I'd love to hear more about the climate in northern Canada! It always fascinates me how much of the land in "my" latitude is just downright inhospitable on other continents. Either because it's too inland, or the sea brings cold water, or other phenomenons. (Or, I suppose it's rather we who're the weird ones who have a comfortable climate this far north, with the Gulf Stream.)
This is a vast country with varying climates. From Newfoundland to BC is over 7,000km; and from the northern most location on Ellesmere Island to the border is over 4,600km.
Newfoundland and the maritime provinces likely have a similar climate to yours, being moderated by the North Atlantic Current. The populate of people is high, farming and fishing are large economies, also lumber and mining.
Quebec and Ontario are huge provinces and have temperate continental climates to the south, generally lots of snow in the winter and hot and humid in the summer. To the north it moves from Boreal Forest (Tiaga) to the Arctic Tundra. I am in the south central area between the Great Lakes, the summers are hot and very humid, winters are cold and lots of snow from 'Lake Effect' snow. We can get meters of it! It can get very cold here -30 though usually -20C is more the norm. The population density here is very high, most of the population lives in the southern areas. Farming and manufacturing are the main drivers of the economies in the south. Lumber and mining are the industries to the north, there are many towns and cities dotting the shores of the Great Lakes as you go north, most are mining towns.
The Prairie Provinces (Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta) have extremely cold winters even in the south, temps in the -30C and -40C are common. Snow fall can vary with years of scant snow and years with lots of snow. This causes must stress for farmers as a lack of snowfall means low soil moisture for crops, and if the summer is also dry then drought conditions happen. In wet years esp in Saskatchewan the land floods and is dotted everywhere with large bodies of water called sloughs (slews). Mosquito outbreaks are common in those times. In the norther part of the provinces it moves into the Boreal Forest. In the south farming is the main industry and to the north lumber and mining. In Alberta there are vast reserves of oil and gas and those are the big money makers in that province. Fort McMurry we call Fort McMoney - a decent sized city that almost got burned to the ground several year back, I was saddened to see all the burnt areas when I returned there in the Fall after the fires. But - the Poplar trees had already started to pop up in the burnt areas! Amazing!
There are three territories in the north: Yukon, North West Territories and Nunavut. The landscape flows from Boreal Forest up to the Arctic Tundra, Very few people live in these places, but there are larger urban centres. Yellow Knife and White Horse are where many people live up there. Summers are very short, winters very long. And as you know daylight hrs can be 24 hrs long in the summer, and none in the winter for weeks... I love being in the north in the summer when it's daylight at midnight! Not so much in the winter. The main industries are Lumber, mining and some trapping.
British Columbia (BC as we call it) is a mountainous province, the Western Cordillera is a mountain range that goes from the north (in Alaska) all the way down through Canada into the US and into Mexico. The mountains are largest in the north in Canada and lesser so in the southern US. The industry out there ranges from mining in the interior, farming which is HUGE in the Fraser Valley - huge poultry and dairy farms - they are factories! And huge green houses growing all sorts of veggies and fruit, they are amazing to see lit up at night. On the coast fishing is very big - salmon farming also.
The coast of BC is a rain forest! The trees that grow there are massive, and stretch as far north as the middle of the province where the area moves into a more Boreal Forest. There are very few people living in the interior mountains and the northern coast. Though there are a few large urban centres along the coast - mostly port town catering to ships. Rain Rain and more Rain are the climate on the west coast, it rarely gets cold enough to snow on the southern coast, when it does no one knows how to drive in it.
So as you can see it's all sorts of climates here, the Boreal Forest is an amazing place, I have worked there many year, I love the tall slender trees well adapted to the extreme cold and heavy snows. The moose, elk, deer, bison (yep they are really cool!), wolves, coyotes... the Ravens are a hoot, very smart and steal your lunch if you're not careful. Oh and the bears! Buggers break into the camps and the offices if you're not careful to keep things closed and use electric fencing. My boss told me one was trying to get into my room one night - thankfully that night I closed my window!!!! I slept through it all thankfully.
Climate and weather are huge topics here we are weather crazy we all want to know 'what's the weather' - first thing in the morning, last thing in the evening. Everyone here talks about the weather hahahaha. Snow, Tornadoes, Floods, Ice Storms, Wind Storms, Lightening. It's all the main topic up here all the time.
