The porch is a great place for relaxing and enjoying the surroundings of your house, yet using it highly depends on the weather. Keeping your porch bare and unprotected means you won't be using it when the cold season hits while, on the other hand, completely removing it and extending your house walls will deprive you of those outdoor waterproof box little moments of joy. Luckily, a middle ground exists in the form of porch enclosures-a set of walls built on your porch to offer good visibility but also keep the cold out and a cozy atmosphere inside.
The most important thing to consider when looking for a porch enclosure is the material (and subsequently, construction) - all too often people would jump to solutions advertised as "budget-efficient" without realizing that they are putting the very efficiency of the enclosure at risk.
Modern materials like aluminum can offer a stylish finish to your house design and tend to take up relatively little space, but you might run into durability issues. Use at least a 2" heavy gauge extruded profile.
Wood is a classic, beautiful and comfortable solution. Even though the designs of wooden porch enclosures are always inherently thicker, they offer substantially better protection and durability; the only downside is that you'll have to perform some maintenance work on the enclosure every now and then due to the normal wearing and tearing.
A proper, high-grade storm door is also something you really can't go without. Whether you have a porch or not, your door will always be very vulnerable to harsh Canadian winters and must be adequately protected. Otherwise, you will be spending time and money repairing (or even replacing) it after each and every strong storm.
As with porch enclosures, a good material and design of your storm door should be on top of your priorities. Don't get cheap. Remember, this is a one-time investment, so build your budget accordingly. The aluminum resistance issue outdoor waterproof box is present here as well so, again, try to get the best value for the dollar spent.
Last, but not least, consider ventilating storm doors. They provide a good balance between effectiveness and year-round usability (they remain useful during the summer when they help keep insects out). The downside is that the sliding mechanisms provide you with a door that isn't as sturdy as regular full-view design and might not hold up to a few hours' harsh winds.