I lived in Alberta for several years. The snows and extreme cold over there are very bad. Sometimes it got down to -45 or -50 C. Then adding the windchill factor, it felt much colder than -45 C. I think the main reason people live there because the oil and gas industry employs large number of people there with fat paychecks. When I lived there, I met lots of escorts from Quebec, Ontario and B.C. who toured Alberta for works because they made much more money there during the oil boom. Now with the oil bust, I don't know anymore.