Sometimes, it’s time to let everything else melt away for a while and focus on something different. As we enter the dog days of summer, we crave something simpler, sweeter, more fun. Something most of us can agree we love: ice cream.

We asked readers to tell us about the best ice cream in Canada – and it turns out, this is a wildly popular topic.

We received hundreds of responses from people eager to describe their favourite flavour (Tiger Tail! Moon Mist! Muskoka Mocha!), go-to local ice cream parlour, or beloved made-in-Canada brand. Our staff jumped at the chance to take part in the conversation too.

These responses – from Vancouver Island, B.C., to Fogo Island, N.L., – were about more than just the feel-good, sun-kissed tastes of summer. Lacing it all together were childhood memories, treasured family rituals, nostalgic tastes of home – and a joyful, fierce pride of place.

We’ve scooped up some of these entries for this unofficial – and definitely not exhaustive – guide to Canada’s most delicious cones, cups and tubs.

This is a big, happy, friendly tent where soft serve, gelato and vegan options are welcome alongside dairy-based, hard ice cream; Pandan alongside Burnt Marshmallow; the homemade, small-batch creamery alongside the grocery-store staple.

If you’re getting hungry, well, you know what to do.

- Idella Sturino and Jacob Dubé

Earnest Ice Cream in Vancouver is by far the best ice cream in Canada. A stop there is one of the first things I do when I visit, and always one of the best memories I take with me on the way home to Ontario. Every location (there’s not many) is always lined up, even in November, and there is always a joyous, excited mood in the lineup that you do not see at any other food location. Ted Sturk, St. Thomas, Ont.

Lemon Squared, from Rain or Shine in Vancouver. Bright and tangy lemon squares have been my favourite hot-weather treat since my grandma taught me how to make Ina Garten’s recipe in junior high. Now, somehow, Rain or Shine has created an ice cream that perfectly captures the zest of the dessert with tart lemon curd and chunks of crumbly crust. Often paired with Malted Milk Chocolate Honeycomb, their best year-round offering, Lemon Squared is summer in a cone. Moira Wyton, audience editor, The Globe and Mail

In Campbell River on the east coast of Vancouver Island, we have an ice cream shop on our fishing pier that always has a lineup in the summer. The portions are huge. We have relatives who drive two hours to visit just for the ice cream and to stroll on the pier. Jen Fagan, Campbell River, B.C.

Ever craved Garlic ice cream? Wasabi? Aged Balsamic Vinegar? East Vancouver has the parlour for you. With 238 flavours on-site, La Casa Gelato rotates through more than 588, including Coconut Red Rice, Purple Yam Oreo, Cranberry Vodka and Pear, Gorgonzola and Blue Cheese – so popular, it’s a regular now. Prefer Chocolate or Vanilla? They’ve got that, too. Marsha Lederman, columnist, The Globe and Mail

Tickleberry’s in Okanagan Falls is a must stop on any road trip through the area. Many unique flavours are made on-site along with more than 50 traditional Canadian favourites. Perry Rebagliati, Kelowna, B.C.

Burnt Honey Dessert Company makes the best craft-style ice cream with such amazing unique flavours, and they make both dairy and dairy-free ice cream and waffle cones. They are an amazing family business and the most inclusive employer/business I’ve ever come across. They are such an important part of our community and support some amazing initiatives. Not many businesses are the best at what they do and how they do it, and Burnt Honey leads the way in both. Krista Simpson, Nanaimo, B.C.

Made by Marcus in Calgary. Roasted Strawberry Buttermilk is a favourite! Plus, seasonal flavours pop up every few months like Manchego Rhubarb Peppercorn. Lucia Lake, Calgary

Village Ice Cream in Calgary has the best ice cream I’ve ever tried, anywhere! It’s fresh, creamy, with natural flavours that not only melt in your mouth, they seem to engulf your mouth with love! The Melted Chocolate is my personal fave. Richard Grant, Calgary

We are lucky to have some of the best locally made ice cream shops in the province. The Milkman Milk Bar offers unique flavours – Smoked Honey Peach, Tahini Apricot, Pineapple Upside Down Cake, Cinnamon Bun, Blackberry Lavender Lemonade and so many more. Claire Reid, Lethbridge, Alta.

