You know how the jingle goes. For the ones who grew up on a summer diet of soft serve and slushies, there’s no sound more nostalgic and exciting than the tinny, cheerful loop of the music emanating from an ice cream truck. Think iconic white truck adorned with cartoon-style cones and popsicles – plus there’s nothing quite like the taste of that no-frills vanilla swirl cone. Today’s mobile creameries, though, offer so much more.
The Most Chill Spots
Truckin’ Roll
Fresh PEI honey, maple syrup and seasonal berries top up Truckin’ Rolls’ ever-changing menu offerings. Charlottetown’s favourite rolled ice cream is served Southeast Asian style, spooled up on an ice-cold surface with the treats of the day and a healthy scoop of maritime kitsch. For a dairy-free bowl, try the coconut cream with some of the truck’s decadent vegan toppings.
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Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island
Jo-Jo’s Creameria
Ottawa’s most insta-friendly food truck is known for their adorable character cones, with Sesame Street characters and yellow minions that might just be too cute to eat. Bright cones from the Konery mean you can mix and match your ice cream with wafer flavours like lavender, matcha and midnight vanilla before the artists get to work.
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Ottawa, Ontario
Crema
Crema is truly one-of-a-kind, even among Vancouver’s endless ice cream offerings. Owners Heidi and Joe, from Peru and Taiwan, started the truck to combine the flavours of their homelands and create fresh fusional desserts. A blowtorch-toasted marshmallow sprinkled with Peruvian pink salt tops off flavours like Mango Condensed Milk and Strawberry Lychee for a sweet-and-salty treat.
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Vancouver, British Columbia
Queen Street Creamery
Queen Street Creamery is all about nostalgia, designed to elicit memories of jingly tunes and rattling piggy banks. Keep your eyes peeled in Fredericton for the retro pink and green truck – the hand-spun flavours like Strawberry Rhubarb ice cream and Blueberry Gin sorbet will have you chasing it down again to purchase a take-home pint.
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Fredericton, New Brunswick
Goog-to-Go Truck
Winnipeggers know this name: the Bridge Drive-In is a local icon. In fact, the Elm Park Bridge over the Red River that the snack stand has sat next to since the 1960s is affectionately referred to by locals as “Ice Cream Bridge,” and the menu is largely unchanged since opening. The BDI’s new set of wheels is named for its beloved “Goog” treat: an upside-down blueberry milkshake, hot fudge sundae, and bananas.
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Winnipeg, Manitoba
Riverside Ice Cream Truck
Riverside is one of the trendiest spots in Montreal, with a combination of indoor and outdoor spaces designed for summer parties around the clock. While Riverside’s bar is its main claim to fame, their new ice cream truck can be found along the Lachine Canal offering refreshments for guests both human and canine. An adjacent storage-container-turned-espresso-bar completes the afternoon treat.
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Montreal, Quebec
Half Moon Ice Cream
Ice cream trucks are a rarer sight than polar bears in the northern territories – it’s not a vehicle that lends itself to Arctic terrain and market size – but Hannah Warrington’s small-but-sturdy trailer does the trick. Half Moon Ice Cream can be spotted around Whitehorse, selling homemade flavours like Strawberry Basil made with herbs from a local hydroponics farm, and an Earl Gray and Vanilla Sea Salt with a local teamaker’s blend.
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Whitehorse, Yukon
White Rabbit Ice Cream
White Rabbit’s small-batch Alberta dairy ice cream speaks for itself, but throw in a mascot and it’s simply irresistible. This one represents White Rabbit Ice Cream’s boundless curiosity and bears the same name as the popular Chinese milk candy that can be found in the truck’s Hong Kong style Milk Tea ice cream. Another popular flavour on rotation is Cap’n Crunch, made with actual cereal milk. We’ll go down that rabbithole.
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