I was living in Edmonton at the time and after I finished my multi-IFR I went on a road trip through Alberta looking for a job in late fall(1998). I had no luck so I waited the winter out and went on another trip in early February of last year, this time through Saskatchewan, Manitoba(including Thompson), and then out to Thunder Bay. Spent about 8000 km on the road in 9 days and 1.5 months later I was hired by Keewatin Air out of Winnipeg.
The advice I can offer is to hit the road in early February and don't wait untill Spring as most positions will already be filled by then. Don't fax resumes unless you follow it up with a visit in person, all operators treat 250 hour pilots as if they can't fly anyway ;-) so they end up hiring based on the person. As well, if you venture into NW Ontario go with a float rating as most of the operators are float based.
Don't give up because a lot of hiring is based on timing..."right place at the right time"...was for me.
One other thing...don't wear a suit(save it for the airlines) and never offer to work for free just to get in. :-)
Best of luck!
------------------
Cheers,
Shep