How does the winter in the north effect the outdoor industry small business operations?

Do you plan on working in Canada? You need a work permit attached to the visa, I think ( I am from USA ).

I live in the northern U.S. We have harsh winters here. Many outdoor businesses just continue working. I was watching a construction site yesterday during a snowstorm. They were working on a roof. Several of the workers were using brooms and shovels to try and keep the roof clear of snow so that other workers could lay down the roofing material. It is slower and they might use different techniques, but most business just keeps working.

Ya, got the permit.

I’m from Canada as far as I know most business just keep working on those very dreary days. It could mean it is slow at the workplace but usually the big business make enough during the non-emergency type days to fully make up for the few days of great Canadian winter blasts. This year was the worst. Schools were shut down in my town for 3 days and people asked to stay home while snow removal continued. People still went out though like these people…
http://catch21.ca/News/article/829629

Bundle up—it no fun at 15 below ( Celsius or Fahrenheit ).

Bring many layers and get silk long underwear or at least polypropylene. Wool will keep you warm if it gets wet – - use it for top layer.

It depends how far north you are. I don’t know anything about trees, but in Toronto they do road work and building construction all year round, but where I’m from 400km north of Toronto, they don’t do anything like that unless it’s an emergency situation.
I have a friend who works construction and he goes on unemployment in the winter.

What sort of operations? I’m in Alberta and house construction goes on except for the coldest days and/or blizzards.

Domestic or urban tree crews is my interest, but landscapers, gardeners, construction crews etc.

If you go near Vancouver, you’ll find more activity, I would think. It’s warmer there. It gets pretty nice everywhere around March, April barring a storm or two.

Yeah cheers, I got mates kind of scattered allover the place up there, So ill be winging it anyway. Just hadn’t thought about work with the crazy cold you guys get!

You get used to it and just deal with it. Dress for it, full gas tank, listen to road reports, keep food and booze stocked up!!

Roger that!

A friend of mine is a “climber” -2 or 3 man crew. He does the big stuff in city neighborhoods. In winter trees are damaged by snow and ice damage. There is always work.
The snow makes some parts of the operation more difficult. Brush and stump removal are a pain. He used large leaf blowers to clear the area of snow. You dress warm , wear your Carhartt winter wear and good, warm boots.
Sometimes parking is a bit difficult due to the large snow piles but people are very tolerant. The tree guys and linemen are our heroes.

My friend calls me whenever he takes down a particularly good tree for firewood. Locust, maple, walnut, ash. One of his crew and I will load my 6000 pound trailer. He doesn’t have to worry about getting rid of the wood and I have heat for next winter.

@worriedguy has it right. Tree guys are our heroes when we have an ice storm. They work around the clock.

Ok so I used to cut trees down, and we also did this in the winter the theory was as long as we could get there we could work. I only cut trees down for something like 6 months and only because I was conquering a fear of chainsaws from childhood, which involved my brother playing Jason :X I don’t think I have to say more lol, and yes I still have all my body parts. Anyway the day my chainsaw days ended? I had just cut the biggest tree down ever in my career about 4 ft base I was freaked the whole time waiting for the saw to kick back in my face to be honest I don’t even remember cutting the tree just trying to coax myself to snap my wrist if the saw comes at my face lol. Anyway when then the tree was down I had to cut it in pieces I did. After I was done I went looking for another tree I was pleased with myself. I used to always wear a bandana. So I’m looking around it was a hot day I felt this “sweat” by my upper lip, so on instinct I wiped with my gloved hand….complete BLOOD!! I freaked I was thinking OMG I DID SAW MY FACE AND NO ONE EVEN NOTICED WTF!!! I calmed down ripped my bandana off my head wiped my face to see where the blood was coming from….a nosebleed
It’s funny now but afterwards I figured I had enough chainsaw fear induction and I conquered it anyway…I felt “hey I’m a girl and cut that stupid tree down with that damn blade and I’ve still got my pretty face” and I was hot doing it! (literally, I was sweating bullets lol) That made me feel much better. LOL.
But really we got there on any day as long as we could and as I stated before I am in Canada.

There are two main types of pro cutters: the ones that use buckets and the climbers who use ropes. The guy I know uses ropes for everything. He’s like a monkey. He’s been doing it for many (25–30) years. He has 4 main saws of varying power and length with teeth sharpened like razor blades.
Clearly when they were talking about knots in Boy Scouts, he listened. He’s got a knot for everything: “This over this, into this, around here and…There you go! You can control the weight of the tree limb with only a few pounds of tension.” I goofed off and don’t know a sheep’s bend from a rabbit around the tree. It’s a shameful hole in my knowledge.
He’s well known . He will go into a neighborhood and start working on some massive locust that is hanging over a house. As he is going up the tree the branches are falling down, The ground crew starts de-limbing and cutting to length the second it hits the ground. With a 5 second warning the next limb falls. It is amazing to watch. The limb hanging over the house will be cut, then it will twist and be lowered without touching anything. Fantastic. Summer or winter.
His best advertisement is his work. One family sees him working and then they want something done. He did something at my house and 4 of my neighbors used him within about 2 weeks.

Good luck @Arbornaut!

Hey @worriedguy I think I know that guy! are you my neighbor? lLOL!

Haha I was never pro lol I only cut down smaller sized trees never worked my way to trees that had to be climbed. But I do know the type of guy @worriedguy is talking about, I have a friend who is exactley the same and actually retired from police into tree cutting and also climbs all around trees he removed trees for us and various neighbors around us, no advertisement. As for knots…I can tie my shoes, that’s as good as you’ll get from me lol.

@wilma I’m sure we’re neighbors. There can’t possibly be more than one of those guys, right? ;-)
@Meego I cut trees, too. But always on terra firma.

@worriedguy Lemme think about it a moment…nope don’t even know what terra firme is only that it literally means firm earth, what kind of trees, I have no clue. As I stated I was more worried about cutting my face off and becoming the next all female reality cast in the movie of the same name. LOL I only paid attention on how to try to stop the saw from possible kick back and other safety measures. The rest of the forest was for the birds.

Hey thanks guys, great answers to my question! Im a climber with about 5 years behind me, iv worked with some of the best in sydney aus, since i started on the ground all those years ago. Sydney doesn’t get cold, often in mid winter ill still be climbing in a singlet, so working with with snow and ice is a challenge Im looking forward to! Iv got some contacts in calgary or that area to start with and ill probably freelance as i move about. Thanks for the heads up on the whole seasonal thing, its a bit difficult to understand not having lived in it.
Thanks again.

@Arbornaut I can imagine the difference, I would love to go to your country, but I haven’t even been to Calgary yet :/ I should probably tour my own country first. I have been to Europe and the states. If you can get past the cold you will probably love Canada it is a beautiful country. Good Luck!

Vancouver is very temperate. Definitely not as cold as many places across Canada.

where I live we’ve been at -20c with a wind chill that takes us much lower than that!