Dumb American question... is that normal?
this post was submitted on 29 Sep 2023
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As opposed to other commenter, yes it's normal. Every year winter tires are required on the mountainous highways.
They need to be either ice and snow rated (little mountain symbol with a snowflake inside) or they need to be mud and snow rated (M + S symbol)
You do not need them to go on the highway from Vancouver to hope, but if you plan on going further than hope like to Kamloops or Kelowna you will need snow rated tires or face a hefty fine if they catch you, if not worse when you end up in a ditch or sliding off a cliff.
To add, allowing M+S means the whole thing is kind of a joke. As long as you don't have a sports car with high performance tires you're almost guaranteed to have M+S (or a variation) printed on the tire. There are no standards for including it other than "we think the tread pattern will work in snow". The mountain snowflake symbol actually means something as there are standards such as the tires have to be made with a softer compound that doesn't harden up like a hockey puck.
Winter tires are mandatory in Québec, but starting in November. October sounds early, but since this is the Rockies, I suppose snow comes earlier at higher altitudes.
Yes, it's only the mountain highways. The highways around Vancouver don't require winter tires at any point in the year which is why you often hear of the city shutting down because of 1" of snow.
The requirement or general use?
As far as I'm aware, other than BC now, only Quebec currently mandates winter tires. But they're fairly commonplace everywhere in Canada regardless.
On snow and ice, there is a profound difference in traction between winter and all season tires.