MONTREAL — A winter storm swept across Central Canada and the Atlantic region on Wednesday, bringing a mix of heavy rain, freezing rain or significant snowfall.
Meteorologists had warned the system could resemble the major ice storm that hit parts of southern Quebec and eastern Ontario in April 2023, when some areas — including Montreal — received about 30 mm of freezing rain, disrupting travel and knocking out power for more than a million people in the two provinces.
While that didn’t materialize to start the day in Montreal, an Environment Canada meteorologist warned a band of freezing rain was expected to move across the southwestern part of the province by the end of Wednesday.
“It’s really the end of the weather event overnight that will cause problems,” Environment Canada meteorologist Giselle Dhookie said.
With the amount of precipitation that will have fallen and accumulated, trees will start falling and touching power lines, and there will be power outages as a result coinciding with a drop in temperatures, Dhookie said.
Environment Canada maintains that the St. Lawrence Valley, from the Outaouais region to the Quebec City area, will be the hardest hit by freezing rain.
Earlier Wednesday in Montreal, streets in the Plateau neighbourhood were mostly deserted on Wednesday morning as elected officials had implored people to stay home. A few car owners had improvised protective coverings — cardboard boxes and plastic tarps — over their windshields to guard from the icy rain.
Downtown Montreal traffic seemed lighter than usual on a rainy afternoon, but some residents carried on with their day, despite the weather.
“I just fell, actually. I’m not wearing my crampons because this morning it wasn’t icy yet when I left,” said Marc Ladouceur, 29, who was meeting a friend for coffee in downtown Montreal.
Retired couple Maryse and Denis Tanguay decided to brave the rain to visit the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. “We don’t mind the rain,” said Maryse Tremblay. “It’s a perfect museum day.”
In Toronto, police said flooding had been reported in North York, East York, and Scarborough, and officers warned motorists to exercise caution while driving. Environment Canada said water will likely pool on roads and low-lying areas and asked residents to watch for washouts near rivers, creeks, and culverts.
Ontario’s power utility said just over 30,000 customers were without electricity on Wednesday afternoon. The southern part of the province was forecast to receive between 20 to 40 millimetres of rain, possibly more in areas hit by thunderstorms. Areas further north, including Timmins, was expected to get between 10 to 20 centimetres of snow.
Southern Quebec, from the Outaouais region and up the St. Lawrence Valley to Quebec City, was forecast to receive between 20 to 30 mm of freezing rain from the storm, which could last up to 24 hours. Further north in Quebec, heavy snow was expected, with 20 to 30 cm forecast in Charlevoix, Saguenay—Lac-Saint-Jean, and the Lower St. Lawrence, and up to 40 cm along the Côte-Nord.
The storm was forecast to bring between 15 to 25 cm of snow and ice pellets in the northern half of New Brunswick, and up to 10 mm of freezing rain in the south.
Hydro-Québec reported about 6,300 customers were without power about 3:30 p.m., the vast majority of those in the Outaouais region in western Quebec and the Centre-du-Québec and the Quebec City area.
Premier François Legault said in a post on social media that hydro crews were ready and the Transport Department was keeping tabs on water runoff in several regions. Quebec provincial police also brought in additional resources.
Montreal’s public transit agency said on social media that most buses were running on schedule Wednesday morning, but drivers were adjusting their driving to ensure passengers safety. The greater Montreal area’s REM light-rail network said it had adjusted operations and schedules and urged passengers to check service updates before travelling.
Quebec’s Transport Department asked people to postpone non-essential travel. “If you have to take the road, it’s really important to adjust your speed to the weather and road conditions,” department spokesperson Alexandra Houde said in an interview.
Many Quebec school boards cancelled classes on Wednesday in anticipation of the storm and Montreal universities suspended activities. Despite the slippery conditions, some students still made their way to Concordia University’s downtown campus and a few of them could be seen sitting on couches in a hall outside the shuttered library.
“I work better from school anyway,” said Anny Granger, a second-year English major, who explained she came in to study.
Air travel in the country was disrupted as well. At Montreal and Quebec City airports, early morning flights departed normally, but dozens of later departures had been cancelled by mid-morning. Eric Forest, a spokesperson for Montréal Trudeau International Airport, said more than a third of flights scheduled for Wednesday had been cancelled.
Forest said airport “teams are on the job, clearing the runways and taxiways and de-icing the surfaces. We have begun spreading de-icing products on the runways.” Travellers are being advised to check flight schedules with their airline before heading to the airport and to allow extra time for travel.
The storm also disrupted cultural events. A concert by the rock band Journey scheduled for Wednesday night at Montreal’s Bell Centre was postponed to Friday, promoter Evenko said, citing weather-related travel disruptions.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 11, 2026.
—with files from Kathryn Mannie in Toronto.
The Canadian Press
