Coming from a country that I now know has a year long summer certainly brings some challenges when dealing with winter life. I am lucky enough that I work indoors and don't have to brace the elements on a daily basis. Ben on the other hand works outside on heavy machinery on a daily basis for hours at a time.
So far I have learnt that -10 with the sun shining is like a summers day while -30 with wind chill is cold, and not your average Australia cold. Cold like to the bone and slices through you and now you can no longer feel your legs, nose or hands cold.
There are certain things about winter that Canadians know, but coming from a foreign country there sure is a lot to learn.
1. You should always leave some form of heat on in your house through out winter to avoid pipes freezing.
2. Hand and feet warmers are your best friends. You can pick up large boxes of these babes from Costco. I sure they cant be great for the environment, but my skin sure does love them. They are as simple as as soon as the packets are exposed to air they heat and start warming up and will last up to 8 hours. Great for a day on the slopes.
3. Block heater for your car. When we first arrived we kept seeing little electrical plug in's on cars. It was extremely confusing and looked like everyone had an electric car. We eventually figured it out - They are electrical plug in that you literally plug your car in at night so that it can be kept warm at night and is a lot easier on the starter and the car in general.
4. Winter tires. Yep also a thing. Winter tires of some form need to be on a vehicle between ... and ... in BC. They can mud/snow which are thicker tires. Or more common and studded tires which help grip onto the icy surface of the roads.
The best way to keep warm is layer, layer, layer. Get good winter boots and something warm on your hands!