Gardening in Canada: climate, frost dates and crops by region

Climate zones of Canada

By the days between the last spring frost and the first autumn frost.

How the regions of Canada differ

Splitting the cities in two — north (Iqaluit, Yellowknife, Whitehorse and 11 more) and south (Trois-Rivières, Charlottetown, Moncton and 11 more): the last spring frost comes about 14 days later in the north; the frost-free season is about 153 days in the north and 186 days in the south; the warmest month averages 24.4 °C by day in the north and 26.4 °C in the south; the north gets about 534 mm of rain a year and the south about 1,141 mm.

Splitting the cities in two — west (Kitchener, London (Canada), Windsor and 11 more) and east (St. John's, Charlottetown, Halifax and 11 more): the last spring frost comes about 9 days later in the west; the frost-free season is about 159 days in the west and 182 days in the east; the west gets about 576 mm of rain a year and the east about 1,215 mm.

The gap between the warmest month’s days and the coldest month’s nights is widest in Yellowknife (49.2 °C) and smallest in Victoria (22 °C): the smaller it is, the milder both winter and summer. Vancouver is the wettest of these cities with 2,158 mm a year, Yellowknife the driest with 303 mm. The hottest summer days are in Kelowna (30.2 °C on average in the warmest month), the coolest in Iqaluit (11.6 °C). In 27 of the 29 cities at least one month averages below 0 °C at night; the longest such winter is in Iqaluit (October–May).

Which crops suit which part of Canada

Season long enough: the days from planting to the first autumn frost cover the days to the first harvest on the plant card. Each window starts on the Greenly calendar date and ends on the last day that still leaves the crop’s days to harvest (from its card) before the average first autumn frost, plus six weeks of picking for crops harvested over weeks (tomatoes, peppers, aubergines, cucumbers, courgettes, pumpkins, watermelons, beans) — our rule; earlier in the window is safer.

Cities of Canada: weather in numbers

ERA5 2016–2025 via Open-Meteo, 25 km grid cell of each city; dates by the Greenly calendar and the plant cards.

Canada by region: frost dates and planting windows

Each region’s page sets its cities side by side: frost dates, planting windows and weather by month.

• Alberta
• British Columbia
• New Brunswick
• Ontario
• Quebec
• Saskatchewan

What to plant each month in Canada

• March
• April
• May
• June
• July
• August
• September
• October
• November

More about Canada

• Canada: frost dates by city
• Selling your harvest in Canada
• Where to buy seeds and plants
• When to plant tomatoes in Canada
• When to plant cucumbers in Canada
• When to plant peas in Canada
• When to plant garlic in Canada
• Gardening by country