I've had a few pugs throughout my life. I had one growing up in Minnesota. So not quite as cold as where you are, but pretty close. My pug did fine in that weather. Though in the winter I only took him out to do his business. It actually worked well because they don't exercise much. I would put a sweater on him, and he sometimes would wear booties. The cold is easier on pugs than heat for sure. Just make sure they are only outside for a very short time in the real cold. Probably not walks in the winter at all - just doing their business :)

I leave my pug at home right now for about 9 or so hours each day because I work. He does just fine because he's about 8 years old. If you have to work full time, I would suggest getting a pug that's at least a few years old. We adopted ours from a local rescue and he's amazing! Pug puppies, like all puppies, are really needy for attention, have to potty train, etc. The little bit older ones are much more mellow, love to hang, already potty trained, and usually don't have many anxiety issues.

We do not crate our pug. I understand that some people do, but usually this isn't necessary. Our pug will go through our trash and find any food within his arm distance. So as long as we make sure there is no food for him to get, and the trash cans all have lids, he roams fine during the day and has never had an accident or chewed up anything. I'm sure you could teach a pug to sit in a crate if you had to. They do get a bit stubborn though. Pugs usually only go for food, so as long as there is not food they normally won't chew up your house, etc.

Our pug is really low maintenance as far as money issues. We have the yearly heart worm test and medicine ($100 for the test, and $100/year for the heart worm and flea medicine). He only eats about 2/3 cup of food a day so that's not real expensive. We get his nails clipped once a month ($15). We have not had any other issues really. They are known for eye problems, breathing problems, hip problems, etc. But most, like ours, don't have those. Make sure you keep the pug skinny. They look super cute fat but that can exacerbate the breathing/hip stuff. Ours has a funky eye that we had tested (all together around $100) but it's just blind and not much to do about it. But as always, keep some extra money around for emergencies - they will eat any possible food as fast as you can imagine.

Hope this helps. I absolutely love pugs. I've had many and will continue to have them. I love the older ones because they are real mellow and cuddly but they have the most incredible, strong personalities. There really aren't any other dogs like them. They can be hard to train because of stubbornness. Some shed really bad, others shed but not terribly. They are not fans of exercise so sometimes you have to force them just to go for a short walk. They will eat any and all food they can find - but don't let them get chubby because it's really hard to cut back their food. They don't bark too much but mine does if someone walks by or if someone leaves our apartment. Umm...can't think of anything else right now, but let me know if you have other questions :)