Power outages persist in hard-hit areas after Ontario ice storm

Ice-covered trees branches are shown in Meaford, Ontario, on Sunday, March 30, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Becky Holvik *MANDATORY CREDIT *

Some Ontario regions hard hit by last weekend's ice storm may not recover power until the end of the week, Hydro One said Tuesday as crews and communities braced for more freezing rain in the coming days.

The utility provider said power has been restored to more than 783,000 homes and businesses since the start of the storm, but its outage map still listed about 215,000 affected customers as of Tuesday night. Repairs in areas including Orillia and Peterborough could take until Friday.

"While today's weather brings favourable conditions for cleanup and restoration, we are preparing for additional freezing rain and wind in central and southwest regions," the utility said in a statement.

"Wind speeds may not be considered severe but could cause damaged trees to fall and break which may slow our efforts and cause additional outages."

The storm is the most severe weather event the utility has faced since the ice storm of 1998, Hydro One said on social media.

Several of the most affected communities offered those without power a place to warm up or stay overnight.

Warming centres were up and running Tuesday at community centres in Orillia and nearby Washago, as well as the Horseshoe Resort in Oro-Medonte.

In Barrie, residents were directed to the Allandale Recreation Centre, where officials said well-behaved pets were also permitted.

Peterborough Transit buses were stationed in four locations to act as temporary warming centres, along with three sports and recreation complexes, one of which was set to remain open overnight.

Peterborough Mayor Jeff Leal said even when electricity is restored to the remaining 40,000 residents without power, the city will have to deal with the aftermath of closing municipal facilities and the storm's impact on the local economy.

"We're employing every resource that we can," Leal said in a phone interview Tuesday. "Other communities are also lending support, but it's going to be many weeks before we make a full recovery."

Leal encouraged residents to check in on their friends and neighbours and stay off the roads while city crews clean up.

"We have provided city buses to some of our apartment buildings — the lack of electricity, elevators can't be used. So we want to provide city buses as temporary warming opportunities," he said, adding that the community centres can also provide meals for residents.

"Peterborough does appear now to be the hardest hit of the communities from this very extensive freezing rainstorm," he said.

The storm covered roads and other surfaces with ice, causing hazardous driving conditions and damage to trees. Most city facilities and all parks are closed until further notice due to downed trees and unstable branches.

As it moved east, the storm also caused outages in Quebec, though most of them were resolved by Tuesday night, according to Hydro-Québec.

Environment Canada issued a special weather statement Tuesday for a stretch of Ontario where freezing rain followed by heavy rain are expected between Wednesday and Thursday morning, but says the impact won't be as significant as last weekend's storm.

—With files from Rianna Lim

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 1, 2025.

Paola Loriggio, The Canadian Press