How do Canadians deal with their extremely cold winters?

From ice hotels to ice fishing, see how Canadians embrace their chilly climate. Photo / Getty Images

Hate winter? Hate the cold? This is how you make the most of it - or avoid it altogether - according to Canadian Dominick Merle.

If you can’t take the cold, keep out of C-C-C-Canada. That’s what we hear all the time up here in the so-called Far North.

Nonsense. There are a number of ways to grin and bear it in the worst of a Canadian winter. And Montreal in particular has an ace in the hole. Literally. A vast underground city that stretches for over 30km and leads into hotels, shops, office buildings, restaurants - just about anything you need to stay warm and alive.

Businessmen have been known to arrive here in the dead of winter, check into a hotel, spend a few days on the job and never see a snowflake. More on Montreal’s underground later.

Let’s begin with the basics. Many homeowners rent or buy canvas tents to cover their driveways and vehicles. Consequently, one can drive to downtown Montreal, into an underground parking lot linked to the underground city, spend the day working or at leisure, and never have to put on a boot, toque or scarf.

Some Canadian businessmen manage to visit Montreal in winter without ever seeing a snowflake. Photo / 123RF

Those without tents hire snow clearance services (upwards of $1200 a season). After a heavy snowfall, the little snow-clearing plows zigzag along every which way, making residential neighbourhoods look like amusement parks.

Of course, there are those who choose to do their own shovelling as part of a fitness routine and who are actually disappointed when it’s a mild covering.

Canadians with driveways may use canvas tents to avoid snow build-ups on cars. Photo / 123RF

And a few others who embrace the cold, which sometimes reaches -25C or so. Ice fishing on the St Lawrence River, for example. You’ll often see men and women out on the frozen river in their portable shacks, or simply sitting on a chair with their hook and line in a hole in the ice.

Others may be ice skating on the frozen Rideau River in the nation’s capital of Ottawa, or at the port of Montreal, and still others will be cross-country skiing on the covered golf courses which have been converted into ski trails.

The bravest of souls may check into one of the ice hotels in Quebec City (actually made of ice and snow), curl up into a thermal sleeping bag at temperatures a shade above freezing and perhaps dream of Tahiti.

In Ottawa, locals can be seen ice skating on the Rideau River during the coldest months. Photo / 123RF

Senior retirees and those financially secure enough to avoid work have a simple way of dodging the Canadian winters. Called “snowbirds”, they disappear and head for the US’ southern states of Florida and Arizona as soon as a single snowflake hits their nose. They usually head out shortly after Christmas and fly back at Easter.

Quebec City is home to ice hotels, where guests sleep in thermal bags in temperatures just above freezing level. Photo / 123RF

In recent years, Canadian winters have warmed up and huge snowfalls are few and far between. There have been some Christmases and New Years where T-shirts and jeans were the uniform of the day.

And downtown restauranteurs are quick to push the envelope. Whenever the temperature gets above freezing, they quickly whip out tables and chairs on their sidewalk terraces, even if only for a day or a few hours. You’ll see sturdy Canadians sitting there with their coats and hats - drinking cold beer, no less.

Back to Montreal’s underground marvel.

It’s often described as the largest underground city in the world, but of course, that’s no sooner said than contested by one place or another.

Almost a necessity in winter, it’s also a nice refuge from the heavy rains throughout the rest of the year.

From the heart of the city, one can enter the climate-controlled underground tunnel system and pop up like a groundhog from time to time to see what’s happening on top, or just enjoy what’s below.

There are about 2000 shops and facilities to check out, including a number of hotels, fast-food courts, full fancy restaurants, cinemas, department stores, a convention centre and music hall, entrances to the underground subway system, and you can even finish in Chinatown for dim sum.

For more things to see and do in Canada, cold or otherwise, see destinationcanada.com/en.