We are aware of cold weather in Canada , must we really bring thick thick winter clothing for travel during latter part of October to 1st week of November ? We always plan to travel as light as possible but if inevitable per anyone's advice than we dont have much choice or do we?

Where are you going?
Canada is a huge country, & the weather varies greatly from place to place.

I do not know whether to laugh or get into a snit. As the previous poster says this is a VERY big country. The climatic range is from "northern california like" weather to the Artic.
If you are planning a trip to the Artic - by all means very warm thick clothing is in order. However if you plan to arrive in Vancouver bundled up in winter coats and boots, the locals will laugh and you will sweat a lot. Since I live in Toronto, I will tell you what is appropriate for Toronto at that time of year. The weather can be unpredictable BUT it will not be really cold. A good wind-breaker with a thick warm sweater to go underneath if it gets really chilly should be plenty and another lighter sweater to wear with the wind breaker on nicer days. Boots are unnecessary at this time of year but bring some warm socks. It could snow in November in Toronto but this rarely happens. I would NOT bring winter boots. A pair of light gloves will be good for the colder days. Mostly it will be chilly and breezy and likely wet. I usually get away with just wearing a fleece jacket until December.

On the West Coast the late Ocober early November weather is usually cool and damp. But it hasn't snowed here for about two years and it's never been cold enough to snow in October and rarely in November. On the other hand the mountains in the Greater Vancouver area usually have their first dusting of snow by then, (they are over 5,000 feet above the city after all), and if you want to go up you would need to dress for cold weather. In any event shorts and t-shirts would not be called for at that time of year.

Oops , apologies for missing out on the important detail .. we will be going to Quebec City , Montreal and whatever nearby towns our energy can take us all in a week .

I've been in Montreal in early November and there's been light snow flurries and temperatures a bit below freezing. I think the liklihood of Indian Summer weather by that time is very slim so I would pack for chilly but not Arctic weather. i.e Heavy sweaters, scarfs, hats that cover your ears and closed, waterproof shoes. It's not the best time to visit that area because it's not really winter yet, it's definately not summer and the best of the fall colours will be over.

You'll probably need a winter sort of coat, and probably not the longjohns, warm footwear, hat, mittens, etc., but you never know.

Best bet is to check the ten-day forecast on the web just before finalizing your packing.

Hi:

It would also be a good idea to know where your coming from to really sense what type of clothing we'll need for the Quebec City to Montreal coordior for a late-October early-November trip. No matter where you from, for mid-Dec to early-April you'll need to winter clothes (likely the warmest you can find) & no matter where your from, mid-June to early-Sept its shorts/t-shirts.

But for spring/fall clothing can vary based upon what you are used to (we Canadians get the revers when we hit northern Flordia/northern California in when its 15c/65f in Jan/Feb as we're in our shorts but the locals bundled up, as we would have just come from an area where it was -10c/10f).

So for that time of year you can count on Quebec City being 10-15c/50-60f during the day & 5-10c/40-50f in the evenings, with Montreal being a little warmer & a little less windy (a couple of rain showers or a half day of rain would be over a 2 week period wouldn't be unusual).

That being said, weather that time of year could have sudden swings +/- 5c/10f for a day or 2 (so the half day of rain could be a half day of light snow or you could be sitting on a patio somewhere in shorts enjoying the sun).

Hope that helps put it in perspective.

Z