I live in a cold climate too, much drier and further south than you, but much higher, so our winters are good and cold. I designed the house to be
solar heated by a
greenhouse I attach only for the winter. That's not going to work in Atlantic Canada, I guess, but anyway, here's my garden. The space with the
greenhouse is open for 5-6 months of summer. I grow things that would never survive outside, like rosemary.