BCIT classes, exams cancelled due to power outage

The BCIT campus in Burnaby is seen in this file photo. (BCIT)

A power outage that affected much of East Vancouver and Burnaby prompted the cancellation of classes at the British Columbia Institute of Technology.

In an email Monday, BCIT said all daytime classes and exams were cancelled.

All students, staff and faculty were asked to make their way off the school's Burnaby and CARI campuses. Most buildings were closed, but its SE2 and SW1 buildings were kept open for assembly areas for pickup, BCIT said in a tweet.

However, the institute posted on its website that power was restored in time for evening and part-time classes to proceed.

The school said most of its on-campus services, including the library, gym and food outlets, would remain closed until Tuesday.

BC Hydro's online outage map showed the lights were off for thousands of customers in the affected areas. As of 12:45 p.m., 12,588 customers were without power on the Lower Mainland and Sunshine Coast region, with the majority of outages concentrated in East Vancouver-Burnaby.

The power outages were affecting traffic lights in some areas, including on East Hastings where traffic was backed up as drivers were forced to treat intersections as four-way stops.

By 2 p.m., most of the outages had been restored. BC Hydro's outage list showed just 71 customers were in the dark in the Lower Mainland.