The warmest Canadian winter since records began officially ends this week. By Canadian standards it was balmy, with temperatures 3.9C above normal across the country, and 8C higher than usual in parts of the north.
The Great Lakes were ice free in the middle of winter, and remote northern communities that depend on temporary roads across frozen swamps, rivers and lakes to bring in supplies had trouble getting fuel and other necessities trucked in. In Ottawa, skaters had to make do with limited access to the Rideau canal, the world's longest skating rink.
It left many Canadians wondering if global warming had begun in earnest. There are plenty of signs this is the case in the far north, where polar bears are having trouble finding enough food because the ice melts earlier in the spring. Eight of the warmest winters have occurred in the last 25 years, but this year's saw an abnormal jump in temperature.
The weather system that normally blasts freezing Arctic air south to Canada shifted north this year, close to the North Pole. As a result, Russia and Northern Europe felt its chilly blast while warmer air drifted into Canada from the south.
Environment Canada said statistically Canadians would be lucky to experience such a warm winter once in a lifetime. Global warming, however, may change that. Winters have been slowly getter warmer since official records began in 1948, and government meteorologists said the wimpy winter is another piece of circumstantial evidence that the climate is heating up.
Warmer winters could cause many problems for the animals and people who live in the far north, and could lead to more mosquitoes and black flies in the summer across the country, perhaps increasing the spread of disease.
Milder winters could also increase the political tension between Ottawa and Washington, which have a long-standing dispute over who has sovereignty over Arctic waterways. The US does not recognise Canada's claim of control over the Northwest Passage, which could become a major shipping route between Asia and Europe if temperatures continue to climb.
During the recent federal election, the Conservative party's leader, Stephen Harper, promised to boost Canada's presence in the far north with three new, armed icebreakers, increased air surveillance and the development of a new military and civilian deep-water dock.
Shortly after the January election, the US ambassador to Canada, David Wilkins, reminded an academic forum on Canada-US relations of his country's position that the Northwest Passage is an international waterway.
His comments brought a stern rebuke from Mr Harper, who is yet to be sworn in as Canada's new prime minister.
"We have significant plans for national defence and for defence of our sovereignty, including Arctic sovereignty," he told reporters.
"We believe we have the mandate ... from the Canadian people and we hope to have it as well from the House of Commons, but it is the Canadian people we get our mandate from, not the ambassador from the United States."
The rebuke startled Mr Wilkins, who said he was simply repeating a long-held position that the US does not recognize Canada's sovereignty over Arctic waters.
Mr Harper, who fears being seen as too close to the Bush administration, may have latched on to an easy way to put some distance between himself and the US president, who is widely disliked in Canada.
But it was a chilly beginning for a new era in Canada-US relations. Then again, spring doesn't always begin with a thaw in Canada, where even the mildest of winters are a test of endurance.
Ice and snow still blanket much of the country and it is too early to put away the mitts, hats and overcoats. In Ottawa, you can see the brave - or the foolhardy - running in shorts and trying not to slip on the ice. Kids are steer bikes and scooters around snow banks. The calendar may say it is spring, but the Canadian winter has a powerful grip.