Quebec’s ice storm knocked out electricity across the province on Wednesday, and school closures surfaced as a local concern after at least one daycare closed because of flooding and outages. school closures were raised in household planning as families waited for restorations. Hydro-Québec crews and provincial officials worked Thursday to restore power, with major progress recorded by 5 p. m. Thursday (ET) and further reductions by 2 a. m. (ET).
School Closures and Local Service Disruption
The storm forced childcare interruptions that fed questions about wider school closures, though the available updates focus on power restoration. Justine Kronovsek said she learned her child’s daycare was closed because of flooding and power outages and that she was waiting outside a metro station while arranging care. Malika Benfriha, an Outremont resident who lost power, said, “It was difficult today. ” Patrick Murphy, a Plateau Mont-Royal resident, said he worried about losing electricity with a baby in the household but added, “we didn’t lose power” and urged preparedness.
These reports show school closures were a practical concern for families even where full school shutdowns were not detailed in the operational updates. The daycare closure noted in the field coverage exemplified why school closures remained part of community planning while crews worked to restore service.
Power Restoration and Response
At its peak more than 200, 000 Hydro-Québec clients were without power after Wednesday’s storm; by 5 p. m. Thursday (ET) that number had fallen to about 54, 000 and was reduced to just over 8, 300 as of 2 a. m. (ET). Premier François Legault said roughly 2, 000 Hydro-Québec workers were repairing distribution lines across the province and added that most outages were expected to be resolved by 11 p. m. (ET). “I understand that some people have been without power for several hours. It’s difficult, but at the same time, I can assure you that Hydro-Québec is doing everything possible to resolve this as quickly as possible, ” he said.
Louis-Olivier Batty, a spokesperson for Hydro-Québec, said the storm did not cause serious widespread damage to equipment and summarized the situation: “So that’s the good news: there’s a lot of damage, but it’s fairly easy to repair. ” Those assessments shaped operational priorities as crews prioritized distribution-line repairs tied to restoring power and minimizing the conditions that could trigger broader service interruptions or school closures.
Weather Summary and Community Impact
Environment Canada lifted freezing rain warnings for southwestern Quebec and issued a preliminary summary at 11 a. m. (ET) showing varying amounts across the province: the Outaouais received between 20 and 30 millimetres of freezing rain, Montreal had about 20, the Laurentians received between 15 and 20, and Quebec City saw 10 to 15 millimetres. Simon Legault, a meteorologist with Environment Canada, said Montreal and Quebec saw a bit less freezing rain than expected and more ice pellets.
Urgences-Santé reported fewer 911 calls than anticipated; Geneviève Poirier, operations chief, said there were no spikes in calls compared with an average day and added, “The directives bore fruit because people stayed home. ” The comparison to the major April 2023 ice storm in some regional forecasts underscored why families factored school closures into their planning even as actual outage counts fell.
What happens next: crews will continue distribution repairs through the day and into the evening, with officials watching restoration timelines and community needs. Hydro-Québec and provincial leaders said most outages were expected to be resolved by 11 p. m. (ET); families and local authorities will track that progress closely and revisit any decisions on school closures as the final repairs are completed.
