Why does everyone love Montreal?

[rousseau]

I've never heard of anyone in Canada moving anywhere else in Canada for weather reasons. The very idea is preposterous. Sure, my neighbours from the prairies might mention that they don't miss the winters there, but that was hardly the reason that they moved here.

[lio45]

Originally Posted by rousseau

I've never heard of anyone in Canada moving anywhere else in Canada for weather reasons. The very idea is preposterous. Sure, my neighbours from the prairies might mention that they don't miss the winters there, but that was hardly the reason that they moved here.

Isn't Victoria kind of famous as a retirement spot that is supposed to have nation-wide appeal? "Play golf year-round"? I'm guessing that some Canadians do retire over there, and they're certainly not all from SW BC. I agree with you though on the main point: the differences in climate aren't huge, and within a province, they're usually even smaller. (QC vs Mtl/Ott, Toronto vs Windsor, etc. are negligible.)

And I remember one forum member here who said he had been drawn to Calgary by the climate, "the best in Canada" (his words).

[Architype]

Originally Posted by rousseau

I've never heard of anyone in Canada moving anywhere else in Canada for weather reasons.

It was very high on the list of reasons for me, in determining my destination, and a major contributor to my reluctance to move again.

[Nouvellecosse]

It was definitely a contributor to the fact that I've never moved to Montreal even though I've long wanted to spend more time there. Yes, the fact that employment can be challenging for non-bilinguals was also an equally big contributor, but without the fear of the daunting winters, I may have pushed myself harder to learn French.

I've heard similar things said by people who have moved or considered moving to Edmonton or Ft, McMurray for employment. That a person can make good money there but they wouldn't want to live there long term due to the winters.

[MolsonExport]

Originally Posted by lio45

And I remember one forum member here who said he had been drawn to Calgary by the climate, "the best in Canada" (his words).

Calgary climate....the best in Canada? Somebody is lying or is severely deluded.

My vote for the best climate in Canada is the southern Okanagan. Except there are no big cities there...well, except sprawlsville, I mean, Kelowna. Not a bad city (wonderful setting, views), but the sprawl is atrocious without a compensating downtown. Penticton is much nicer. Osoyoos is lovely, but full of mean-spirited dodge/chevy-truck-driving drunk rednecks in the summar.

Yes, I lived there.

Victoria would be my second choice, weather-wise. Have not lived there, but visited plenty during my BC years. As for Vancouver, depends on where in the metro you are. North Van is twice as rainy as southwestern Richmond (e.g., Steveston), which is not that bad at all.

Old people move all the time for weather. Snowbirds flock to Flooridah, Aridzona et al., in their RV units. The Okanagan is full of old people climate refugees from Alberta.

[SignalHillHiker]

Originally Posted by Architype

It was very high on the list of reasons for me, in determining my destination, and a major contributor to my reluctance to move again.

I've heard of it as well. One older relative moved away from St. John's because the foggy weather aggravated her arthritis. And I've had a couple of friends who went to work in Fort McMurray and gave up to come home because of the winters there.

As for Calgary, I think it has a great climate. Pleasant summers, and proper winters that aren't too cold. I'd enjoy that very much. You don't get the stupid cold of other interior cities, or the stupid heat of some coastal/southern cities, but you still get snow instead of a wet, sloppy mess like here and a reliably warm and sunny summer.

Don't forget, not every Canadian enjoys 25C+ and no winter. And tastes in weather are constantly changing. Just a century ago, Newfoundland's climate was one of its selling points in advertisements targeted to Canadians and Americans:

[rousseau]

Like I said: no one in Canada moves anywhere else in Canada for the weather. The weather may prevent people from moving places (i.e. I'm never moving back to Winnipeg), but it's not a draw.

Florida? Arizona? Retirees and other people move there for the weather all the time. Some of the suburbs of Guadalajara in Mexico are basically American. People flock to the southern coast of Spain for the sunshine and the good climate.

This is Canada. We don't do reliable pleasant weather, because it's cold everywhere in winter. If it isn't snowy and cold, it's wet and cold. But this is a conversation we've had before on this forum, and isn't relevant to the thread at hand.

[Acajack]

From my personal anecdotes, the only places in Canada I have heard people move to with climate as an apparent determining factor are Vancouver and Victoria.

I hear people all the time about one city over another, but to the point of moving in the sense of: I wanna move to city X because of the weather.

Only Victoria and Vancouver.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by Nouvellecosse

It was definitely a contributor to the fact that I've never moved to Montreal even though I've long wanted to spend more time there. Yes, the fact that employment can be challenging for non-bilinguals was also an equally big contributor, but without the fear of the daunting winters, I may have pushed myself harder to learn French.

.

Compared to Nova Scotia... the weather should not have held you back. Plus you have the métro system to get around and the underground city to mitigate things.

[flar]

Originally Posted by Acajack

Compared to Nova Scotia... the weather should not have held you back. Plus you have the métro system to get around and the underground city to mitigate things.

Montreal's winters are similar to Ottawa's, and I imagine NS winters are closer to southern Ontario's. In that case, there is a pretty marked difference in the length of winter and the coldness.

Ottawa is my absolute limit of coldness, and I think about moving every winter. I just don't want to give up my current job yet.

Nothing like the weather to get Canadians going lol

[niwell]

There is a huge difference between winters in Ottawa/Montreal compared to Toronto. I do not have fond memories of the bitter, bitter cold in Ottawa. We usually get a week or two of actual cold here, but for the most part things stay fairly mild.

