7 Weird Hacks To Survive Canadian Winter I Learned Growing Up In One Of The 'Snowiest' Cities

The views expressed in this Opinion article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Narcity Media.

Whether you're moving to Canada and feel unprepared for winter in the Great White North, or have lived here forever and are looking to make this snowy season less painful, there are some surprising hacks that'll be your best friend this season.

Growing up in the Maritimes, I was exposed to endless snowfall and chilly temperatures, so had to find ways of adapting. I spent a lot of my childhood living in Saint John, New Brunswick, which is actually one of the top ten snowiest large cities in the country.

Current Results used Environment Canada data to create the list of places that get the most snow in Canada, out of all the largest metropolitan areas. Sitting at number eight is my beloved hometown.

St. John's, Newfoundland is at the top of the list and happens to be where some of my family lives. So it's safe to say that I've been exposed to some seriously wintery conditions.

Here are a few surprising hacks that I picked up throughout years of being bone-chillingly cold.

You can use a potato to keep your car ice-free

Yeah, you might look pretty dumb to your neighbours, rubbing a potato on your windshield, but it actually works.

If you have an early morning and want to skip the car scrapping, take a potato cut in half out to your car the night before. Then you just rub it over your windshield, and the sugars create a barrier so it doesn't get as icy.

It's actually super convenient when you don't have time in the morning to spend ten minutes de-icing the car.

Use a lighter to open frozen locks

There's nothing worse than when it's freezing cold, and you can't get into your house because the lock is frozen over. Or, if you have a car with physical locks only, you might be in trouble.

An easy hack is to keep a lighter on hand, in order to heat up your key before putting it in the lock. It'll melt away the ice and you can rush inside to the warmth.

Carry extra socks, everywhere

I used to keep a whole wardrobe in my car, and not for fashion purposes. Walking outside in a New Brunswick winter guarantees snow in your boots, and your socks getting wet.

Take my advice and have some extra ones on hand.

Add some cooking spray to your shovelling

My household chore was shovelling the driveway, which was so not an easy task. I would spend hours shovelling the piles of heavy snow. The worst was when the wet snow would stick to my shovel, so on top of the already hard work I was having to bang my shovel on the ground to get it off after every haul.

Spraying a little PAM on it helps the snow not stick, so you can optimize your shovelling time.

Use your car mats to get un-stuck

My dad would always tell me to keep salt in my car, in case I got stuck on an icy hill while driving. Unfortunately, I rarely took my dad's advice.

When your tires are spinning, and you have nothing else, you can put the winter mats from inside your car under them, to gain some traction. In a pinch, it comes in handy!

Ski warmers aren't just for skiing

Those little hand and foot warmers skiers use were used by me on the daily for walks to school. I would just stuff them into my mittens and boots, and stay toasty warm.

Wear long johns under your jeans

A thin layer goes a long way in the winter. Jeans arent exactly winter-proof, so back them up with some long johns or thin leggings.