I’m spoiled. I live in Seattle where winter is essentially mild and wet. Any pair of rubber rain boots will do. But I grew up in Canada, where I needed warm, insulated, waterproof boots for the salt, snow, slush, and frigid temperatures. If you’re looking for vegan winter boots to keep you warm, look no further.
Women
If Winters are cold in Canada, then look to Cougar, a Canadian company. They have a few vegan styles–and they know winter!
The Canuck 3 is a tall, waterproof nylon boot that comes in black or white and is cold-rated to -30 Celsius (-22 Fahrenheit).
The Cougar Como 2 is a nylon boot lined with polar plush. It’s also cold-rated to -30 Celsius (-22 Fahrenheit) and comes in black, white, or gunmetal.
Then there’s the Minty 6, a shimmery polar-lined boot. It comes in black and, my preference, a space-age gunmetal. Cold-rated to -30 Celsius (-22 Fahrenheit).
There’s a great vegan shoe store in Vancouver called Nice Shoes. They ship throughout the US and Canada in case you’re not nearby. Nice shoes has an amazing assortment of all types of footwear. They sell the Baltimore by Kamik, a waterproof, nylon bootie that’s cold-rated to -40.
If you want a bit of color, check out the red Minx by Columbia. They’re lined in faux fur and are cold-rated to -32 Celsius (-25 Fahrenheit).
Men
I won’t forget the fellows. I found a few styles of Men’s vegan winter boots too. Nice shoes carries Bogs, like this pair of Ultra Mid. They’re great on slippery surfaces, and are cold-rated to -40.
There’s also the Utik, if you prefer a synthetic leather lace-up. Cold-rated to -30 Celsius (-22 Fahrenheit) with neat grommet details and red piping.
These Kamik Canuck boots are another option. They’re at Zappos.com, a great online shopping site where you can filter for style, size, and material. The Canucks are nylon, with lots of grip and a warm lining. The toggle at the cuff keeps out the snow.
The Ice Patrol by Vegetarian Shoes is an amazing boot. Not only are they sturdy and rugged, but they have metal grippers that fold out of the sole and act like mini crampons. Theses come in sizes 36 through 47 so they’ll fit a wide range of people, making them a great unisex boot. Plus, Vegetarian Shoes, as the name implies, is an all-vegan company so you know you’re getting an ethical boot and supporting a vegan company.
The Snowdon, also by Vegetarian Shoes, is another shoe great for anyone. Like Dr. Marten’s or Converse, these work for men and women. The snowdon has ski-boot laces and is a sturdy, three-season boot for hikes or urban treks.
Youth and Kids
Columbia also makes youth sizes in styles like the Minx. They’re cold-rated to -32 Celsius (-25 Fahrenheit) and are a woven synthetic textile with a faux-fur lining.
The Columbia Powderbug nylon boots are cold rated to and come in four cute patterns. The toggle helps keep the snow out.
Bogs are a great option for men, women, and especially kids (with their fun patterns and easy pull-on handles). Not all Bogs are vegan, but the kids’ boots seem to be. And who doesn’t love dinosaurs and flowers?
I hope the examples above will give you a good starting point for your winter boot shopping. Let me know what your favorite vegan winter boots are!
Sunshine and Slaughter 
Jean, thank you so much for the elaborate recommendation! But just a little something I wanted to add/ask… Superfit Utik is advertised to have “footbed with fleece lining cover”, so since fleece is there, it’s not entirely vegan, I suppose?
Thanks for bringing this to my attention. Fleece often refers to sheep and goat hair, but there is also polyester fleece, which I’m hoping these boots use. I’ll investigate and let you know what I find out. Thanks so much for pointing out this possible issue. Obviously I want to promote only 100% vegan items.
Thank you Jean, I would greatly appreciate it if you could let me know what kind of fleece lining they use, I just arrived in Canada for a degree in environmental studies and obviously I will need a pair of winter boots, but since I need vegan ones, I decided that it’s never too early to begin the search. I would also very much appreciate if you could teach me how one can distinguish between the fleece made of sheep/goat hair and synthetic fleece. It would greatly help me as I am also currently looking for winter jacket/parka and many of them, even the synthetic ones, have fleece lining. I guess when it says “Berber fleece lining” it certainly refers to the yarn made of animal hair, right? (since Berbers in North Africa traditionally used to have livestock and sheared the wool of them).
I emailed the company and I’ll let you know what I hear back. If this winter is anything like last winter, you’re wise to shop early and get warm boots and outerwear! As for buying animal-free items, I would check the labels and company websites. Sometimes less expensive items are synthetic, so that’s a good place to start. Go to Sears or Mark’s Work Wearhouse and look at the labels and tags. If you have extra money, I’d highly recommend Hoodlamb. They’re made of hemp, cotton, recycled PET bottles, and are warm. They have a sale right now too: http://us.hoodlamb.com/collections/winter-sale/mens?page=1
I just looked up berber fleece because I hadn’t heard of it. I just read this interesting article: http://www.ehow.com/about_6462013_berber-fleece_.html And this article seems to confirm that: http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-berber-fleece.htm It’s very confusing, because, as you mentioned, Berbers are from North Africa and raised livestock. It’s confusing to say the least! I hope I helped a bit.
Good news! I head back from the company. They said for the Utik, “all materials used are not from animals. Upper as well as lining are manmade materials.”
It’s always good to check. Sometimes labels are tricky and sometimes production changes. I’ve seen that more than a few times when cosmetics companies change their formulas to not be vegan or start testing on animals to comply with foreign markets.
Jean, thank you so much for the inquiry you did for me! It helped a lot. Now I’m calm to go for the Superfit Utik, as they seem to look really nice, too. As for the berber fleece, it’s interesting indeed! It’s really hard to tell sometimes whether a particular kind of fleece is made of animals or is synthetic. However, based on what is said in these two articles, I think it’s pretty safe to conclude that it’s made of synthetic yarn.
Hoodlamb (despite a bit odd name) looks amazing, not only it’s not animal-made, but it’s also made of recycled materials, which is great! I don’t know if it’s sold in stores in Canada, but hey, what is Internet for 🙂 I think I’ll be able to order it from the Netherlands (where it’s produced, I believe), hopefully the shipping costs won’t be too high.
You are most welcome! I’m glad I could help you find winter boots. I think Hoodlamb is a great company. I like that they’re animal-free, recycled, and work with Sea Shepard. I hope you can order one from NL. Let me know if you get one!
Thank you for all the great tips, Jean!
I see that Superfit, the company that makes the Utik boot for men, also makes some nice looking boots for women. The outer materials are synthetic leather, waxy canvas, polyester nylon and rubber. I don’t know if the glue they use is animal sourced or not, and some models have a fleece lining, which may or may not be synthetic. They are cold-rated to -30 and -40, which is great.
This seems to be a Canadian company, based in Montreal. If they aren’t totally vegan yet, maybe we can encourage them in that direction.
http://www.superfitshoes.com/3-5-shoes-Women/Superfit-Winter-Boots.html
You’re welcome! I emailed Superfit and confirmed that the fleece linings synthetic. I also like that they seem like a good Canadian compan. Glue are tricky. So many are from animal sources, and unless it’s a vegan company, I can’t be sure. The company should know though.