Canadian Cities With Mildest Temperatures

Cities in Canada with the mildest temperatures are concentrated in the southwest corner of British Columbia. But there are other Canadian cities that also enjoy a generous amount of comfortable temperatures.

Here you'll find temperature data and rankings for the major cities in Canada with the mildest weather.

These cities have the greatest number of days a year with daytime temperatures that are just right, neither too hot nor too cold. There are also lists here of cities that enjoy the most warm nights and the longest frost-free season. (You can also see rankings for Canada's cities with the most uncomfortable temperatures.)

The southwestern BC cities of Victoria, Vancouver and Abbotsford jockey for the top spot on the lists of Canada's mildest cities. The three cities lead the pack with their frequent warm nights and long frost-free growing seasons. Compared with others in Canada, these BC cities also enjoy more days with high temperatures in the comfortable range of 10 to 30 degrees Celsius, (50 to 86 degrees Fahrenheit).

Overall, the mildest of Canada's large cities is arguably Victoria, BC. Besides having the greatest number of days with pleasant temperatures, Victoria also has the most nights where the minimum temperature goes no lower than 2 °C (35.6 °F). Victoria comes in second to Vancouver for the number of days between its last spring frost and first autumn frost.

Most of those warm days at the BC cities are at the cool end of the comfortable temperature spectrum, between 10 and 20 °C (50 to 68 °F). Yet generally, people prefer it a little warmer, at 20 to 26 degrees Celsius (68 to 79 degrees Fahrenheit).

It's in this enjoyably warm temperature range where cities in southern Ontario rise above the rest. Windsor, St. Catharines, London and Brantford take the top four spots on the list for having the most days in the twenties Celsius. Windsor and St. Catharines also join the ranks of top ten cities for the most nights with mild temperatures and the longest frost-free period.

The cities included in these rankings are Canada's largest metropolitan areas. These are the 33 urban regions that had over 100,000 people according to the 2011 census by Statistics Canada. The temperature data are averages of weather measurements made from 1981 to 2010.

Mildest Days

These cities have the most days with temperatures at the warm end of the comfort spectrum. Ontario cities dominate these top-ten ranks.

Total days a year on average with a maximum temperature between 20 and 30 °C (68 - 86 °F)
City Days a Year
Windsor, Ontario 115
St. Catharines, Ontario 113
London, Ontario 113
Brantford, Ontario 112
Montréal, Quebec 108
Kitchener - Waterloo, Ontario 107
Guelph, Ontario 106
Toronto, Ontario 105
Peterborough, Ontario 105
Ottawa - Gatineau, Ontario 104

Rankings at the cooler end of the range for comfortable daytime temperatures are topped by British Columbian cities. Cities scattered across the country also join this list of ten.

Average days per year with maximum temperature of 10 to 20 °C (50 - 68 °F)
City Days a Year
Victoria, British Columbia 189
Vancouver, British Columbia 175
Abbotsford, British Columbia 163
Halifax, Nova Scotia 120
Saint John, New Brunswick 119
Calgary, Alberta 116
St. John's, Newfoundland 113
Kelowna, British Columbia 108
Kingston, Ontario 103
Oshawa, Ontario 102

Most Warm Nights

Many of the cities with nice daytime temperatures also enjoy pleasant evenings. These ten major cities all have over 200 nights a year when the temperature never drops below 2 °C.

Average number of days annually when the minimum temperature is 2 °C (35.6 °F) or higher
City Days a Year
Victoria, British Columbia 323
Vancouver, British Columbia 293
Abbotsford, British Columbia 275
Toronto, Ontario 234
Windsor, Ontario 221
Oshawa, Ontario 210
St. Catharines, Ontario 209
Hamilton, Ontario 206
Kelowna, British Columbia 206
Halifax, Nova Scotia 204

Longest Frost-Free Season

The frost-free growing season covers most of the year for some of Canada's major cities. These ten have the longest period between their last spring frost and the first fall frost.

Average length of frost-free season plus mean dates of when the no-frost period begins and ends
City Days Last Frost First Frost
Vancouver, British Columbia 237 Mar 18 Nov 10
Victoria, British Columbia 211 Apr 7 Nov 5
Abbotsford, British Columbia 208 Apr 7 Nov 1
Toronto, Ontario 203 Apr 13 Nov 3
Windsor, Ontario 195 Apr 17 Oct 30
Halifax, Nova Scotia 182 Apr 30 Oct 31
St. Catharines, Ontario 179 Apr 24 Oct 21
Hamilton, Ontario 177 Apr 21 Oct 15
Oshawa, Ontario 168 Apr 29 Oct 13
Peterborough, Ontario 168 Apr 24 Oct 9
Reference

Environment Canada. Meteorological Service of Canada. Canadian Climate Normals. 1981-2010 Climate Normals & Averages.

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