudy winters. Of the eight largest Canadian cities, Ottawa, Montreal and Toronto have the warmest summers, Winnipeg the coldest winters, while Vancouver's summers are cooler, while winters are 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, with valley bottoms in the interior having the warmest, driest climates. A few small towns in southern BC outside of Vancouver, for example, have a semi-arid climate (Bsk) with average winter temperatures that are slightly colder, but experience occasional cold snaps comparable to other parts of the country.

Central Canada and northern Canada experiences subarctic and Arctic climates, some 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 ElevationJanuaryAvg. high °C (°F)JanuaryAvg. low °C (°F)JulyAvg. high °C (°F)JulyAvg. low °C (°F)AnnualAvg. high °C (°F)AnnualAvg. low °C (°F)Alberton, PE Baker Lake, NUYBKBaie-Comeau, QCYBCCalgary, ABYYCCharlottetown, PEYYGChurchill, MBYYQCorner Brook, NL Dawson City, YTYDAEdmonton, ABYXDEdmundston, NB Fort Nelson, BCYYEFredericton, NBYFCHalifax, NSYHZHigh Level, ABYOJInuvik, NTYEVIqaluit, NUYFBKamloops, BCYKAKugluktuk, NUYCOLa Ronge, SKYVCMayo, YTYMAMoncton, NBYQMMontreal, QCYULNain, NLYDPNorman Wells, NTYVQOttawa, ONYOWPrinceton, BCCYDCQuebec City, QCYQBRegina, SKYQRResolute, NUYRBSaskatoon, SKYXESt. John's, NLYYTSummerside, PEYSUSydney, NSYQYThompson, MBYTHTimmins, ONYTSToronto, ONYYZVancouver, BCYVRVictoria, BCYYJWhitehorse, YTYXYWindsor, ONYQGWinnipeg, MBYWGYarmouth, NSYQIYellowknife, NTYZF

Heat, cold and frost averages

+Yearly temperature averages for selected locations in CanadaLocationRegionDays >30°Days >20°FrostsMax temp <0°Days <-10°Days <-20°First frostLast frost Frost-freeBaker Lake NU 0.21 13.1 270.5 225.5 206.3 158.2 Aug 30 Jun 25 65 daysBrandon MB 15.9 109.8 202.3 110.0 108.6 52.6 Sep 14 May 24 112 daysCalgary AB 5.1 87.2 194.4 59.3 71.3 21.7 Sep 16 May 21 117 daysCharlottetown PE 0.9 79.3 160.2 72.6 54.6 6.5 Oct 17 May 16 153 daysChurchill MB 1.1 28.0 247.5 193.7 171.0 117.2 Sep 15 Jun 19 87 daysCorner Brook NL 0.7 58.5 159.3 79.0 43.0 3.4 Oct 13 May 19 146 daysDawson Creek BC 2.6 62.1 243.7 156.9 162.4 104.1 Aug 13 Jun 3 70 daysEdmonton AB 4.0 88.4 179.7 82.6 75.3 24.6 Sep 22 May 9 135 daysFort Frances ON 6.9 100.4 195.4 106.6 90.8 44.2 Sep 17 May 27 108 daysFort McMurray AB 5.9 84.2 212.1 115.8 119.5 57.5 Sep 6 May 30 97 daysFort Nelson BC 3.3 78.1 214.2 133.6 139.1 79.8 Sep 11 May 16 117 daysFort Simpson NT 4.2 73.8 224.3 159.3 157.3 101.1 Sep 1 May 26 97 daysFredericton NB 9.0 104.4 172.9 69.1 72.6 20.0 Sep 25 May 17 130 daysHalifax (city) NS 1.0 78.2 131.0 47.0 29.8 0.8 Oct 31 May 1 182 daysHamilton ON 18.5 119.8 129.0 48.6 32.6 2.5 Oct 16 Apr 21 177 daysHigh Level AB 2.7 76.5 224.8 136.3 138.9 79.9 Sep 1 Jun 1 91 daysIqaluit NU 0.0 2.1 265.8 212.2 182.4 130.6 Sep 3 Jun 20 74 daysKamloops BC 32.8 132.0 119.2 34.5 19.9 3.4 Oct 10 Apr 24 169 daysKuujjuaq QC 0.3 21.7 244.0 177.1 155.6 104.5 Sep 9 Jun 18 82 daysLabrador City NL 0.4 33.1 232.8 155.3 144.5 90.6 Sep 14 Jun 9 95 daysLiverpool NS 3.3 102.7 146.8 42.0 34.6 3.6 Oct 5 May 15 142 daysMedicine Hat AB 26.5 120.4 174.6 58.4 64.4 22.8 Sep 25 May 13 134 daysMoose Jaw SK 21.7 115.1 188.7 86.7 87.7 37.7 Sep 17 May 17 121 daysMoncton NB 6.8 99.1 166.9 70.0 58.9 14.0 Oct 2 May 23 131 daysMontreal QC 9.3 117.1 147.7 74.0 62.9 14.3 Oct 12 Apr 29 165 daysMoosonee ON 6.1 66.3 224.9 129.1 125.6 78.4 Aug 25 Jun 26 58 daysNain NL 0.5 16.4 230.1 148.1 126.7 62.4 Sep 24 Jun 18 96 daysNanaimo BC 6.7 96.9 71.5 2.6 1.8 0.0 Oct 26 Apr 14 194 daysOsoyoos (west) BC 36.0 142.4 105.5 25.3 10.7 0.3 Oct 9 Apr 22 169 daysOttawa ON 13.0 116.4 154.9 77.5 67.9 16.3 Oct 7 Apr 30 157 daysPrinceton BC 24.2 107.6 177.8 50.6 33.6 6.4 Sep 17 May 23 116 DaysQuebec City QC 5.1 94.1 170.7 94.9 84.8 31.1 Oct 4 May 11 145 daysRegina SK 16.2 108.1 201.2 103.0 102.3 43.1 Sep 12 May 20 115 daysSaguenay QC 7.7 86.8 189.7 104.9 99.2 46.6 Sep 23 May 22 123 daysSaint John NB 0.9 74.3 167.2 60.7 65.7 14.1 Oct 2 May 16 138 daysSaskatoon SK 13.1 103.1 200.4 108.0 105.6 47.1 Sep 15 May 21 117 daysSt. John's NL 0.1 52.6 166.6 65.9 34.9 0.6 Oct 17 May 30 139 daysSydney NS 2.3 74.9 160.8 60.0 43.2 2.7 Oct 17 May 21 149 daysThompson MB 3.8 66.9 238.6 152.5 150.0 100.0 Aug 27 Jun 14 74 daysToronto ON 11.5 117.2 100.8 45.9 21.9 1.2 Nov 3 Apr 13 203 daysToronto Airport ON 15.8 122.3 136.5 52.8 38.9 3.9 Oct 16 Apr 30 168 daysVancouver BC 0.3 76.5 40.9 3.4 1.6 0.0 Nov 10 Mar 18 237 daysVictoria BC 2.1 78.9 46.0 2.0 0.4 0.0 Nov 5 Apr 7 211 daysWindsor ON 23.5 138.9 116.3 44.3 24.1 1.2 Oct 30 Apr 17 195 daysWinnipeg MB 13.3 109.7 193.7 113.0 102.2 50.1 Sep 22 May 23 121 daysWhitehorse YT 0.9 41.5 221.3 118.7 106.4 48.7 Aug 25 Jun 5 80 daysYarmouth NS 0.0 56.7 126.1 36.0 21.7 0.1 Oct 21 Apr 27 176 daysYellowknife 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, OntarioJanuary 10, 1962Pincher Creek, Alberta February February 27, 1992 Fort Macleod, Alberta March March 29, 1926 Beaver Creek, British Columbia April April 27, 1952 Emerson, ManitobaApril 21, 1980 May May 30, 1934 Morden, Manitoba June June 29, 2021 Lytton, British Columbia July July 5, 1937 Midale, SaskatchewanYellow Grass, Saskatchewan August August 3, 1984 Altawan, Alberta September September 3, 2025 Ashcroft, British Columbia October October 3, 1943 Roadene, SaskatchewanOctober 5, 1943Biggar, Saskatchewan November November 4, 1916 Jenner, Alberta December December 8, 1903 Fort Macleod, AlbertaDecember 4, 1943Grand Forks, British Columbia