Yelo’d Ice Cream and Bake Shoppe in Edmonton. Asian-inspired ice cream flavours, so many yummy options! Our favourite is Filipino Rocky Road and Strawberry Milk Tea. Their flavour offerings are nostalgic and there’s something for everyone! Mel Mah, Edmonton

Beppi’s Gelato in Saskatoon is a hidden gem, and hard to beat in any province. They make their gelato in small batches and there are always surprising flavours sourcing local fruits in season. They have made 150 different flavours, and I recall trying a scoop of Saskatoonberry gelato with a more traditional (and very citrusy) Lemon Sorbetto once. They don’t skimp on the ingredients and it shows. We are always comparing other parlours’ gelato to Beppi’s – across Canada and the States – and haven’t found anywhere to beat it yet. Marie Woolf, Ottawa bureau reporter, The Globe and Mail

Milky Way in Regina. It’s iconic and has been in business since the 1950s. The shop along one of the city’s busiest streets has a Flavour of the Day. My personal favourite is Coconut but if you took a vote, I’d say Pistachio would clean up. Every spring, people wait for the window to open after a long winter. On a nice summer day, lineups snake around the block. Donna Pasiechnik, Regina

There’s an ice cream shop in my neighbourhood in Saskatoon called Fable that is fantastic. My favourite there is their Raspberry Goat Cheese flavour. It’s extraordinary! Daniel Rutherford, Saskatoon

Twisted Sisters is an ice cream shack at Chamberlain, along the highway between Regina and Saskatoon. I don’t know how long it’s been there. Certainly it’s been there my whole life (I’m old). The shack is more like a small house with the entirety of the footprint a kitchen [might have], serving basic cottage fried foods – hamburgers, fries, hot dogs – to those that order in the front window and stand on the porch for delivery.

But the main draw is the ice cream, hard and soft, with more than a dozen flavours. The milkshakes are old-timey ice cream and actual milk. There’s a dozen or more sundae flavours as well as more elaborate treats. Summer days in Saskatchewan are long and intensely hot. The parking lot in this place, directly across the highway from a traditional-style Saskatchewan grain elevator, is packed with road trippers, bikers in full leather, farmers and cottagers from the lake 45 minutes away. Wendy Cox, deputy national editor, The Globe and Mail

Best ice cream? In North Battleford, it is the ice cream from Krazzee Kones! Provided by Foothills Creamery. And if we’re going to get really specific, I would have to tell you in the 20-some years that I’ve lived here, I almost always get Grape Float, but sometimes will get Root Beer Float. Not a lot to do in North Battleford, but there’s great ice cream! Jackie Kroczynski, North Battleford, Sask.

Chaeban in Winnipeg – all their ice cream flavours are amazing, but I absolutely love their Vanilla, which is far from basic. The refugee family who owns the place are second-generation cheese and milk experts. They make everything in-house and they’ve won many awards in ice cream competitions across the country. Definitely the best ice cream in Canada! Camila Jerger, Winnipeg

Dug & Betty’s and Chaeban, both in Winnipeg. Both have many unique and mouth-watering flavours. Dug and Betty’s: Ferrero Rocher, Fig and Goat cheese, London Fog etc. Marie-Claude McDonald, Winnipeg

Blue Licorice ice cream from Manitoba. Not made anywhere else. I miss it so much. Megan Parry-Jamieson, London, Ont.

The BDI in Winnipeg (Bridge Drive In) next to the Elm Park Bridge. Ask any Winnipegger. They know! Rob0007 (from the comments)

Kawartha Dairy was founded in Bobcaygeon, Ont., in 1937, the same year Barbara Frum, George Chuvalo, Stephen Lewis and Marilyn Bell were born. It was a good year for Canadians; it was a better year for ice cream. Since then, the homegrown company has cornered the market on sweet, frozen Canadiana, with flavours such as Campfire S’mores, Moose Tracks, Muskoka Mocha, Nanaimo Bar and Sugar Shack Maple. Their very best, though, is Salty Caramel Truffle. I’d fight Chuvalo for a pint. Brad Wheeler, arts reporter, The Globe and Mail

Ruru Baked in Toronto! High-quality custard-based ice cream with a seasonal menu and culture that reflect the city. Their flavours blend local (Ontario strawberry ice cream), with nostalgic (sticky toffee pudding), and international (Ribena, Pandan, Calamansi Crunch).

Personal flavour favourites include Superbaked (Pandan ice cream with Oreo cookie crumbles, brownie pieces, Skor cookie pieces and a coconut caramel swirl), Everything Bagel (cream cheese ice cream with savoury garlicky onion brittle) and Kyoto Fog (matcha earl grey vanilla ice cream). Aisha Sial, Toronto

Ed’s Real Scoop in Toronto. Any location. Best flavour is Burnt Marshmallow. It tastes like a Canadian summer. Wouldn’t taste right in any other setting but Toronto or during any other season. Hamida Ghafour, deputy foreign editor, The Globe and Mail

Slickers in Bloomfield, Ont. Slickers’ opening is the first sign of impending summer sunshine and it closes with the summer season’s last few warm rays. Its tiny little shop means constant lines outside, and there is no happier line of people than those queuing up for a scoop of ice cream.

