Preview image for The Best Winter Celebrations and Festivals in Canada

Winter in Canada Is a Cause for Celebration

From ice-castle creations to Québécois carnivals, some of the country’s best festivals and events take place in the chilly season.

Sure, the barometer may slip below freezing, but nobody’s hibernating during winter in Canada. As soon as snow hits the ground, the Great White North finds its true chilly-season spirit. Winter festivals steeped in tradition and folklore come alive in the city streets, the northern lights dance across the inky sky, and destination spas swing open their doors, cranking up the saunas.

Despite the cold, Canada’s winter calendar is packed with festive and vibrant events that appreciate the outdoors,” says Virtuoso travel advisor Johanne Robinson.

From the Québec Winter Carnival to traditional Indigenous celebrations, a winter jaunt to Canada allows travelers to experience the country in its prime.

Exploring the Yukon with a few four-legged friends.

Destination Canada

True North

Travelers intent on experiencing Canadian winter to its fullest should head to the Yukon and Northwest Territories, where destinations such as Yellowknife and Whitehorse set the stage for northern lights shows and snowshoeing adventures through snowy coniferous forests. The winter-activities menu runs deep, including dogsledding across the Yukon wilderness and ice-fishing on Lake Laberge. Travelers can work with their Virtuoso travel advisor to create a custom itinerary.

In February, Whitehorse hosts the annual Yukon Rendezvous Festival, which celebrates the city’s small, tight-knit community. Created in 1964 to bring residents together during winter’s depth, the festival honors Whitehorse’s tenacious frontier spirit with axe-throwing, snow-carving, chainsaw-chucking, and flour-packing competitions.

Travelers visiting Yellowknife in March will likely run into the city’s monthlong Snowkings’ Winter Festival, devoted to all things ice since 1996. Wander inside an intricate, palatial castle made entirely of snow and ice to check out lifelike ice sculptures constructed by local artists, and attend concerts, film screenings, and even a hockey game.

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Bonhomme takes the keys to Québec City during the Québec Winter Carnival.

Destination Canada

French-Inspired Revelry 

More than half a million visitors descend on Québec City – one of Canada’s most quintessential winter cities – every February to party with Bonhomme, the friendly snowman mascot of the Québec Winter Carnival. The festival, held annually since 1894, takes over the city, with a grand masquerade ball at the 611-room Fairmont Le Château Frontenac, a snow-sculpture contest in the Plains of Abraham, a parade that winds through the streets of Old Town, and winter sporting events including snowboarding, dogsledding, and ice canoeing. Robinson recommends a visit to Bonhomme’s home, a colossal palace made from 2,000 blocks of ice, across the street from the Québec Parliament Building. Warm up with a glass of the carnival’s official drink, the Caribou – a mix of mulled red wine, rye whisky, and maple syrup – found at stalls throughout the festival.

Travelers who time their Québécois winter jaunt right can pair the carnival with the Montréal en Lumière festival, which illuminates the city every year between late February and early March. Catch a symphonic show at the main stage, snack on sweet maple taffy from the food trucks set up around downtown Montréal, and browse light installations that in the past have included large-scale sculptures and projected-light shows. Don’t leave without a spin on the Ferris wheel in the Quartier des Spectacles for the best views of Montréal aglow. 

Every night during the Winter Festival of Lights, Niagara Falls channels the northern lights. 

Destination Canada

Bright Lights, Big Waterfalls 

Niagara Falls, the iconic natural wonder hugging the Canada-U.S. border in Ontario (a two-hour drive from Toronto), takes on a new form in the winter: Mist from the cascades creates frozen icicles and ice-covered trees, and Niagara Falls’ Winter Festival of Lights capitalizes on the idyllic frozen landscape. From mid-November to mid-February, the city showcases millions of lights covering nearly five miles along the Niagara Parkway, adorning trees, fountains, and even the falls themselves. (Don’t miss the nightly fireworks display near Horseshoe Falls.) Another highlight is the Hot Chocolate Trail: 22 stops throughout the festival’s grounds, where chocolatiers and mixologists serve 36 hot chocolate flavors (with or without a boozy boost).

A Rockies Warm-Up 

Plunge into Banff’s hot springs, do next to nothing at a Nordic spa in Kananaskis, or turn your gaze upward in one of the world’s largest International Dark Sky Reserves – Alberta offers peak winter wonder, with a side of wellness. From the 539-room Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise in the Canadian Rockies, travelers can explore the property’s surrounding frozen terrain via cross-country skis, snowshoes, or ice skates.

In Banff National Park, spy moose, elk, and bighorn sheep roaming the snowy lakesides from the area’s trails. (Or better yet, ask your Virtuoso travel advisor to arrange a helicopter tour over the Rockies’ frozen peaks.) While in Banff, stroll the town’s art galleries and boutiques, or soak in the nearby Banff Upper Hot Springs. 

In Edmonton, Alberta’s capital city, the annual end-of-January Flying Canoë Volant Festival celebrates French Canadian, First Nations, and Métis legends. During the weeklong cultural celebration along the Mill Creek Ravine’s illuminated trails, catch a storytelling or dance performance, browse local art and installations, and sample poutine and maple treats.

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Get into the holiday spirit at Vancouver’s annual Christmas Market.

Destination Canada

Enchanted Forests

While British Columbia is certainly known for its prime supply of ski runs – the region encompasses more than 10 ski areas – travelers looking to stray from the ski resorts will find winter magic in the province’s snow-covered old-growth forests, including Whistler Mountain, Grouse Mountain, Cypress Mountain, and Manning Park. Your Virtuoso travel advisor can help arrange snowshoeing and winter hiking excursions to frozen lakes, waterfalls, and secluded vistas, or help you explore the entire region via a multiday tour.

Overlooking the North Shore Mountains in Vancouver, the city’s annual Christmas Market features more than 90 artisan stalls with handmade crafts, ornaments, jewelry, and more. Visitors can line up to try German sausages and pretzels before making their way over to the market’s main attraction: a display of 50-plus gingerbread houses.

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