I think your first winter is your worst. I am hoping that they get better after that. I had visited Canada a few times in the winter, but the first one as a resident scared the hell out of me. I'd never bought snow tires, never shovelled, and never salted my path....I'd never gone to bed at night when it was snowing, and woke up the next morning to the fact that it was still snowing! It can be done though, and I am determined to make my second winter better than my first!

It all goes severely downhill when you start getting on a bit. There are various reasons I'd not consider retiring in Canada, but dealing with the winters in old age is certainly one of them.

The first winter has the advantage of novelty (tempered by the disadvantage of perhaps not being fully prepared.)

The second winter still has novelty, but hopefully you are better prepared to deal with heavy snow or a week solid of -20C temps.

After 3 or 4 the novelty has worn off and if you have nothing to look forward to doing out in the cold and snow it can be real grind after a few years.

Thankfully I still enjoy the bright sunshine and the crunch of fresh snow underfoot, and worst case I know that in a few months I'll be moaning about the heat and humidity anyway.

I completely agree with this. At least that was my experience. You have to get out and embrace it. If you don't have interests that can be pursued during the winter, it can be a long, hard grind. I've seen people pack up and go back to the UK because they just didn't adjust and didn't have things they could do in the winter. So they focused on the fact that winter was the longest season (5 months or more), while spring and autumn were relatively short.

I learned to ice skate, ski and even played curling - which is actually a lot of fun especially after a few beers! I became a big hockey fan so it was fun to go watch the Leafs (maybe "fun" is the wrong word!) or just go to a bar to watch the hockey games on TV.

Living in an apartment meant we didn't have to shovel snow. Once we moved to a house, shoveling snow and clearing the sidewalk in front of the house for pedestrians became a way of life. But it's not for everyone. A long, cold winter with snow or dirt lying in piles makes everywhere look worse. It can wear some people down.

They get better, they get worse.

Our first was a doddle. It snowed at the weekend, took half an hour to push it with those nice ergonomic shovel pusher things and that was it for a week.

It happened about 12 times. How the snow knew when it was a weekend I know not.

The second winter saw one massive snowfall and I paid about $45 for a snowblower/tractor thing to clear it. Did that about twice in five winters.

For larger snowfalls I'd go out whenever there was about 6" to clear. Doing that three times was much easier than attempting it when 18" deep.

I have no problem with the cold. I'd rather 40 below than snow. But if one can afford it, having it cleared by contractor removes the main problem.

I used to keep my bike in the garage, so I used to clear a path the length of the drive to get there and then have to clear the door so I could open it.

That meant just having a plowman shove it wasn't an option and I objected to $400 or more a season when in five winters it had been manageable except for $45 twice.

I could have spent $2k. Much better to pay $90

But then came the big one. Big snowfalls every 2 or 3 days. And then really nowhere to put it as the snowbanks were too big to reach.

That was followed by something that didn't even seem like winter.

I now keep my bike in the house (luckily it's out of the way) and that means just the front can be plowed with the snow being pushed part way up the drive. There's a guy who charges $25 for it. Money for old rope for him but cheap for us and a comfort to know I'm not going to drop dead fighting a losing battle.

It could do that to me but living with 4 Canadians who've never known anything else, it's normal for them so I can't really make a big deal out of it.

The streets are plowed regularly and quickly - we're near a school and the hospital - so getting out is hardly affected.
Plenty of football on telly

Yes I'm definitely in with the last few posts. I have sort of determined that I won't stay 'here' longer than ten years, as our son will be 22 by then, and I will just be getting to the time when I might not want to cope physically. I havent yet met a person over 35 here who really likes the cold and snow. I have taken up cross country skiing. I am very with Bristol in that I nip out and shovel frequently...now...I didn't know to do so for the first weeks and it froze like a solid big block, and was a real problem to clear. Oddly enough my husband moans more than me, he's always muttering about not having to shovel rain when he was in Vancouver! I'm trying to find a big project this winter for my husband and I to try together so we dont go nuts, but we cant seem to agree on anything! I've thought of...art appreciation, a French lit degree, line dancing, buying a karaoke machine and nautical navigation, he just says no, and is suggesting we build a model railway! If the winter is long, divorce may beckon!
To put it into context neither one of us can dance or sing...not even badly.

You're married to Rod Stewart AICMFP.

I agree with most of this, added to that our first winter was a brown one, very very little snow and it hardly fell below -21. The subsequent winters have made themselves known. Each one is worse than the last. Each one is longer than the last too. We had continuous snow on the ground from the beginning of October to the middle of May last time around. It gets old very quickly.

This is the key bit for me, that and not having to drive in it.

Heavy snow storms are OK when you know that you are not goign to have to be up at 5:00am shovelling your car out.

The thing I hate about winters is icy sidewalks. We are really lucky because our condo corporation clear everythign up to the streetcar stop.
unfortunatly once I'm out of the subway noone ever seems to salt the Sherborne bridge and there are many houses on the way who don't seem to think they are required to clear their sidewalks

Eagerly awaiting my 3rd winter. Far prefer it to summer.

If you've only had 2 winters, then you haven't had one yet. The last 2 winters have been practically non-existent.

Crosswords work. But only to a certain extent.

I repeat my advice from up-thread, don't stay in Canada when you're getting past it. It's not a grand place to be. Prepare now for your retirement in Civilization.

This is one of the things that puts me off a clearance contract.

I'm lucky enough that I don't need to go out for work but I've often wondered about whether someone would be along soon enough (their route may not have been cleared) and also what happens if you have been cleared but the snow has continued or the city plow passes and blocks you in. I mean, you've paid for clearance and you're still blocked.

It amazes me that roads and sidewalks are not more dangerous than they are. I had more problems in Bristol with ice. Admittedly I'm not a driver and I might feel differently if I was, but going on foot seems safer than I felt back in England.

I used to clear our sidewalk to begin with, but it's kind of impossible after a time. The city plow pushes the snow and it sort of slides over the path.

The city clears the sidewalk here at least one side of the street (mostly) so people do have that. Although much of the time the road surface is safer to walk on anyway.

Fairly sure the one I experienced in Ottawa in 2010 was reasonably authentic.

Yeah because in Canada the sidewalks and roads are cleared and treated....often pre-treated before the snow even arrives. Canadian home and business owners typically clear and treat nearby sidewalks. When I owned a house there, I would shovel the snow from the sidewalk near my house before it got compacted, hardened and turned to a block of ice. Then I'd throw some rock salt or ice melt on the sidewalk to help with friction and to melt anything left over. All my neighbours did the same.

In the UK, that obviously doesn't happen as often. Unlike in Canada, most people in the UK don't have snow shovels or bags of rock salt or ice melt and so you're in more danger of falling.