From full apple pies to burnt marshmallows stuffed into the ice cream, Slickers is as unique as its flavours. For me, it’s Rhubarb Ginger but Chocolate Orange isn’t far behind. Slickers is the kind of place that draws tourists and locals alike and has been credited to luring more than a few tourists into becoming locals. Erik Rubadeau, Bloomfield, Ont.

If you happen to be in Northern Ontario and want to see a kid’s head explode (or an adult, if we’re being honest), head to the Big Moose Ice Cream Parlour on Highway 17N in Sault Ste. Marie, where they have 68 different flavours at all times.

There’s also live music on an outdoor stage on certain summer evenings and a towering, life-sized plush moose and bear standing guard for photo ops. Every summer when my family visits my hometown, the Big Moose is on our must-do list, though the ice cream decision paralysis never quite leaves us. Shannon Proudfoot, feature writer, The Globe and Mail

The best ice cream in Canada is from Honey’s. Yes, it is vegan (though I am not), but I’d defy you to clock that in a blind taste test. The real champ is Honey’s Hot Fudge Crunch Pie, but if you’re looking for a scoop, you can’t go wrong with Atlantic Salted Caramel. Kasia Mychajlowycz, producer of In Her Defence: 50th Street, The Globe and Mail

Growing up, a stop at Reid’s Dairy in Belleville, Ont., was the highlight of long family road trips to visit my grandparents. Their perfect milkshakes – fresh with a tiny bit of froth – are the platonic ideal of what I want from an ice-cream-adjacent snack, and still the standard I judge everything against. Graham Isador, healthy living reporter, The Globe and Mail

On a recent hot day, my husband ventured out to procure ice cream while I put our toddler to bed. The flavour he unilaterally selected for me: Garlic. Grounds for divorce? Absolutely not – because the purveyor was Willard’s, a small-batch ice cream shop in Hamilton. It’s the only place that could sell me on literally any flavour their zany imaginations produce. If alliums don’t appeal, the Watermelon Lavender is also delicious. Sara Mojtehedzadeh, investigative reporter, The Globe and Mail

Peach Gelato, from Il Gelato di Carlotta in Oakville, Ont. It’s made from Ontario peaches, and is only available during peach season. I thought nothing could improve the flavour of a fresh, ripe, Niagara peach – but Carlotta has done it! David Brayley, Mississauga

The absolute freshest and best is straight from the Central Smith creamery in Peterborough County, Ont. Louise Kolanko, Toronto

Black Licorice ice cream from La Cigale in my hometown of Chelsea, Que. The beloved 25-year-old shop only makes a batch or two a season of this flavour but those of us who know how incredible it is are always on the watch for it. Sean Silcoff, reporter, The Globe and Mail

Coaticook Maple Sugar ice cream. This ice cream is so good. It comes from a Quebec dairy [farm]. I wish it was more readily available. The flavour is so unique. It has pieces of crystalized maple sugar in the Maple Sugar ice cream. What could be more Canadian! Rebecca Paul, Fredericton

If you’re looking for the best ice cream in Canada, look no further than La Diperie! Every visit feels like a little scoop of happiness – from their rich dips to endless toppings, it’s not just dessert, it’s an experience. They don’t just serve ice cream, they serve joy! Jasmine Lapitane, Montreal

Crèmerie le chalet located in Saint-Narcisse, Que. They serve homemade ice cream and sorbet with strawberries from their own farm. The ice cream shop also offers magnificent sunset views of the countryside. It has new soft ice cream flavours each week like Strawberries-Raspberries-Eau de Rose. Viviane Hervieux, Saint-Narcisse, Que.

Ca Lem in Montreal is definitely one of the best! Their ice creams and sorbets are all lactose-free, which is pretty rare to find. It’s pretty exciting to walk into an ice cream shop and be able to order anything off the menu.

They offer a wide range of interesting flavours (Vietnamese Coffee, Maple Oreo, Lavender Lemonade) and have different soft serve flavours on rotation every week (Tiramisu, Dragon Fruit and Mango, Dubai Chocolate). Besides being delicious, the soft serves are also quite eye-catching! My recommendation: two scoops of the Nutella and the Maple Oreo flavours. Daphné Gagnon, Montreal

Tutto Gelato in Quebec City. Classic, authentic Italian artisanal flavours. Extraordinary, incomparable! Catherine McKenna, Quebec City

Trueman Blueberry Farms in Aulac, N.B., has the best homemade ice cream. All made on location. They also have live entertainment, a great play area for kids, a railroad, u-pick strawberries, raspberries etc.

