White snow at Christmas is turning into white sand beaches in the new year as many Canadians continue the tradition of flying south.
The Ottawa International Airport was dotted with people in shorts and t-shirts Monday that you know weren't flying off to Saskatoon.
"We're going down to Varadero for a week," said Julie Hamelin.
"We've been doing this for the last five years and it's part of our Christmas traditions," said Ralph Brassard. "Just basically hang out in the sun and beach."
One travel agent said the pattern of Canadians taking a quick trip to places like Cuba, Mexico and Florida is now turning into a stay at a second home.
"They just go as soon as the snow comes and come back around Easter period," said Mohinder Handa of Handa Travel.
Handa said the economy is a factor in more people making the move.
"I think our dollar is doing fairly well," he said. "At the same time, the properties are being fairly reasonable, some people are buying properties there."
One of those families is the Oremushes, who used to live here in Canada but recently made the move to Arizona.
"We love it for the short time that we're here," said a laughing Sylvie Oremush about Canadian winters.
The timing for these trips south couldn't be better, as temperatures in Ottawa are expected to plunge to -16 C Tuesday with a windchill of -28 C.
"Well we're Canadian so we have to tolerate it but we prefer to go south," said Alison Johnston on her way to Cuba. "A wind chill of -30 C or something in the next couple days . . . Not for us!"
With a report from CTV Ottawa's Stefan Keyes
