Spring Vegetable Gardening in Canada

Your frost-free window

The growing season is the frost-free period between the average last spring frost and the average first fall frost, and it decides which varieties will mature in your garden. Look up both dates for your area, then choose varieties with days to maturity that fit.

What goes in when

Crops go out in order of hardiness: hardier ones can go in earlier, frost-tender ones wait until the danger of frost has passed. Each guide gives its own timing for Canada:

• peas, spinach, lettuce, radishes, onions, cabbage
• tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, bush beans, zucchini

Seedlings and hardening off

Seedlings started indoors give a short season a head start. Harden them off gradually before planting out: a couple of hours outside in a sheltered spot to begin with, then a little longer each day.

Row covers for a cold snap

Floating row covers give some frost protection and can bring crops on earlier, a couple of degrees’ worth.

Where hardiness zones fit in

Spring is planting time for perennials too, and for those the guide is your hardiness zone, which describes how severe your winters are: see rhubarb, asparagus and strawberries.

Spring, month by month

• What to plant in March
• What to plant in April
• What to plant in May
• Vegetable planting calendar for Canada

Spring questions

Sources and further reading

• University of Saskatchewan, Gardening at USask: Growing your own transplants
• Manitoba Indigenous and Northern Relations: A community gardener’s guidebook
• Dalhousie University Faculty of Agriculture, Extended Learning: Sowing seed (Garden Box series)
• Manitoba Northern Healthy Foods Initiative: Starting seeds indoors
• Dalhousie University Faculty of Agriculture, Extended Learning: Managing the garden: season extension and frost protection
• University of Saskatchewan, Gardening at USask: Row coverings in no-till gardening
• Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Agribusiness: Growing strawberries for home gardens
• Manitoba Agriculture: Agricultural climate of Manitoba
• University of Saskatchewan, Gardening at USask: Determining planting dates
• Dalhousie University Faculty of Agriculture, Extended Learning: Vegetable gardening in the fall (Garden Box series)
• Natural Resources Canada: In the zone: Canada’s plant hardiness zone maps and website get an update
• University of Saskatchewan, Gardening at USask: Hardiness zones
• Nova Scotia Department of Agriculture: Climate and soil considerations: resource kit for Nova Scotia farmers

Facts on this page are summarized in our own words from the pages above; each is supported by at least two of them, or by one plus well-established growing science (noted in our research file). Every source was opened and checked on October 23, 2026.

Put this season on paper

A season goes better when it is written down. Sketch what goes where in the free Vegetable Garden Layout Planner Tool, then keep sowing dates, harvests and notes for the whole year in the Canada Vegetable Garden Planner (printable PDF). Every crop we cover is in the Canada growing guides.