Extreme lows

Month Temperature Date Location January January 11, 1911 Fort Vermilion, AlbertaJanuary 19, 1952Snag, Yukon February February 3, 1947 March March 4, 1876 Floeberg Beach, 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 29-30, 1984 Ogilvie River, Yukon November November 28, 1985 Braeburn, Yukon December December 31, 1933 Fort Vermilion, AlbertaDecember 13, 1946Mayo, 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.

CommunityWeather stationLocationElevationJanuary(Record high °C (°F))January(Record low °C (°F))July(Record high °C (°F))July(Record low °C (°F))Annual(Extreme high °C (°F))Annual(Extreme low °C (°F))Alberton, PE Alert, NUYLTBaker Lake, NUYBKBaie-Comeau, QCYBCCalgary, ABYYCCharlottetown, PEYYGChurchill, MBYYQCorner Brook, NL Dawson City, YTYDAEdmonton, ABYXDEdmundston, NB Fort Nelson, BCYYEFredericton, NBYFCHalifax, NSYHZHigh Level, ABYOJInuvik, NTYEVIqaluit, NUYFBKugluktuk, NUYCOLa Ronge, SKYVCMayo, YTYMAMoncton, NBYQMMontreal, QCYULNain, NLYDPNorman Wells, NTYVQOttawa, ONYOWPrinceton, BCCYDCQuebec City, QCYQBRegina, SKYQRResolute, NUYRBSaskatoon, SKYXESt. John's, NLYYTSummerside, PEYSUSydney, NSYQYThompson, MBYTHTimmins, ONYTSToronto, ONYYZVancouver, BCYVRVictoria, BCYYJWhitehorse, YTYXYWindsor, ONYQGWinnipeg, MBYWGYarmouth, NSYQIYellowknife, NTYZF

Climate change

Maps Weather Stations locations in Canada.

Notes

See also

List of extreme temperatures in Canada Weather extremes in Canada List of cities by average temperature

References

External links Current surface temperatures in Canada.