Winter storm wreaks havoc on commute, closes schools across Ontario, Quebec, Atlantic

A major winter storm disrupted travel plans, closed schools and shuttered city services across Ontario, Quebec and the Atlantic provinces Thursday, as communities dug out from a wintry cocktail that brought upwards of 20 centimetres of snow.

Toronto’s Pearson International Airport, where several flights were delayed or cancelled, had seen about 26 cm of snowfall by the afternoon, said Steven Flisfeder, a warning preparedness meteorologist with Environment Canada.

“It has definitely been the biggest snowfall of the year, so far, for many parts of the (Greater Toronto Area),” Flisfeder said.

The storm wreaked havoc on the morning commute in Canada’s most populous city, putting more than 50 transit stops out of service and prompting widespread delays. Schools across the Greater Toronto Area and Hamilton were closed, as were others in Ontario.

In Ottawa, schools were open, but buses were cancelled, the local public and Catholic school boards said. Some commuters were using snowy sidewalks and streets to cross-country ski their way to work. The storm also led to delays and cancellations on buses and light rail, and grounded flights at the airport, where 31 cm of snow fell as of 1 p.m.

As the storm started to let up in Ontario on Thursday morning, it advanced further into Quebec and the Atlantic provinces.

In Quebec, where Environment Canada said between 25 and 40 cm of snow could fall before the end of the day, many school boards had announced closures even before the storm began. Flights were cancelled and delayed at the airports in Montreal and Quebec City. About 25 cm had blanketed Montreal by noon and a total of 35 cm was expected by the end of the day. Another storm is forecast to hit the region over the weekend.

But some were taking the wallop in stride. Barbara and Jeffrey Wunderlich of Chesterton, Ind. — no strangers to snow in their hometown about an hour’s drive southeast of Chicago — drove to Montreal to catch the 4 Nations Face-Off hockey tournament, but would be leaving the car parked on Thursday. “We’re just gonna slide around on our feet,” Barbara said.

“We’re used to snow and wind, but this is beautiful and it’s so clean,” she added. “All the people are kind and have smiles, that means the world to us.”

Maggie Love and Kendon Zettle of London, Ont., were also in town for the hockey tournament, and said they would be sneaking in a bit of skiing in the Eastern Townships. “This is awesome,” said Love in snow-swept Old Montreal. “We also ski, so this is great for that.”

An association representing Quebec ski hill operators said that with Thursday’s dump of snow, all 75 Quebec ski centres will be open this weekend. Some hills don’t have man-made snow operations and require mother nature to co-operate, said association CEO Yves Juneau.

“We will not be able to hope for better ski conditions than this weekend and the coming weeks,” Juneau said.

Over in Atlantic Canada, all schools were closed Thursday in New Brunswick, where snow, at times heavy, was forecast to accumulate to between 20 and 35 cm in northern and central parts of the province, with higher amounts possible in some pockets of the north. In southern New Brunswick, residents received less snow but were hit by an ugly mix of ice pellets and freezing rain.

Schools across Prince Edward Island were closed as heavy snow and blowing snow warnings were in effect, with as much as 15 to 25 cm expected on the west side of the province, with ice pellets and freezing rain forecast to coat eastern and central areas by Thursday evening.

In Nova Scotia, schools were either closed or scheduled early dismissals as the storm advanced, and freezing rain warnings remained in effect for many areas of the mainland, including Halifax. Downtown Halifax was largely deserted as the freezing rain started just as the drive-home commute began.

As the east side of mainland Nova Scotia was bracing for blustery winds and about 10 cm of snow, Cape Breton was expected to get between 15 and 30 cm, beginning in the early evening, with more expected Friday.

The storm was not expected to reach Newfoundland until Thursday night, churning out gusts reaching up to 100 kilometres per hour along the island’s south coast — and up to 150 km/h along the notorious section of the west coast known as Wreckhouse. Between 10 and 20 cm of snow was in the forecast for southern, central and northern parts of Newfoundland for Thursday night and into Friday. Eastern areas of the province can expect less snow but poor visibility with winds gusting between 70 and 80 km/h.

Canada Post suspended delivery or told customers to expect delays in parts of all the provinces hit by Thursday’s system.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 13, 2025.

— with files from Sidhartha Banerjee in Montreal.

Jordan Omstead, Michael MacDonald and Joe Bongiorno, The Canadian Press