oops; typo fixed.

Spoilsport.

That sounds reasonable. I know that here in Ottawa on a regular hire car lot the cars have all seasons and most people hire for just a few days.

Last Christmas I had to special order a car in Nice with snow chains to head to the Alps. Luckily they never got out of the boot.

That is not a problem at all within the bounds of the subway and the trams.

Our rental car in North Carolina had Obtario plates and snow tires. In May.

I'm a bit puzzled by your geography and where snow tires are needed.

Technically snow tyres aren't required in Ontario but I'm saying north of the 401 from about Windsor to Kingston they would be useful. I had a car in Toronto for about 8 years and never used snow tyres. I've lived in Ottawa a bit over 20 years and had them since we moved here.

SW Ontario, GTA and along the shorelines of Lake Erie and Ontario temps and snowfall don't tend to result in huge snowfalls. Downwind of Lake Huron and Georgian Bay and into the Kawarthas, Muskoka, Algonquin, eastern Ontario gets colder and snowier weather.

Have been here over 10 years, and only missed one day of work, and I am late for work (2 hours late or more) several days each year. And then marginally late for work a few other days. I'm an old hand at this cold white stuff.

In my 10 years here in Canada, I can only think of one occasion where my employer sent a company wide email out to all staff informing them they could go home early because of the heavy snow. Even the Schools closed.

Pretty sure freezing rain is more likely to cause closures. About 3 weeks ago I very nearly asked the wife to video me ice skating on our driveway, only thing that stopped me was that it was a solid sheet of frozen pellets, so the surface wasnt smooth enough for my liking!

When I spoke to my potential boss about snow he simply said it's not an excuse over here to be late. The office is in the GTA, and I can understand the POV.
He did add that if it's really bad and you can't get in, then you work from home.

Which I am currently doing in the UK as the train I need to get into London has not run all week

i work in downtown Toronto, i can think of one time in the last ten years that there was a "snow day" and that was when i worked in a school

generally public transit remains more reliable than driving.

we have some older people on our work force now who are not comfortable out in slippy conditions. working from home is accepted in these circumstances

we have snow tires on the car in the winter because we get an insurance discount, live in a condo so we pay about 50 bucks a year for the dealer to store our other tires

If you're talking about white collar work then I think that's just an example of the managerial dishonesty that is typical of the Canadian workplace.

Most people will commute along a 400 series highway. The highways get backed up for hours when there's drizzle or worse and, once on one, there's little possibility of changing the route. The commuters have no choice but to be late. The boss will claim to be working offsite as if for an important and planned reason but, in truth, will have gone back to bed safe in the knowledge that the staff, especially the hourly paid staff, will have risked life and limb to get to work. The workers will be late but able to swipe the door card as proof of arrival.

It is true that workers who make a different judgment call than the boss and who don't turn up on the days when he or she does risk being offboarded but that's just politics and whim; almost everyone is late due to weather sometimes. I have a reputation for "always" getting to work and even I miss a day per winter.

On edit: just seen Zoe's. Agree about Toronto. Am speaking of Kitchener/Guelph/etc.

Which is a problem when people rent there and then go to Quebec, which requires them.

It is possible to rent cars with winter tires, as my girlfriend did it in Edmonton a couple of times. But the companies usually only have a few cars that come with them.

They are required on Quebec-registered cars. Slight difference.

The rule came in a few years ago. It didn't change much. Most people had them anyway.

In BC, winter tires especially the ones with the snowflake and mountain symbol are required outside the Lower Mainland ............... there are signs on the mountain roads requiring the tires plus chains being carried.

That means that you really cannot get past the town of Hope north or east to the Interior of BC without having them. I believe they are also needed to get to Whistler along the Sea to Sky highway.

There are fines for not having the correct tires or chains in the car ......... we have been stopped in past years when going up the Fraser Canyon and again when intending to come south on the Coquihalla for a police check of tires and chains.

Even the police in Vancouver can get upset with you if you do not have at least All Season tires and get stuck