Hydro-Québec trucks are seen after strong winds caused power outages the day before, in Montreal on March 17, 2026. The Canadian Press/Christopher Katsarov
Strong winds put electrical grids to the test across Central Canada and the Maritimes on Tuesday, with Quebec particularly hard hit by the massive gusts.
At their peak, the outages affected more than 310,000 customers in Quebec, as Environment Canada forecast winds as strong as 90 kilometres an hour in parts of the province. The most outages were in the Laurentians, Lanaudière and Montérégie regions.
