To protect them from the freeze/thaw cycle you can shovel snow on top of them as it melts down. You'll know if they're alive or not by seeing any green canes. Some of the top portion of the canes may be dead and black, but you can just prune those off after the rose has started to leaf out. As long as there's a little bit of green cane, the rose should be able to grow back. Just don't take off any snow that they have now.

And sometimes it's really hard to tell. I always wait until they bud out and it's easier to tell what's still alive, before pruning the dead stuff. On those you might not have any dieback if you had good snow cover.

If they are own root roses, as opposed to grafted, sometimes they can even sprout on any bit of stem or cane that's just below the soil. Thus, it's important not to judge too quickly in spring.

Sounds like they had good snowcover and if it stayed covering the rose the entire winter that helps considerably with winter survival. Don't be surprised to see some winter kill (brown dried out stems), but hopefully more near the ground theres green. At any rate, all you can do is wait.

Glen

Last winter we had lots of snow cover as well in central Saskatchewan Fern and all of mine came through with flying colours. You'll know once you see them if they made it. Some varieties die down farther, but not to worry. You won't be able to notice the difference come late June. Just don't get ahead of yourself, some take longer to leaf out.
Shelley

I cut all the rugosas down to the ground in a couple weeks. I find they put on a nicer display and don't bloom any later. The non-rugosas are trimmed after seeing what survives (those blooming on old wood).

Thanks for the words of wisdom. I'm really hoping that the roses survived and cannot wait to figure out what to plant with them to create a cottage garden effect. I think that the miniature delphiniums should have survived and lupins seem to love my backyard so the new ones should continue that trend. This is such an exciting time of year

Fern