Canada Packing List Tips by sim1 Top 5 Page for this destination

Electricity

Miscellaneous:
For 'grounded' plugs, flat blades (see previous tip), but with round grounding pin plug and receptable with side grounding contacts is used (see picture)

An adapter will allow you to plug an appliance designed for one type of outlet into another type of outlet. Despite the fact that more than a dozen different types of plugs are in use, a typical travel adapter kit usually contains about five adapters which are capable of dealing with most of the outlets shown here. Adapters often manage this versatility by bypassing the ground/earth wire.

Beware : an adapter by itself will not change the electrical voltage. You must be sure that your appliance can handle different voltages (either automatically or through a voltage switch). If it can't, you will need a voltage converter.

Electricity

Miscellaneous:
In case you want to bring any electrical appliances with you, here is the system Canada uses : 120 volts and 60 Hz. It is a flat blade attachment plug (see picture)

The two-blade plugs are often polarized, with one blade larger than the other. Most outlets are designed to handle these. The larger blade is the neutral side of the current. This is a safety feature intended so the plug can be inserted one way only to reduce the chance of accidental shock. If you try to plug a modern plug into an old-style receptacle for equal size blades, it won't go in unless you file down the larger blade to the older plug size.

The North

Clothing/Shoes/Weather Gear:

The entire area north of the Prairies and the populated Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Region is an area with boral forest. This area is usually snow-covered more than half the year. The "summer", which is the frost-free period, lasts barely two months. Precipitation is light, except along the coast of Labrador due to the influence of Atlantic storms.
Going further north, above the tree-line, lies the Arctic. Here, temperatures rise above freezing only a few weeks a year. Just a meter below the vegetation that grows in summer, the ground remains permanently frozen.

Atlantic Canada

Clothing/Shoes/Weather Gear:

The combined influence of continental air masses with air currents off the ocean give this region one of the most rugged and most variable climates anywhere in the country. In winter the temperatures can vary markedly as Arctic air is replaced by maritime air from passing storms. Snowfall in winter is relatively heavy, and fog is common in spring and early summer. I experienced a lot of fog while I was travelling in this region in June 2001, but my friends had much more luck when they were here in July, with warm temperatures and sunny skies.

The warmest month is July, when the temperatures are in the 16 to 18°C range. Only in the coastal areas the month of August is often warmer.



Miscellaneous:

Temperatures in Halifax (Nova Scotia) :

Daily Maximum :
Jan : -0.3
Apr : 7.8
Jul : 21.8
Oct : 13.3

Daily Minimum :
Jan : -8.9
Apr : -0.2
Jul : 13.1
Oct : 5.2

The Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Region

Clothing/Shoes/Weather Gear:

More than half the Canadian population lives close to the Great Lakes or along the St. Lawrence River : the provinces of Ontario and Quebec. In there winter there is heavy snowfall and the summers are longer and more humid than elsewhere in Canada. Rainfall varies little year to year and is ample enough to sustain some of the best farming areas in Canada. The daily temperatures range from the mid-teens to low twenties from mid-June to mid-September. Week-long heat waves in the 30s are not uncommon. This year, 2002, it is very hot and humid in Ontario. The temperature is 30 degrees a lot of the time, but with highs to 35. But the humidity is what makes it feel much warmer. This “feel” temperature is called the humidex. The actual temperature today (halfway August) for instance is 32 degrees, but the humidex is 40 degrees. Due to the humidity it can feel like 45 degrees here. The fall season is popular due to its warm, sunny days and crisp, cool nights.



Miscellaneous:

Temperatures in Toronto (Ontario) :

Daily Maximum :
Jan : -2.5
Apr : 11.5
Jul : 26.8
Oct : 14.1

Daily Minimum :
Jan : -11.1
Apr : 0.6
Jul : 14.2
Oct : 3.6

The Prairies

Clothing/Shoes/Weather Gear:
The Canadian Prairies are the area from the Rocky Mountains to the Great Lakes. So this includes the Provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba and part of Alberta. The winters are cold here and the summer hot, with only light precipitation. In The dry southern part of Saskatchewan for instance, the annual precipitation averages less than 300 millimeters. Manitoba, which is the wettest of the Prairie provinces, receives about 500 millimeters each year. But the spring rain and dry autumn conditions made the Prairies one of the top grain-growing areas of the world. But not every year is as good for the farmers. This year the Prairies are hit by a long hot and dry summer, which causes a lot of problems for the farmers, and they see there crop go lost for this year.



Miscellaneous:

Among the most remarkable features of the Alberta winter is the "chinook," a warm, usually dry winter wind that affects much of southern Alberta. The chinook sweeps down from the Rocky Mountains and has been known to raise temperatures as much as 10°C in one hour.

Temperatures in Regina (Saskatchewan) :

Daily Maximum :
Jan : -11.0
Apr : 10.5
Jul : 26.3
Oct : 11.9

Daily Minimum :
Jan : -22.1
Apr : -2.4
Jul : 11.9
Oct : -1.7

The West Coast :

Clothing/Shoes/Weather Gear:
The coast of British Columbia is influenced by the moist Pacific Ocean airstreams. The cities of Vancouver and Victoria have comfortable and relatively dry summers and mild, wet winters. There hardly ever falls snow in the low-laying areas, and when it does, it mostly melts the same day.
The mountains in the Coastal Range and the Rocky Mountains, alters the warm, moist Pacific air from the interior plains of the Prairie provinces. As the moist air is forced to rise over the mountains, it cools and falls on the western slopes in heavy amounts of rain at lower altitudes and snow at higher ones. The valleys between the mountain ranges receive much less precipitation and experience warm, even scorching, summers. When I visited here in April for instance, I had beautiful spring weather on Vancouver Island and the city of Vancouver with all the trees in bloom. But going into the Coastal Range to the city of Whistler, there was still plenty of snow there, and ski-slopes were very busy.



Miscellaneous:

Temperatures in Vancouver (British Columbia) :

Daily Maximum :
Jan : 5.7
Apr : 12.7
Jul : 21.7
Oct : 13.5

Daily Minimum :
Jan : 0.1
Apr : 4.9
Jul : 12.7
Oct : 6.4

The Climate

Clothing/Shoes/Weather Gear:
Wondering what the weather is like, and what clothes to bring?
Canada is a huge country, and because of that it has a big diversity in climate, and temperature and precipitation differs from region to region and from season to season. Although in the extreme north temperatures climb above the 0°C for only a few months a year, most of the Canadians live within 300 kilometers of the southern border, where mild springs, warm summers and pleasant autumns prevail at least seven months of the year.
Not only the season of the year influences the fluctuation in temperature and the numbers of hours of sunshine, but also the shifting position of air masses plays a part. The usual air flow from west to east is often disrupted in winter when cold, dry air moves down from the Arctic, and in summer when warm, tropical air moves up from the southeast. Besides that there are also the factors of mountain ranges, plains and large bodies of water that have a big influence on the weather.



Miscellaneous:

In the next few tips I want to give you a quick overview of the climate per region.