I spent the day - well from noon till 6pm, hanging around while I waited for Canadian Tire to fit my
recently arrived car with good Canadian Snow Tires - Nordics!
No more namby pamby English fine weather tyres.

The snow had only just started this morning when I made my way to my nearest Canadian Tire that had stock of the tires I wanted and while the main routes were quite fine to drive on it got real slippery when I took a short cut on a less used street.

The snow came down through the afternoon so that by the time I left to drive home the roads were well covered
in a blanket of 4/5 cm and had not yet been ploughed or salted so it was a new experience.

I am pleased to report that the car handled brilliantly and the grip was amazing. Yay for snow tires!

So just in time, as tonight and tomorrow it seems we are in for one hell of a storm with major snow fall according to Envirinment Canada.

Oh my!

Glad your tyres and you can handle the snow .Im dreading when we arrive at the end of Dec the thought of my OH driving terrifies me hence i can't drive

Well I didn't think it too bad, but I have a fwd VW Cabriolet and everyone knows that's the best thing for snow!

Actually I believe there have so far been 400 accidents in the GTA - mostly single cars sliding out! Makes one think again.
The best policy seems to be to stay home unless you really have to be on the roads. With this much snow I'm sure it's best not to attempt it in a non-SUV.

< even in a VW Cabriolet with snow tires >

Get the impression that you are really enjoying having your car back

I don't know how you worked that out...?
You must be telepathetic or summat to have guessed that!

Just had my first experience of driving on "too much" snow. Friends car has old all seasons on it and we very nearly had to dump the car on a side road. Luckily with some persuasion and a bit of pushing, we got it home but blimey.

As I suspected, I will be getting winter tyres on our cars. All seasons just don't cut it sometimes.

Was fun though

I'm coming out to Canada for a week in Jan or Feb. Just a thought, but would they fit snow tires on a hirecar ?

Very unlikely. Are you going to Nunavut?

The car will probably have "all-season" tyres on which are not as good as winter tires but a little better than regular tyres. As far as I know most car rental cos dont go to the lengths of getting tyres swapped over twice a year.

If you are coming mid winter try and book someting with 4WD if you can.

Thanks Paul. I reckon a 4WD is a good call, if nothing else it's a good excuse to have a play for a week !

Yes and no, you don't really need 4wd on roads and the rental agreement precludes driving off road so it's really just a feel good thing.

Nothing wrong with a feel good thing !

Granted.

It may depend on where you are picking up the hire car. As well, if you are picking up the car in a known freezing cold place (i.e Yellowknife, Edmonton, Winnipeg) the car may come with a block heater in order to keep it warm overnight.

Halifax. It's more that we don't get the sort of snow you get back here in the UK, so not quite sure what to expect