Canada Power Outages: Maps and Contacts by Province

10,000,000 people affected (people in Ontario)

The blackout hit about 50 million people across eight U.S. states and Ontario, including 10 million Ontarians, and interrupted about 61,800 MW of load. Ontario's system was restored within 30 hours, but a provincial state of emergency stayed in effect until August 22 while generation returned to full output.

Sources: U.S.-Canada Power System Outage Task Force, Final Report; IESO, Looking Back at Blackout 2003; CBC Archives, The great North America blackout of 2003

2,406,654 customers affected (sum of Ontario customers interrupted (1,852,005) and Hydro-Québec's peak (554,649), so not a single-moment figure)

Fifteen Ontario distributors reported 1,852,005 customers interrupted, including 890,100 at Hydro One (60% of its base), 297,650 at Alectra and 180,946 at Hydro Ottawa (54%). Hydro-Québec counted 554,649 out at its peak. Hydro One took about 250 hours to restore 90% of those affected, and Hydro Ottawa called the damage to its system worse than in the 1998 ice storm.

Sources: Ontario Energy Board open data, RRR 2.1.4.2.10 Major Event Response Reporting; Hydro One, Major Events Response Report, May 21 to June 1, 2022; Hydro Ottawa, Major event of May 21, 2022

1,623,000 customers affected (peak: Hydro-Québec 1,393,000 plus over 230,000 in Ontario)

Hydro-Québec's outages peaked at 1,393,000 customers on January 10, and Statistics Canada counted over 230,000 more in Ontario. More than 1,000 transmission towers and over 30,000 wooden poles came down, and Hydro-Québec restored its last customer on February 6, more than a month after the storm began.

Sources: Hydro-Québec, The January Ice Storm; Statistics Canada, Canadian Social Trends, Winter 1998; Statistics Canada, The St. Lawrence River Valley 1998 Ice Storm

1,294,890 customers affected (customers interrupted, summed across eight Ontario distributors)

Hydro One reported 1,133,000 customers interrupted, 76% of its base, and needed about 182 hours to restore 90% of them. Eight Ontario distributors reported 1,294,890 in total, with hard-hit InnPower and Wasaga Distribution at 89% and 100% of their customers.

Source: Ontario Energy Board open data, RRR 2.1.4.2.10 Major Event Response Reporting

1,125,000 customers affected (Hydro-Québec customers affected at some point; Ontario is reported separately in the summary)

About 1,125,000 Hydro-Québec customers lost power at some point, with a peak of about 1.1 million, centred on Montréal, Outaouais and Montérégie. On the same date in Ontario, Hydro One reported 359,000 customers interrupted and Hydro Ottawa 163,448. CBC linked the storm to two deaths in Québec.

Sources: Hydro-Québec via Newswire, Ice storm: update on the outages, April 8, 2023; Ontario Energy Board open data, RRR 2.1.4.2.10 Major Event Response Reporting; CBC News, Hydro-Québec weekend power outages

750,000 customers affected (customers left without power (BC Hydro, 'more than 750,000'))

BC Hydro calls it the most damaging storm in its history, with more than 750,000 customers out from Vancouver Island to the Lower Mainland, more than 400,000 of them in the Lower Mainland and Fraser Valley. It led to the largest mobilization of crews and resources in the utility's history.

Source: BC Hydro, Report on the most damaging storm in BC Hydro history (August 2019)

488,200 customers affected (peak: Nova Scotia Power 405,000 plus Maritime Electric about 83,200; New Brunswick and Newfoundland not included)

Nova Scotia Power peaked at 405,000 customers without power, a record for the utility; nearly 425,000 unique customers were affected. On Prince Edward Island about 83,200 customers lost power, every transmission line but a few went out, and the average outage lasted 156.58 hours at a restoration cost of about $34.6 million.

Sources: Maritime Electric, Hurricane Fiona Post-Mortem Report (IRAC Exhibit M-4); CBC News, New report gives breakdown of Nova Scotia Power's Fiona outage statistics; Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board, M11052 Decision on the 2022 Performance Standards

464,000 customers affected (about 400,000 in Nova Scotia plus more than 64,000 homes and businesses in New Brunswick; Prince Edward Island not included)

Dorian left about 400,000 Nova Scotia Power customers without electricity and more than 64,000 homes and businesses in New Brunswick. Maritime Electric recorded a SAIDI impact of 35.82 hours on Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia's all-in SAIDI for 2019 reached 43.88 hours.

Sources: Global News, Hurricane Dorian in Nova Scotia; Maritime Electric, 2025 Capital Budget Application; Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board, M11052 Decision on the 2022 Performance Standards

416,000 customers affected (Toronto Hydro customers who lost power at some point; other Ontario utilities not included)

About 416,000 Toronto Hydro customers, 57% of its base, lost power at some point, affecting more than one million city residents. An independent review panel found the restoration time within industry norms but faulted customer communications, and it recommended action on vegetation management and system hardening.

Sources: Toronto Hydro Independent Review Panel Report, June 2014 (City of Toronto); City of Toronto, staff report on the December 2013 ice storm

No customers lost power

No customers lost power on January 13, 2024, but the Alberta Electric System Operator was close to shedding load: it asked distributors for a 3% voltage reduction, and an emergency phone alert cut demand by about 350 MW. On April 5, 2024, it did order 244 MW of load shed for about 26 minutes, Alberta's first since 2013.

Sources: Alberta Market Surveillance Administrator, January and April 2024 Event Report; AESO, Media Briefing: Overview of the Grid Alerts