How do you survive the cold in Canada?

I've lived in two cities in Canada, first Vancouver and then Montreal. Coming from the southern US, I was under the mistaken impression that Vancouver winters were cold (hey, it even snowed once every four years!) and then I moved to Montreal.

It's not the northern Yukon but there were were some very cold winters that forced me to learn how to dress for it. My lessons learned were:

• Pay attention to the weather forecast. In the spring or summer, you can glance at the temperature on your way out door and maybe grab a jacket, but in the coldest part of winter, the projected "high" and "low" dictate everything.
• It's easiest to think of cold weather in "levels". I know both the F and C scales for temperature equally (I'm temperature-bilingual!), but in winter Celsius just makes a lot more sense. The zero dividing line for freezing is just logical, and then as the temperature drops you think about it in bands of -10c, -20c, -30c and -40c (the coldest it ever got in Montreal while I lived there.) Those bands help you dress for it. (Side note, -40 is where the two scales cross, so -40c = -40f, weird huh?)
• Long underwear has temperature ratings. I never knew this before living there. I grew up in Colorado and had "long underwear" and when it was snowing or whatever you wore your "long underwear", which came in a package and that was all you knew. Shopping in Canada, you start noticing that different ones are rated differently, due to materials and thickness, and you (through trial and error) figure out which ones belong for which temperature. After I while, I had the pairs I wore at +5c and I had different ones for -10c and again for -20c. It goes back to that weather report, the low tells me which pair I pick. It's not a fashion decision at that point.
• Below -20c, you start doubling up. Anything below -20c requires basically two of everything. Yes you wear two pairs of socks, two pairs of long underwear, shirt and undershirt.
• Never wear sneakers below freezing. Sneakers are designed to be "breathable", which is another word for "there are holes in the fabric that let air in and out". That's stupid and possibly dangerous in the cold (not to mention little traction on the ice.) You get good winter boots, completely waterproof.
• Like the undergarments, the coats gloves, hats, scarves are increased as the temperature drops. At 0 you're wearing your winter North Face coat, thin gloves and a scarf. At -10c you have your hat/touque covering your ears. At -20  your hood on your coat is over your hat, you have your outer gloves (the ones your inner gloves fit inside),  and at -30c you're in full baklava, you have a spring fleece jacket in between your shirts and your North Face coat (that's four layers if you're keeping track), sunglasses covering the eyes, no exposed skin at all. At -40 you're pretty much avoiding any sustained exposure at all.
• You wiggle your toes and fingers a lot . Even with all the layers, the extremities get cold and you have to counteract that.
• You learn never walk in the snow or ice with your hands in your pockets. That's why you have your two layer gloves, so you don't have to keep them in your pockets to keep them warm. The reason you keep your hands outside at all times is for sudden slips. Hands in your pockets means you have no way to use your arms for breaking your fall, and instead you slam down on your back and/or back of the head.
• You learn never to suddenly speed up on the snow and ice. Once out of pure reaction I saw a bus I was trying to get to down the block start up like he was getting to leave. I instantly moved faster, and almost as instantly my legs went out from under me because it turned out there was black ice under the snow and I slipped and came down on my shoulder. I was lucky that was all I hurt, and it was all from almost a reflexive action to catch the bus.
• Because your boots are heavy and track slush and grit in your house, you always take them off at the door. (Best thing I learned, buy a rubber car auto floor mat at the store which was the best and cheapest door mat I ever bought.)
• There's no such thing in winter as "running out quickly" for anything. Want to go down to the dep on the corner for a soda? Dressing is a "procedure"! Assuming you have most of your "regular clothing" layers on, popping outside means at a minimum: lacing up your boots, putting on your coat, putting on your scarf, putting on your hat, putting on your gloves, realizing you can't get the keys out of your pocket with your gloves on, pulling your gloves off, fishing your keys out, leaving and then locking the door, putting your keys up, putting your gloves back on, and finally starting your trip. You get proud if you can do this in under 5 minutes.
• If you walk outside in the winter and you walk a block, and you're already starting to get cold, you immediately stop and go back to your place and redress for colder weather. In the fall or spring, there's a hint of "oh I can tolerate this" if you can't decide whether to take a jacket or not. In deep winter, you should remain warm inside your clothes especially if you're actively walking somewhere. Getting cold within a couple of blocks means you misjudged, and to keep going means at least misery if not actual danger.
• I'm not here to rob you, it's just winter:

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