[someone123]

NS is a bit milder than Southern Ontario so the gap with Quebec is even wider (overall arguably the same as or larger than the widely-considered-enormous NS-BC gap). And I live in BC and consider Halifax winters bad. A lot of this is a matter of perspective; people who are used to long winters and haven't lived in milder places might not know the difference, and some don't care.

In any case, climate (not just winter but also summer) is one of the things that has kept me from moving to Montreal.

[kool maudit]

i prefer the weather in montreal to that of halifax. the winters are colder, in my memory, but somehow purer — snowier, sunnier, and there are more fun wintry things like chalets and skiing nearby. nova scotia has no spring, really, and is best from august to november. montreal's just as good then, more reliably summery in summer, and more versatile in winter.

[flar]

Originally Posted by kool maudit

i prefer the weather in montreal to that of halifax. the winters are colder, in my memory, but somehow purer — snowier, sunnier, and there are more fun wintry things like chalets and skiing nearby. nova scotia has no spring, really, and is best from august to november. montreal's just as good then, more reliably summery in summer, and more versatile in winter.

It's a cleaner winter, that's for sure. Not so much damp drizzly dirty greyness.

[MTLskyline]

Toronto seems to have about the best climate based on my simplistic comparison, although I am probably overlooking other factors.

Daily means (1971-2000) of eastern cities in January/July:
Toronto -3.7 / 22.3
Windsor -3.8 / 23.0
Halifax -4.4 / 18.9
Niagara Falls -4.5 / 22.3
St. John's -4.8 / 15.4
London -6.3 / 20.5
Charlottetown -8.0 / 18.5
Saint John -8.1 / 17.1
Montreal -8.9 / 22.3
Moncton -8.9 / 18.6
Ottawa -10.3 / 21.0
Sherbrooke -11.9 / 18.1
Quebec City -12.8 / 19.2

Year-round precipitation - Snow / Rain
Toronto 121.5 cm / 714.0 mm
Windsor 129.3 cm / 822.4 mm
Halifax 151.8 cm / 1,356.1 mm
Niagara Falls 161.6 cm / 808.6 mm
London 202.4 cm / 817.9 mm
Ottawa 223.5 cm / 758.2 mm
Montreal 226.4 cm / 834.9 mm
Saint John 256.9 cm / 1,147.9 mm
Sherbrooke 294.3 cm / 873.9 mm
Charlottetown 311.4 / 880.9 mm
Quebec City 315.9 cm / 923.8 mm
St. John's 322.3 cm / 1,191.0 mm
Moncton 349.9 cm / 865.4 mm

[Acajack]

This is a classic Canadian discussion. All of the major Canadian cities except Vancouver and Victoria are Köppen Dfb climates and range from the milder Dfb (borderline Dfa in Toronto and Windsor) to the colder Dfb (borderline Dfc in Edmonton and Winnipeg for example).

Somehow I doubt a person from India or the Congo would see a big difference between the various Canadian cities in Dfb.

But I guess after they became "Canadianized" they probably would.

[Nouvellecosse]

Originally Posted by Acajack

Compared to Nova Scotia... the weather should not have held you back. Plus you have the métro system to get around and the underground city to mitigate things.

???

Winters here are a lot milder and a lot less snowy so not sure where you get that idea. And unless you live right on the metro line which most people don't, you still need to walk or take a connecting bus to reach it so not sure how that's a huge advantage. The climate may not be a huge difference compared to say Boston and LA, but when the winters here are enough to make a person want to pick up and fly to Brisbane, the thought of facing a much colder and snowier climate is daunting.

And yes, Halifax has milder winters than Toronto, although the difference there is not that huge.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by Nouvellecosse

???

Winters here are a lot milder and a lot less snowy so not sure where you get that idea. And unless you live right on the metro line which most people don't, you still need to walk or take a connecting bus to reach it so not sure how that's a huge advantage. The climate may not be a huge difference compared to say Boston and LA, but when the winters here are enough to make a person want to pick up and fly to Brisbane, the thought of facing a much colder and snowier climate is daunting.

And yes, Halifax has milder winters than Toronto, although the difference there is not that huge.

To Bhupinder and José, both are iceboxes!

[Nouvellecosse]

Not sure I agree with that. It seems to me that to someone who is sensitive to cold, a climate that is typically cold and foggy/rainy is not as bad as one that is frigid and snowy. The fact that Halifax has a less "pure" winter is what makes it more bearable. You get frequent breaks from the really cold temperatures so it isn't -5 or lower for several months at a time, it often goes up to +5 for few days, down to 0, then to -2, then to +2, then to -7, then +7, etc. We get a snow storm with snow banks and lots of slush, and that sticks around for a few days, then it gets mild and rainy and it all melts.

But then again if I was from a warm climate perhaps I'd think differently.

[north 42]

Originally Posted by Nouvellecosse

???

Winters here are a lot milder and a lot less snowy so not sure where you get that idea. And unless you live right on the metro line which most people don't, you still need to walk or take a connecting bus to reach it so not sure how that's a huge advantage. The climate may not be a huge difference compared to say Boston and LA, but when the winters here are enough to make a person want to pick up and fly to Brisbane, the thought of facing a much colder and snowier climate is daunting.

And yes, Halifax has milder winters than Toronto, although the difference there is not that huge.

And Windsor has milder winters than Halifax.