Think of an ice cream flavour and they probably make it. Key Lime is my favourite but the Rum and Raisin (soaked in rum for three weeks) is a close second. Plus they select two names daily which gives people with those names a free ice cream cone. Gordon Gray, Murray Corner, N.B.

For more than 40 years, people in southern New Brunswick have come for the ice cream at Kredl’s Corner Market, a landmark country store near the river in Hampton. My favourite cone is usually Peanut Butter Fudge Crunch, made by a local creamery, Sussex Ice Cream. Greg Mercer, investigative reporter, The Globe and Mail

Lost and Found Ice Cream, located on St. George Street in Moncton. Homemade ice cream with unique flavours. It is the best! Vicki Mullin, Memramcook, N.B.

The best ice cream in Canada is the Mexican Chocolate flavour at Dee Dee’s Ice Cream in Halifax. The flavour is so unique and addictive it has made a convert out of me, when I usually don’t eat chocolate ice cream. Rebecca MacDonald, Halifax

The best ice cream spot is Tidnish Scoop Shack. Sitting on the border of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, it welcomes tourists and cottage residents into the community with friendly staff and, of course, approximately 30 flavours of ice cream on hand! Nicole Burke, Tidnish, N.S.

Moon Mist is a beloved treat from my Maritimes – it blends the playful flavours of grape, banana and bubblegum into a dreamy swirl. Its misty, pastel hue is as captivating to the eyes as it is to the taste buds – an irresistible, otherworldly delight that feels like a sweet escape from time itself. Glen Smith, Halifax

As a proud East Coaster, Moon Mist ice cream is the best, in my opinion. It’s unique. It’s Canadian and from the East Coast – Halifax, to be more precise. I’ve lived all over the country from Halifax to Vancouver and whenever I go back home I always seek a scoop of Moon Mist ice cream. It’s a unique flavour combination of banana, grape and bubblegum, made by Scotsburn Dairy and Farmers Dairy. Andrew White, Toronto

The summer only starts in the Maritimes when we have Moon Mist ice cream, only found here and it’s a major reason to visit! Lisa MacPherson, Halifax

If you’re looking for a true Nova Scotia treat, Avery’s Farm Market in Greenwood sells the best Moon Mist ice cream ever! Allyson Colwell, Ottawa

COWS! COWS Green Apple! We were in the COWS location on the corner of Grafton and Queen in Charlottetown, in the dog days of the COVID-19 pandemic, just as the Island was closing down for the season, and we had COWS ice cream on the day we arrived and on our last day. I had the Green Apple ice cream. Looks like that particular flavour is not on their current list, but that’s okay, I can still taste it three and a half years later. Nigel Brachi, Edmonton

Holman’s Ice Cream Parlour in Summerside. I am a huge ice cream fan and I have never tasted better. They offer many great flavours made with local ingredients, but my favourites are their berry flavours, but their Rum and Raisin, Dulce de Leche and Mexican Chocolate are also in my top 10! Jacquelyn Harlow, Kinkora, PEI

Growlers Ice Cream on Fogo Island. Elaine Sheppard, Port Hope, Ont.

During my last visit to St John’s, I went to the Parlour for a coffee and I left with multiple scoops of fresh homemade gelato. They have unique flavours that are big on taste and reasonably priced. The Honeycomb Chocolate and the Roasted Banana were both delicious! And they have new flavours seasonally, so there’s always a reason to return. Benjamin MacDonald, art director, The Globe and Mail

I’d say the best in Whitehorse would be the Riverside Grocery, which is an institution here. And they are malts, in a cone or cup. Then in Haines Junction, two hours west of Whitehorse, Frosty’s has soft ice creams, I believe they also dip in chocolate. Finally in Dawson City, 5.5 hours north of the city, there is a really great ice cream bar. Klondyke Cream and Candy. Huge selection of hard ice cream and yogurts. Cathie Archbould, Whitehorse

At a local level it’s the birch sap-based Butterbirch Walnut at Sundog Trading Post in old town Yellowknife. Lynne Tompkins, Fredericton.

Definitely Chapman’s is the best, from the range of flavours to the different types and ice cream treats. Only kind we will buy. Bonus is how good they are to their employees and community. Kelli Foote, Edmonton

Chapman’s Salty Caramel Crunch – delicious with a nice little crunch. Their Black Cherry flavour is also fabulous – loaded with cherries. Heaven. Elizabeth Attard, Pickering, Ont.

Chapman’s Vanilla Honey Super Premium Plus is the smoothest, creamiest, most luxurious ice cream ever! The first ingredient is cream and it has tiny bits of real vanilla bean in it. It is superior to more expensive premium brands. Sandra Nowlan, Halifax

Editor: Idella Sturino. Interactive editor: Lucina Lo. Visuals editor: Sarah Palmer. Audience Editor: Jacob Dubé.