A man braves the cold as he walks alongside the St. Lawrence River in Montreal on Wednesday. (Peter McCabe/Canadian Press)

Mother Nature sent central Canada into a deep freeze Wednesday, as it joined the Prairies in a cold snap expected to stick around for a few days and move into the Maritimes.

It felt between –30 C to –50 C with the wind chill for a frigid swath stretching from Saskatchewan to Quebec in the morning and eased only slightly later in the day, according to Environment Canada.

Two women brace against the cold on Danforth Avenue in Toronto Wednesday morning. (Robin Rowland/CBC)

The coldest air hovered over Saskatchewan, Manitoba and the North, sending thermometers plunging as low as –39 C in Yellowknife in the early morning.

The sun brought a little warmth to Winnipeg, making it feel like –40 C with the wind chill by mid-afternoon, an improvement on the –50 C the wind chill made it feel like when residents woke up. Regina warmed only a few degrees above the –45 C it felt like with the wind chill at the start of the day.

"I know for the Prairies, you're sort of getting used to this for this winter anyway. This is your third cold snap of the season," said CBC meteorologist Johanna Wagstaffe.

Six southern Manitoba towns broke records on Tuesday morning, registering all-time lows that dipped as low as –43.8 C.

But residents in Whitehorse got a pleasant exception to the cold with a high of 2 C on Wednesday, with Environment Canada forecasters predicting Thursday could bring a high of 6 C to the Yukon capital.

Northern Quebec colder than the North Pole

The cold snap also left Ontarians and Quebecers shivering in unseasonably frigid temperatures.

With the wind chill, it felt like –40 C in northern Ontario Wednesday morning and the cold continued into the evening. It was –19 C before dawn in Toronto, but felt more like –30 C with the wind chill.

"Now I know it's not as cold in through Ontario and Quebec but these are temperatures we haven't seen for three or four years," said Wagstaffe.

Morning commuters in the Greater Toronto Area were forced to wait in the frigid cold on Wednesday after numerous delays and some cancellations on GO Transit trains.

GO Transit spokeswoman Vanessa Thomas told CBC News most of the delays were the result of breakdowns in mechanical signals that direct trains inside a CN dispatch yard.

But Thomas acknowledged the weather was to blame for some delays. She said some signals on the Lakeshore West line were out of commission because the hot air blowers that keep them from freezing broke down.

In Ottawa, where a weeks-long transit strike is forcing many commuters to walk, residents were bracing for nighttime temperatures through to Friday to plunge as low as –31 C, and feel like –37 C to –39 C with the wind chill.

The cold caused at least three water mains to break in Montreal as the mercury dipped to –23 C in the morning. At least one home flooded.

In northern Quebec, the mercury dipped below the temperature at the North Pole, said Pascal Yakovakis, meteorologist with Radio-Canada.

Relief on horizon

The only other respite from the chill was in coastal provinces, with Vancouver's temperature rising to 4 C and St. John's hitting 7 C.

The cold weather is supposed to worsen for Ontario and Quebec on Thursday, dropping to –35 C in places, said Wagstaffe.

But warmer weather is on the horizon for most of Canada, she said. By Friday, the Prairies will see more normal temperatures and Ontario and Quebec should start to recover by Saturday.

Unfortunately, the cold snap will settle into Atlantic Canada over the weekend, but it will only last two or three days, Wagstaffe said.