Hi there,
If this is your first fall in Canada, here’s something nobody tells you at the airport: October is the most important month of your first year. Not because of anything dramatic — because winter here doesn’t negotiate, and the people who enjoy it are the ones who prepared in October.
Here are the 7 things I’d sort now:
1. Winter tires — this week, not “soon.”
All-seasons are not winter tires, no matter what the name suggests. In Regina, the first serious snowfall can land mid-October, and tire shops book up fast. If your car came with all-seasons, budget for real winters now.
2. Get your car winter-ready.
A block heater check, a battery test (cold kills weak batteries overnight), and an emergency kit in the trunk: blanket, booster cables, a small shovel, and candles with matches. If you slide into a ditch at -30, that kit is the difference between a story and an emergency.
3. Learn the layering system.
One giant coat isn’t the answer — layers are. Thermal base layer, fleece mid-layer, and a parka rated to at least -30°C. Mitts beat gloves (fingers stay warmer together). And boots: get ones rated to -40 with real tread. Your feet will thank you in February.
4. Prep your home.
Swap the furnace filter, pick up a humidifier (indoor air gets brutally dry), and grab window insulation film from any hardware store — it costs a few dollars and cuts drafts dramatically. Renters: this is all renter-friendly.
5. Budget for the power bill.
Winter heating makes your electricity/gas bill jump. Look at what you’re paying now and set aside an extra buffer for December through February. Future-you will be grateful.
6. Vitamin D and daylight.
You’ll get far less sun than you’re used to. Many newcomers swear by vitamin D supplements and a daylight lamp for the darkest months. And keep moving — even a 20-minute walk at lunch helps more than you’d think.
7. Find your winter people now.
Winter isolation is real, and it’s the hardest part nobody warns you about. Libraries run free programs all winter. Community centres have cheap drop-in activities. Settlement Services Regina posts newcomer meetups through the cold months. Don’t wait until January to look — go this month, while it’s easy.
That’s your October checklist. None of it is expensive; all of it is easier now than in a blizzard.
If you want the full first-year playbook — housing, jobs, healthcare, schools, taxes, and the mistakes to avoid — I wrote it all down in Your First Year in Canada. You can find it here: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Murshed-Hussain/author/B0FNLP84H3
Stay warm out there,
Murshed
P.S. — Hit reply and tell me where you moved from and what you’re most nervous about this winter. I read every reply, and your question might become next week’s edition.
