When to Changeover Your Winter Tires

Posted April 14, 2016

Wondering when you should be changing over your winter tires? Well, it varies on what part of the country you live.

Albertans know that it often snows on the May Long Weekend – ruining their plans of starting the camping season – so they will often wait until after the middle of May to changeover their tires. Likewise, in the Yukon, Nunavut, and Northwest Territories, it often snows until mid-May as well, so they keep their all-season tires stored for even longer. Some provinces even have set winter tire laws. For example, in British Columbia, the law is that after March 31 winter tires can be removed. In Quebec, winter tires must remain on vehicles until March 15. All other provinces do not have set winter tire laws but it is important to understand when the best time to remove your winter tires will be:

When the temperature begins to consistently reach above 7°C, you can remove your winter tires and replace them with your all-season or performance summer tires
When all snow and ice has melted on the roads and there is no snow in the forecast, you can put your all-season tires back on.
Winter tires should not be driven in warm weather because they will begin to wear very quickly. Winter tires are made with a soft rubber that is made to stay soft in cold temperatures, so it becomes extremely soft in warm temperatures.

Overall, for the best driving conditions, all-season tires should be on your vehicle whenever the weather is above 7°C and there is no snow or ice on the ground and winter tires should be on your vehicle whenever the weather is below 7°C and there is snow and ice on the ground.

If you’re ever unsure about putting your all-season tires back on your vehicle, just come into your local Integra Tire and we will answer all your questions for you.

Questions? Our Advisors are Happy to Help!

If you have questions about anything you've read in this resource page, contact your nearest dealer for more information. We are passionate in assisting our customers make the best choices to keep their vehicles in tip-top shape and keep their families safe.