3. Canada's Regional Climates

Defining climatic regions for any country is difficult. Climatologists use various climatic parameters, like temperature and precipitation, but it is ultimately the vegetation that serves as an index of a region’s climate type. Although we will be looking at regions divided by similarities in landforms, climate and vegetation, it is often helpful to understand Canada's regional diversity by grouping the provinces together.

The West Coast /Mountain

British Columbia's coast is fortunate to have the most temperate climate in Canada. Warm airstreams from the Pacific Ocean keep the vegetation growing and the populace happy. Here, the Red Cedar trees on Vancouver Island in Tofino are known to be between 300 and 500 years old with many reaching heights of 300 feet (25 story building). It rarely snows in the low-lying areas (Vancouver has no snow plows). Vancouver gets little snow, but massive amounts of rain do fall there. In the Mountain regions, the Coastal Range and the Rocky Mountains block the Pacific air from the Prairies resulting in massive amounts of precipitation (rain, snow) in part of the Western Cordillera with precipitation level exceeding 1000mm. There are however drought prone areas further east. The Westerlies (winds) blow moist, warm air from the pacific coast over the mountains, so it cools and falls on the western slopes in heavy amounts of rain and snow. The valleys between the mountain ranges experience hot summers almost completely devoid of precipitation. There is even a desert there (Osoyoos BC) in the plateaus between mountain ranges. Fruit farming (cranberries) and other, logging and tourism are some of the strongest industries in BC.

The Prairies

The prairies are a varied landscape and climate. The Canadian Prairies extend east from the Rocky Mountains to the Great Lakes (Alberta to Manitoba). They are south of part of the Boreal Forest. The land is flat with rolling hills, few lakes and few forests in the Southern part near the American border. Cattle farms or “Ranches” and crop farms (wheat and other grains) are well suited to this climate. Cold winters and humid, hot summers are the norm, with smaller snow falls than southern Canada and some rain in the spring and summer. Drought can be a factor at times, even in winter. Spring showers and temperate autumn weather makes the Prairies one of the top grain-growing areas of the world. Oil production is rapidly taking hold in this region as well, especially in the northern Alberta “tar sands” at Athabasca. The Calgary Stampede is a famous cowboy rodeo held every summer.

The Great Lakes / St. Lawrence Region

Over half the population of Canada lives near the Great Lakes or along the St. Lawrence River. This lower part of the Canadian shield has an abundance of lakes, rivers, forests and many of Canada’s largest cities (Toronto, Hamilton, Ottawa, Montreal…). This region is often referred to as the Windsor- Quebec City corridor. 80% of Canada’s population lives along this strip from the Great lakes (Windsor) to Quebec City along the St.Lawrence River. Winter is very snowy with wind chills as low as -40. Summers are humid (+40 and higher with humidex) and longer than elsewhere in Canada. Rainfall is sufficient to sustain some of the best farming areas in Canada. Areas near the Great Lakes can have sudden snow squalls called Lake effect snow or snow streamers many feet deep. A lake effect storm can dump 15 cm or more of snow along a local, narrow strip as warmer air comes off the unfrozen Lake and condenses quickly. Toronto gets very cold but with relatively little snow, and has fewer snow plows than one would expect. Manufacturing and shipping are two of the biggest industries here, with farming, logging, and the public sector (government workers) playing a large role as well especially in the National Capital region. Ottawa, as seen in the introduction gets very cold and generally gets a lot of snow in winter and has wet springs and falls.

Atlantic Canada

This region features one of the most rugged and most variable climates anywhere in the country. The Maritime Provinces of New Brunswick, PEI, Nova Scotia Newfoundland have climates that are greatly impacted by the ocean currents. In winter, temperatures can vary wildly as Arctic air is replaced by maritime air from passing storms. In the space of a week in January, Maritmers, (especially N.S. and NFL) can have 1 meter of snow on a Sunday, and by Friday grass can be seen. Snowfall is relatively heavy, and fog is often present in spring and at the onset of summer. July is the warmest month with an average temperature of 16 to 18 degrees Celsius. In Ottawa, the average Temperature is 24-30 degrees. Precipitation levels are often over 1000mm in regions close to the Atlantic Coast.

Boreal:

North of the Prairies and much of the Northern Canadian Shield. The Boreal forest creates almost a ring of evergreen (spruce and balsam trees) forests from East to West. In the mid part, leaf bearing trees cannot grow, and only evergreen trees can be found. The Boreal forest has very cold winters and somewhat warm summers. In winter snow is always present and very wet springs and falls. Deciduous trees cannot perform photosynthesis, coniferous trees can. Coniferous trees survive in harsh climates because they can grow in winter. The process of photosynthesis gives trees the green colour. As you near the Arctic Circle the forests ends at the tree line. At this point trees can no longer grow. The populated Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Region, is a vast boreal forest reaching almost to the Arctic Ocean. This forest consists almost exclusively of Coniferous trees (cone bearing trees).

The swampy inhospitable region of the boreal forest support some logging industry but little else.

Mining is present in some areas and oil exploration is more common in some parts.

The North: Arctic

This area is snow-covered in the winter, and summer lasts approximately two months. Above the tree-line lies the Arctic. Here, temperatures rise above freezing only a few weeks a year, and the ground remains permanently frozen. This is called permafrost. Places like Baffin Island will see snow up until May or June and then again in September. Here a hot day in July would be 18 degrees.

But despite the almost nine months of cold weather, there is plenty of vegetation and animals that live in the arctic year round.

Trees cannot grow here because the ground is permanently frozen. We call this permafrost. The top 5cm does thaw in the summer, allowing mosses and lichens to grow. In recent years however, the permafrost regions have been thawing due to increased warming of the arctic climate.

Mining (diamonds and oil exploration) in the High Arctic is rapidly gaining a stronghold with tourism also being an important economic industry. Tourist visit in summer to see the beautiful arctic vegetation and in winter to see and experience a totally frozen world.