Sharp rise in 911 calls in Montreal as wintry weather hits Eastern Canada

By Canadian Press on December 29, 2025.

MONTREAL — A Montreal-area ambulance service reported receiving more than one hundred 911 calls per hour on Monday, as parts of Eastern Canada were hit by freezing rain, blowing snow and strong winds.

Urgences-santé said most of the calls involved people who had fallen and hurt themselves, with ice coating roads and sidewalks. Spokesperson Valérie Guertin urged people to stay home if possible, and if they have to go outside, she advised them to wear crampons and adapt their driving to the weather.

“Ambulance requests (are) mostly for falls on the ice, traumatic injuries or people with injuries following a fall,” she said in a phone interview. Ambulance crews have been able so far to handle the level of calls, but they are asking people who witness a fall to call 911 only if they’re sure the person has been hurt, she added.

Much of southern and western Quebec were under weather alerts for prolonged periods of freezing rain with ice pellets that can make travel hazardous.

Environment Canada said the Outaouais, Laurentians, Lanaudière, greater Montreal, Montérégie and Eastern Townships regions could see five to 15 millimetres of ice, as well as strong southwesterly winds of up to 70 kilometres per hour. For Montreal and the Vaudreuil-Soulanges to the west, stronger gusts of up to 90 km/h were expected later Monday.

Nearly 27,000 Hydro-Québec clients were without power as of noon, including more than 10,000 homes and businesses in the Laurentians area north of Montreal. In Ontario, approximately 61,000 Hydro One customers were without power.

Meteorologist Eric Tomlinson said the precipitation had largely shifted to regular rain by late morning in Montreal, but that freezing rain continued to fall north of the city. He warned that the temperature is expected to drop sharply during the night, which could once again turn surfaces slippery.

The weather caused headaches for commuters hoping to use the Montreal-area light-rail network, or REM, which reported service slowdowns and shutdowns throughout Monday morning. Those happened despite crews running trains all night long to avoid ice accumulation in the hopes of ensuring normal service.

There were some flight delays and cancellations reported at Montréal Trudeau International Airport, and Air Canada asked customers to check their flight’s status before leaving home.

Freezing rain, blowing snow and strong winds are in the forecast for many parts of Eastern Canada, from Ontario to Newfoundland and Labrador.

Environment Canada said most of Ontario could expect a mixed bag of precipitation, ranging from freezing rain in Ottawa to heavy snow along Lake Superior and up to 60 centimetres in Timmins. Multiple stretches of highways in the Timmins area and other parts of northern Ontario were closed Monday morning as a winter storm battered the region.

Strong wind gusts of up to 90 km/h were expected in the Greater Toronto Area and southwestern Ontario and power outages are possible, along with damage to buildings and trees.

Freezing rain warnings have been issued in all four Atlantic provinces, including parts of Newfoundland and Labrador where between 50-100 centimetres of snow has fallen since Christmas Day. Newfoundland Power reported more than 2,500 customers without power Monday morning, mostly along the southwest coast of the Avalon Peninsula.

Much of Canada has been blasted with a number of weather systems over the last week, ranging from blizzards and cold snaps to freezing rain.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 29, 2025.

— With files from Maan Alhmidi in Toronto and Devin Stevens in Halifax

Morgan Lowrie, The Canadian Press