Strong winds leave thousands in the dark in Central Canada, Maritimes

By Canadian Press on March 17, 2026.

MONTREAL — Strong winds are putting electrical grids to the test across Central Canada and the Maritimes.

Nearly 310,000 customers were knocked off the grid in Quebec this morning, with environment Canada forecasting winds as strong as 90 kilometres an hour in parts of the province.

The largest outages were in the Laurentians, Lanaudière and Montérégie regions.

Hydro-Québec says about 1,100 workers have been deployed to reconnect customers in nearly every corner of the province.

In Ontario, strong winds knocked power out to 30,000 in the eastern part of the province and for about 11,000 customers in Ottawa.

Thousands were without electricity in the Maritimes today because of strong winds and heavy rain.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 17, 2026.

The Canadian Press