October is LGBT History month, as well as, internationally, Breast Cancer Awareness month and, in Canada, Autism Awareness month. The second-last week of October is Canadian Waste Reduction Week. And this Friday, October 4 is World Smile Day.

If CAA-Quebec get its way, Canadians in one province will celebrate another special week at the very start of October — it’s lobbying to declare those seven days “Quebec’s official Winter Tire Appointment Week.”

Really? Yes, really, came the reply from the Canadian Automobile Association’s Quebec division. “Between the labor shortage and the new earlier legal deadline for winter tires (December 1), there’s likely to be a mad rush on garages that do tire changes,” the organization recently wrote. “So the smart thing to do is to take care of it now!”

CAA-Quebec is not saying motorists should swap their summer rubbers for a set of winter tires right this minute. No, it’s just telling the owners of the province’s 5.2 million passenger vehicles that now is better than later to book a rendezvous with their mechanic shop.

So when specifically should you book that appointment for? We asked The Weather Network and its meteorologist André Monette was able to provide “realistic dates” when drivers in Canadian major cities should make their summer-to-winter tires swap (i.e. when the average temperature drop below the magic 7 °C).

Quebec

Kuujjuaq: September 25

Sept-Îles: October 20

Val-d’Or and Saguenay: October 25

Rimouski and Gaspé: October 30

Quebec City, Gatineau and Sherbrooke: November 5

Montreal: November 10

Maritimes and Labrador

Saint-Jean: November 7

Fredericton: November 9

Charlottetown: November 10

Moncton: November 10

Sydney: November 12

Halifax: November 12

Goose Bay: October 14

Ontario

Timmins: October 26

Thunder Bay: November 1

Sudbury: November 2

Ottawa: November 9

Kingston: November 11

Toronto: November 15

Windsor: November 21

West and Prairies

Churchill: September 24

Yellowknife: September 27

Whitehorse: October 9

Saskatoon: October 27

Edmonton: October 28

Regina: October 29

Winnipeg: October 30

Calgary: November 5

Kelowna: November 9

Prince Rupert: November 16

Vancouver: December 11

Victoria: December 17

You’re already too late if your hometown is Kuujjuaq, but know that for Montreal, November 10 is halfway between the average date of the first snowfall (October 28) and that of the first real accumulation of 5 cm or more (December 3), says CAA-Quebec.

Oh, for those who think the first snowfall determines the right time to swap, here’s a little news for you: the temperature actually determines when, and the magic number is 7 °C.

Here’s why: Summer or four-season tires start to harden and gradually lose their grip when the mercury drops below 7 °C, says Pierre-Serge Labbé, CAA-Quebec Vice-President, Automotive Services. “These realistic dates, proposed in consultation with The Weather Network, are the dates when the average daily high is below 7 °C for each region in Quebec.”

But remember this: Because those dates are an average, they are the latest you should wait to install your winter rubbers. And now that the summer’s heat is no longer threatening our costly winter tires, there’s no harm in trading them a few weeks earlier.

Ask Calgary, just for fun, if there’s a too-soon moment to have winter tires on your car—