Marvin would be in the same conversation with Kolbe and Loewen if you are talking abo8ut premium wood windows.

Hurd would not.

Have you considered fiberglass with a wood interior? There are several options up in your area that make a great fiberglass window.

Plus 1 to the above advice.

Kolbe is a quality product as is Loewen and Marvin. Semco and Hurd, not so much

Thanks - between Kolbe & Loewen - which is the better choice? Also - any comments on French sliding doors would be appreciated.

Can't add much more than what was mentioned above, for sure steer clear of Semco. I think you'd be happy with either Loewen or Kolbe. I'd look into which has the options that you want in a window (color, hardware, etc) and see if you can get prices on both. Might come down to who you're more comfortable in buying the product from too.

Exactly as stated above by FT.

Thanks for your replies.

Any suggestion on Kolbe or Loewen Colour to match front exterior Indiana limestone buff and side Belden Brick Polar White Clear?

That is on you, I don't offer that service, lol.

Just curious - why are people so against Semco? I'm not using it BC of what I've seen online but they've been in business for a long time and they look good on a house that used them. Is it durability? Why is Hurd not comparable to Kolbe or Loewen? And lastly - what's the difference between Loewen & Kolbe? This is all very confusing for the standard lay person. Thanks.

Semco has poor quality control on their windows. I've seen windows come with divided lite bars on casements mulled together that don't line up. Lots of problems with product failure and the factory following up with fixing the problem.

Hurd is trying to reach the level of Kolbe and Loewen. They have some past history that have rubbed people the wrong way. Lots of failed glass and not following through with warranty claims. But similar things have happened with other brands, and have redeemed themselves. With Hurd it mostly comes down to is that they lack some design options Kolbe and Loewen has and some of the fine details of how the windows are designed and put together. Hurd you have to pay extra to get stainless steel operating hardware on a casement. Kolbe it comes standard. Hurd has a 20 year warranty on the exterior paint, you have to pay extra to have the 30 year warranty paint. Kolbe the upgrade is standard. Kolbe has consistent glazing profile on the exterior (beveled). Hurd has one profile on the sash, another profile on the divided lite. These are all details.

The differences in Kolbe and Loewen is what do you want your window to look like? Like Hurd there are some inconsistencies on the profiles on the exterior from divided lites to glazing profile on the Loewen window. Kolbe uses pine on their interior wood, loewen uses doug fir. But both have alternative wood options. Kolbe I think has more standard colors, but Loewen has more colors (although some are an upcharge). Loewen uses a different style of hardware then Kolbe, that is personal preference for you.

The difference is in the details. What window do you like better, go look at them, touch them, use them. See the options.

This is very anecdotal, but as someone who is in homes looking at old windows on a daily basis, there are some brands that I see consistently rotten and falling apart in as little as 10-12 years. Semco is one of those brands. To be fair, there are a lot of factors that go into that and I do see some lasting, as well as some higher end windows failing, but it does not take much thought to establish a cause-effect relationship between seeing a high failure rate tied to a low price product.
On Hurd, they are disqualified from my consideration due to the financial issues, failure to honor warranties, etc. I don't think that the product is on par with the top offerings anyway, but again the other issues make it a non-starter for me.

Well said HomeSealed.

If you were in my area, this would be like someone asking if MW is a good wood window.

Homesealed and Fenestration have it well covered on their responses.
Your original question is

"Please advise on which windows are best. For Canadian weather"

Loewen has been a Triple Glazed manufacturer long prior to the US market manufacturers. Their Triple glazed units are all 2 1/4" thick to make the glass as wide as possible and improve the U and SHGC values.
They used to have a much better set of Numbers for the U & SHGC values as standard (Canadian Energy requirements are more stringent than US market) up until a few years ago.

If you like a better wood specie (even though they split hairs on this site that Loewens Doug Fir is a mixed rather than all straight grain) I picked up a corner sample at a show of Loewens Doug Fir a very hard wood that is less susceptible to Water and Insect infiltration. Compared to Pine this is a far superior wood if you order Fir from Kolbe or Marvin it is a large up charge but that being said again Marvin and Kolbe are great products and if you selected either Loewen Kolbe or MMarvin

No Bad choices..

You will not go wrong with either Kolbe or Loewen and I believe that In Canada The Loewen Product should be less money than Kolbe or Marvin as they sell through a Dealer distributor or one step rather than retail outlet like Marvin. Kolbe and most other window products.

Loewen and Kolbe both offer Fir interior with extruded clad exterior. (It's important to get extruded clad instead of the flimsy "roll form" clad that other companies use.)

The big selling point for Loewen is that they only use SOLID Douglas Fir, whereas Kolbe offers a Fir veneer over a pine base. Pine is NOT suitable for window construction in many parts of the country.

Another key difference for Loewen is that their windows come with a rigid aluminum nailing flange that is part of the cladding. Kolbe's flange is made of plastic and does not offer much in terms of weather protection.

I don't think the Loewen triple pane units are 2 1/4" thick, however. I think they're only about 1 3/4" thick (three 1/4" panes and two 1/2" airspaces). Still bigger than most other window suppliers, though.