Environment Canada's Peter Kimbell says the forecast high of -11 C on Thursday was ten degrees below normal.
He says it will "warm up" to -8 C next Tuesday and Wednesday.
"There's no question about the first week in January," says Kimbell. "It will continue to be much colder than normal. But beyond January 7, I'm reluctant to go much beyond that because things do change rapidly. All it takes is one low-pressure system to bring warm air up into the area and things could quickly change. At this time, we don't see that happening, but who knows?"
Wednesday nights overnight low of -18.6 C was nowhere near the record low of -23.3 C set on the same date in 1960.
Kimbell adds that the Arctic air mass that moved into the prairies on Christmas Day is now locked in over all of Canada.