All seasons are illegal in winter in Quebec for a reason. Get proper winter tires.
this post was submitted on 21 Apr 2026
8 points (100.0% liked)
Ask Canada
119 readers
1 users here now
🇨🇦 Welcome to Ask Canada
A place to ask real questions about Canadian culture, politics, history, geography, daily life, and everything in between.
If you’re curious about how this country works or want a Canadian perspective, you’re in the right place.
🎤 What You Can Post
- Questions about Canada or Canadians
- “How does this work?” and “Why is this a thing?”
- Personal experiences, regional differences, and local knowledge
- Serious questions, practical questions, weird questions
- Light debate and thoughtful discussion
If you want Canadians to explain something ask it here.
🧭 Community Values
Discussion > Upvotes
We care about real conversation, not empty karma.
Respectful disagreement
Argue ideas, not people.
No partisan flamewars
Analysis, not tribalism.
Curiosity first
If someone asks a “basic” question, help them.
🛑 Not Allowed
- Hate, harassment, racism
- Spam
- Low-effort troll questions
- Nationalist / culture-war bait
- Off-topic politics not tied to Canada
founded 6 months ago
MODERATORS
Winter tires. "All season" tires are not the answer for snow and ice.
Right, but in the lower mainland 3PMS and M+S count as winter tires. I’m curious if there’s anything specific to look for
The "3PMS" (3 Peak Mountain Snowflake) is a performance certification. The tire line will have been tested and passed a certification. It doesn't matter whether it's sold as a winter tire or all-weather, it's purely test based.
Among tires with the 3PMS, they might exceed the test standard by various amounts, but that's going to need individual tire reviews and Consumer Reports or something. Any 3PMS endorsed tire should be good in poor winter conditions, but some will be better than others.
As an aside, I usually just get All-Seasons M+S or whatever All Weather tires are on sale nowadays. My secret is I don't drive on the Malahat or the Coquihalla in winter conditions, and I'm not passing anyone in a snowstorm. Plus I don't live in northern BC or Alberta. I used to carry tire chains in case I got caught out by a sudden storm or freezing rain, but I haven't done that for a few years. I should get new chains. I will also say that when I was in northern BC, AWD or 4WD made a big difference, on top of tire selection. I don't have AWD or 4WD now, so I double drive more cautiously in winter.
A final caution, even the best winter tire will perform worse than a bald tire in summer, and even 4WD is simply reducing the performance hit. My impression from seeing cars in the ditch up north is that there were just as many 4WD and AWD vehicles in the ditch. You can do 90 kph along a clear stretch but then hit a small snow drift on a corner or patch of ice. Just because people are passing you doesn't mean they are driving to the conditions.
My uncle who worked with tires all his life used to say that there is no such thing as an all season tire, regardless of what the markings say.
All seasons are horrible in the winter. It's impossible to create a rubber that has the right stiffness in both freezing temperatures and the summer heat. If you live in a place that gets sub freezing temperatures, you need tires that don't get rock hard in the cold. Where I live, everyone keeps two sets of wheels and switches them with the seasons.
Clarification: Winter rated tires.
There are all-seasons (the Nokian Haakapalitta tires I've mentioned) that are incredible in the winter (actually best tire I've ever driven in bad conditions, deep snow and winter-long ice).
But to your point, while you can run them in dry conditions, they will wear much faster than typical all-season tires due to the softer compound.
There's no other all-season tire I've used that actually works in snow or ice, let alone as well as Haakapaliitas.
But if you have a long winter, I'd get a set of their dedicated winter tires and switch seasonally as you said.
What would you recommend? In milder areas of Canada I’ve been to, all season M+S or 3PMS are considered winter tires.
(Is it legal to run studs in ON?)
Tires with the Alpine Symbol, 3PMSF, are the only tires that are allowed in Sweden on winter roads.
I don't know enough to recommend tires to someone else.
Just popping in to say that studded tires are popular in some circles but that only makes a difference in ice which is a very occasional condition even in “subarctic” conditions 1000km south of the arctic circle. But they do make an absolute mess of the road and are banned in Japan because of the cancer causing dust they produce.
Nokian makes good winter tires. But so does Michelin, continental, etc. If you’re driving where temperatures are consistently below 8°c for a period of time, snow tires are beneficial.
You know how car nuts talk about handling and braking and suspension and all that stuff? When the limits of grip are suddenly reduced dramatically by snow, it makes a big difference suddenly. It also makes a difference driving in it all the time. Somewhere between overconfident and comfortable.
All season, maybe in California...
I live in a metro area where it can snow quite a bit, just not quite as much as upper Ontario. All seasons are quite capable for conditions here.
I live in Canada and have never used specific tires for the winter. All-season with a 4WD. I drive to the conditions and am experienced and drive defensively. Never had one ice-related accident. I believe the science of rubber getting soft in the heat and hard in the cold, so winter tires make sense but for me I see it as an extra expense I just cannot afford.
Not Canadian, but have driven in winter-long icy conditions. There's a Finnish brand of tire - Nokian - that are the only brand I've found that actually work well in bad winter conditions. Deep snow or snow and ice.
Specifically their Haakapaliita (sp?) line of tires. Nothing I've driven performs in awful weather like them (Michelin can keep their X-ice garbage).
I imagine the folks up there may know of other high-winter-performance tires like them.