Welcome to the Great White North

From the Aurora skies of the north, to the misty west coast, to the frigid Prairies, to the snowy expanses of Ontario and Quebec, to the blustery Atlantic - it's time to take advantage of the cold months while they last. Explore the best of winter in Canada.

When the seasons change and snow starts to fall, a plethora of unique recreation comes to life in Canada. Strap on snowshoes and stomp across powdery glades. Hire a dogsled musher to show you the ropes of traditional winter travel. Choose horsepower over dog-power and straddle a snowmobile. Ice skate across a frozen river hand-in-hand with your companion. Tour the luge tracks and ski jumps from two Olympic Winter Games. 

Here are some key winter experiences in Canada:

 

Ontario  

• Ice skate on the world’s largest outdoor rink - Ottawa’s eight-km-long Rideau Canal, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
• Take a helicopter from downtown Toronto to Ontario's Haliburton Highlands and experience a day-trip dogsled tour through remote wilderness.
• Explore Ontario’s network of 43,000 km of recreational snowmobile trails.

 

Alberta

• Explore the icy wonderland of Jasper’s Maligne Canyonand Banff’s Johnston Canyon—marvelling at crystalline waterfalls and ice caves as you trek atop a frozen river.
• Tour Calgary Olympic Park, home to the 1988 Olympic Winter Games; brave the luge track or ride along on a bobsleigh run.
• Cross-country ski through Edmonton's River Valley—home to more than 50 km of groomed trails in nine different parks.

British Columbia

• Experience a snowshoe tour under the full moon’s light at Vancouver's Mount Seymour.
• Play the part of an Olympian with a bobsleigh ride or skeleton run at Whistler's Olympic Park. 
• Head west for a Pacific Storm Watching tour; witness seven-metre-tall waves crash along scenic shores.

Manitoba

• Skate along 1.2 km of ice-trails within Winnipeg’s Forks National Historic Site, located right in the downtown core.
• Explore Winnipeg's snowy Grand Beach Provincial Park and ski five different cross-country trails, ranging from 2.6 to 13.3 km in length.

Newfoundland & Labrador

• Snowshoe or cross-country ski to the edge of a 500-million-year-old fiord at the Gros Morne National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
• Witness the Maritimes’ most extreme winter event: the 2,300-km Cain’s Quest Snowmobile Endurance Race.

Quebec

• Quebec, birthplace of the Ski-Doo, offers 33,500 km of groomed and marked snowmobile trails; Québec City's the White Triangle is the most popular region.
• Set out on a snowshoe or horse-drawn sled sugar-shack tour and sample maple syrup fresh from the tree.
• Stay the night in a hotel made entirely from ice—Hotel de Glace—and admire intricate ice carvings while you sip a cocktail at the cosmopolitan Ice Bar.

Saskatchewan

• Enjoy a skijoring session—a sport that merges dogsledding and cross-country skiing.
• Hire a guided snowmobile tour and explore 10,000 km-plus of maintained trails.

Yukon

• Spend a day at the home of a world champion dogsled racer, tending to spirited Alaskan huskies; set out on a guided Klondike dogsled adventure.
• Embark on an eight-day Arctic voyage with a journey along the Ice Road to Tuktoyaktuk.