Block Heaters, Remote Start and Cold-Weather Car Care in Canada

The first time you see a plug hanging out of a car's grille in a Canadian parking lot, you'll assume it's electric. It's usually not. Here is what block heaters, remote starters and winter car habits are about — and which ones your province and your car actually need.

Why cars need help in the cold

At the temperatures we knew at home, a car simply starts. Even a Sutherland or Highveld frost is a mild morning by Prairie standards. Below about minus twenty, physics turns against the engine: oil thickens to something like syrup, the battery loses a large share of its cranking power, and metal contracts. A car that sat outside overnight in Edmonton, Saskatoon or Winnipeg in January may turn over slowly, grudgingly, or not at all. The tools below exist to fix that, and Canadians in cold regions treat them as ordinary as a car wash.

Block heaters

A block heater is a small electric heating element fitted to the engine block or coolant system, with a cord that runs to a plug at the front of the car. You plug it into a standard household outlet — that's why parking lots in cold cities have outlets at every stall, and why you'll see extension cords running from houses to driveways all winter. It keeps the engine warm enough that oil flows and the battery has an easier job. A few practical points:

• Not every car has one. Vehicles sold new in cold provinces often come with a block heater; those from Vancouver, Toronto or the US often don't. Ask when buying, and if there isn't one, a mechanic can usually install one.
• Use a timer. The heater doesn't need to run all night. A plug-in timer that switches on a few hours before you leave does the job and keeps the electricity bill sane.
• When to plug in. The common rule of thumb is somewhere around minus fifteen and colder, but follow your owner's manual and local practice.
• Cord care. Check the cord for cracks each autumn; a frayed block-heater cord is a fire risk. And don't drive off with it plugged in — everyone does it once.

In Vancouver, Victoria and much of southern Ontario you'll likely never use one. In Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and the North, it's part of owning a car.

Remote start

A remote starter lets you start the engine from inside the house or office so the car warms up, the cabin heats and the windscreen begins to defrost before you walk out. Many newer cars have it built into the key or a phone app; older cars can have an aftermarket one installed. It's a comfort feature more than a mechanical necessity, but at minus thirty comfort matters, and a warm cabin also means clear glass and a driver who isn't shivering. Two cautions: some municipalities restrict how long a car may idle, and starting a car in an attached garage is dangerous because of exhaust. Check local rules and use your head.

The battery is the weak link

Cold kills batteries. A battery that's fine in September can fail in the first real cold snap, and roadside services are swamped on those mornings. Have the battery tested in autumn, replace it if it's weak, and consider a higher cold-cranking-amp rating if you live somewhere properly cold. Keep booster cables or a portable jump pack in the car — the jump pack is one of the better small purchases a newcomer can make.

Fluids, wipers and the salt problem

• Windscreen washer fluid comes in winter grades rated for low temperatures. The summer stuff freezes in the lines. Buy the winter grade and keep a spare jug in the boot, because slush spray empties the reservoir fast.
• Winter wiper blades have a rubber boot over the frame so ice doesn't jam them. Worth it in snow country.
• Oil matters: your manual specifies a grade suited to cold starts. Follow it.
• Fuel: keeping the tank at least half full in deep winter reduces condensation in the tank and means you have heat if you're ever stranded.
• Salt and brine are spread on roads all winter and they eat cars. A regular wash in winter — particularly the underbody — is how Canadians make cars last. A rust-proofing treatment in autumn is common in the salt-heavy provinces.

Snow habits that become second nature

Clear the whole car, not just a porthole on the windscreen. Snow left on the roof slides onto your windscreen when you brake, or onto the car behind you, and in some places driving with an obstructed view or snow on the roof can attract a ticket — check locally. Buy a proper snow brush with a scraper on the end and keep it inside the car, not the boot, where it's useless when the boot is frozen shut. Lift the wipers off the glass overnight if freezing rain is forecast. And keep a winter kit in the car: blanket, gloves, a small shovel, a bag of sand or cat litter for traction, a torch and a phone charger. It sounds dramatic until you're the one stuck.

Where you live sets the level

None of this is one-size-fits-all. A newcomer in Vancouver needs winter washer fluid and maybe a snow brush for the two weeks a year it matters. A newcomer in Regina needs the whole list and a block heater timer. Ask a neighbour or a colleague what they do — Canadians love giving cold-weather advice — and check your provincial road-safety site for any rules that apply to you.

Cold-weather car care is one of those settling-in skills that takes one winter to learn and then never leaves you. If you're still deciding which province's winter you're signing up for, the broader picture is in our move-to-Canada overview.