'It's a new experience': Newcomers adjust to winter weather in Winnipeg
New Canadians living in Winnipeg are making strides trying to get used to temperatures they never saw back home. For some, acclimatizing means lacing up their skates and learning a classic Canadian pastime.
The West End Business Improvement Zone (BIZ) hosts free skating lessons at Central Park. The program is offered Saturdays from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. weekly, depending on the weather. It was supposed to start last week, but the frigid forecast put the program on ice for another few days.
“It was just too cold to skate so we cancelled it,” said Gloria Ndikumana, the marketing and communications coordinator for the West End BIZ.
Ndikumana is a newcomer herself, immigrating to Winnipeg from Rwanda about two years ago. She said she was excited when she found out about the program.
“I’m just really happy that programs like these exist for people like me who are new or not very used to Canadian winters especially,” she said.
According to the Manitoba Bureau of Statistics, last year, the province welcomed 19,770 immigrants. That includes South Sudanese refugees Daniel Deng and John Mayen.
“In Africa, the temperatures didn’t reach negative,” said Deng. “They’re just warm. But it is extremely cold.”
Both Deng and Mayen said they’re still adjusting to the winter weather.
“It’s getting better now,” Mayen said. “I’m getting used to it.”
Reuben Garang, the director of Immigration Partnership Winnipeg said some people start preparing for cold climates even before they move.
“Some entities now have started to do overseas orientations, telling people about how cold it is here,” Garang said.
Lifelong Manitobans like Winnipeg Mayor Scott Gillingham offered this advice: “Make sure you dress warm with winter boots and jackets and ski pants and gloves or mitts and toques to make sure that you protect yourself from the cold weather.”
But Garang said newcomers have to feel it to believe it.
“When you come here it’s something else,” Garang said. “It does not matter [what] you have been told. It’s very cold. It’s a new experience.”
For some people, it’s a new experience worth bundling up for.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.6976926.1721883767!/httpImage/image.png_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.png)
AS IT HAPPENED Wildfire reaches Jasper Wednesday night, causes 'significant loss'
One of two wildfires threatening Jasper National Park reached the townsite Wednesday night and caused 'significant loss.'
Alberta calls in army to assist with wildfire situation
Alberta has called in the Canadian Armed Forces to help assist with the worsening wildfire situation in the province.
Biden explains why he ended re-election bid in Oval Office address
U.S. President Joe Biden on Wednesday delivered a solemn call to voters to defend the country's democracy as he laid out in an Oval Office address his decision to drop his bid for reelection and throw his support behind Vice President Kamala Harris.
Barrie-Innisfil MPP 'blacked-out' and crashed car into window of child care centre
Staff at a Barrie child care centre say they are frustrated by what they call a local MPP's inadequate response after a car crashed through a window in one of the toddler rooms.
Norad intercepts Russian and Chinese bombers operating together near Alaska in apparent first
The North American Aerospace Defence Command (Norad) intercepted two Russian and two Chinese bombers flying near Alaska Wednesday in what appears to be the first time the two countries have been intercepted while operating together.
2 Canadians being 'sent home immediately,' removed from Olympic team after drone incident
An analyst and an assistant coach with Canada Soccer are being removed from the Canadian Olympic Team and 'sent home immediately,' according to the Canadian Olympic Committee.
An unwelcome attendee has joined the Paris Olympic Games: COVID-19
After a handful of Australian water polo players tested positive for COVID-19 this week, questions have emerged around how the spread of the disease will be mitigated at the Summer Olympic Games in Paris.
Vacations, meals, booze: Contractor used $100K of charity's money for personal expenses, B.C. court finds
A B.C. man who was hired to help a non-profit build a food hub but instead spent the money on personal expenses – including travel, restaurants, booze and cannabis – has been ordered to pay more than $120,000 in damages.
Male, female killed, 2 others injured in 'gun battle' outside Toronto plaza: police
Two people are dead and two others suffered serious injuries following a shooting that police have described as a 'gun battle' outside a plaza in Scarborough, Ont. early Wednesday morning.