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Power outage map: outages near you, right now
The map below is our current power outage map near me for the whole country. Each red dot is an active outage cluster reported by users in the past few hours; green dots are outages that have just been resolved. Pan and zoom to your neighbourhood or click any marker to see the cluster’s start time, the number of reports backing it, and the affected radius. The map updates every few minutes — refresh the page to pull the latest reports.
If your neighbours lost power at the same time you did, you are looking at a grid outage — one your distributor (not your retailer in deregulated provinces) has to fix. Canada’s grid is split across roughly 60 distribution utilities. The largest are provincial Crown corporations: BC Hydro (~95% of British Columbia), Manitoba Hydro (all of Manitoba), SaskPower (~95% of Saskatchewan), Hydro-Québec (~95% of Quebec), NB Power (most of New Brunswick), Nova Scotia Power (all of Nova Scotia) and Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro. Three provinces have a competitive or municipal model: Alberta (ENMAX, EPCOR, ATCO, FortisAlberta and municipal utilities), Ontario (Hydro One + 60+ local distribution companies) and PEI (Maritime Electric + Summerside Electric).
Outages have many causes — winter storms, freezing rain and ice, wind, equipment failure, vehicle-vs-pole incidents, planned maintenance, wildfire-driven shutoffs. You do not need to do anything technical: just report the outage and wait for crews. If you see a downed live wire, sparks, smoke or burning smell, call 911 first, then your utility.
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Add your outage to the map
Start typing your address — autocomplete suggests Canadian addresses. Your report appears on the map instantly. This does not dispatch a crew; for that, call your distributor’s outage line below.
Your outage report was submitted. Thank you for helping your neighbours!
Active power outages right now
The most recent active outages reported across Canada.
No active power outages reported right now. Report an outage if your lights just went out.
How to report a power outage in Canada
Reporting a power outage takes 30 seconds and serves two purposes. First, your utility uses it to locate and isolate the affected circuit — the faster they pinpoint where the fault is, the faster crews get rolling. Second, our community map plots your report so neighbours can see they are not alone and so vulnerable customers (medical equipment, oxygen concentrators, elderly residents) get attention sooner.
Step 1 · First minute
Check your breaker panel
If only your home is dark, flip the main breaker off then on. Resets fix most single-home outages. Still no power? It is a grid event — move to step 2.
Step 2 · Submit a report
Call your distributor’s outage line
Use the verified outage phone for the utility that owns the poles & wires at your address. Have your account number or service address ready. Most utilities also accept text-to-report (e.g. text OUT to Hydro One, Hydro-Québec, BC Hydro).
Step 3 · Help your block
Add yourself to the live map
Use the form above (right under the map) to log your outage anonymously. Each pin helps the next person on your street.
Important: the form on this page does not dispatch a crew. To get the lights back on, you still need to call your distributor — find them on the who-to-call decoder below or go straight to your province page.
Who to call for a power outage in Canada
Below is the verified Canadian utility directory: outage phone, official outage map and territory served, for every major distributor in the country. In regulated provinces (BC, MB, NB, NL, NS, PEI, QC, SK) one Crown corporation or investor-owned utility handles both billing and outages — call that company. In Alberta (deregulated) and Ontario (60+ LDCs), the company that bills you may differ from the one that owns your wires — always call the distributor for outages.
No utility matches your filters
Not seeing your utility? Many smaller municipal utilities (Hydro-Sherbrooke, Hydro-Westmount, City of Lethbridge, Medicine Hat Utilities, Edmundston Energy and others) also publish live outage maps — check your bill or visit your provincial page below.
How to stay safe during a power outage
Canada’s winters make safety the central concern during a blackout. Hypothermia risk indoors begins within a few hours when temperatures drop below freezing and homes lose heat. Carbon monoxide poisoning from improperly used generators kills several Canadians every year. Food and medication spoilage are recoverable; injury or carbon monoxide poisoning is not.
Follow these four rules in the first hour — they cover the bulk of the avoidable harm during a power outage.
Check whether the outage is yours alone or grid-wide
Look outside: are streetlights on? Are neighbours’ windows lit? If yes, the outage is yours alone — check your breaker panel and the main breaker. If no, it is a grid event: report it, call your distributor, then move to step 2.
Protect appliances, food and pipes
Turn off and unplug sensitive electronics (computers, TVs) to protect them from voltage surges when power comes back. Leave one light switched on so you know when service returns. Keep the fridge and freezer closed: a full freezer keeps food safe roughly 48 hours, a fridge about 4 hours. In winter, let cold-water taps drip slightly so pipes do not freeze and burst.
Heat one room, dress in layers
Pick the smallest interior room (preferably with a south-facing window). Close doors to it. Layer clothing, use blankets, sleeping bags and hot-water bottles. Never use a gas stove, oven, BBQ or unvented kerosene heater indoors for warmth — they emit carbon monoxide. If indoor temperatures drop below 16 °C for several hours, especially with infants, elderly or sick people, leave for a warming centre. Most cities and municipalities open warming centres during prolonged winter outages.
Use generators only outdoors
Portable generators belong outside, at least 6 metres (20 feet) from any door, window or air intake — never in a garage, even with the door open. Carbon monoxide is invisible and odourless and kills within minutes at high concentrations. Install a CO alarm on every floor and outside sleeping areas. If anyone feels dizzy, nauseous or has a headache, get out into fresh air and call 911.
Why is there a power outage in my area right now?
If you are reading this in the dark, the live map above tells you where outages are clustered — this section explains why. Natural Resources Canada and the provincial regulators track every major outage and the pattern is consistent year after year: weather is the dominant cause. Ice storms, freezing rain, blizzards, summer thunderstorms with high winds, and wildfires drive more than 80% of large-scale outages. Equipment failure, vehicles hitting poles and animal contacts round out the top causes.
To know which one is hitting your block right now: check Environment Canada warnings at weather.gc.ca, your distributor’s outage map for the official cause code, and the live map above for the size and spread of the cluster. Most Canadian power outages are weather-related and resolve within 1–3 hours; large ice storms (the 1998 Ontario/Quebec ice storm, the 2013 Toronto ice storm, the December 2022 BC windstorm) can stretch restoration to several days for the worst-hit territories.
Winter storms & freezing rain
Ice loading on conductors and tree limbs is the single biggest cause of large multi-day outages in Eastern Canada. Quebec, Ontario, the Maritimes and southern BC see this most frequently.
High wind events
Atmospheric rivers and coastal windstorms (BC), summer derechos and post-tropical storms (Atlantic Canada, Quebec, Ontario), Prairie chinooks. Wind brings trees down on lines.
Wildfire shutoffs
BC Hydro, FortisBC and Alberta utilities now pre-emptively de-energize lines during extreme fire weather (similar to California PSPS). Increasingly common in BC interior and Alberta foothills.
Vehicles & wildlife
A car hitting a utility pole or a raccoon bridging a transformer is a leading non-weather cause. Most fixes take 30 to 90 minutes once a crew is dispatched.
Equipment failure
Aging transformers, underground cable splice failures, especially on hot summer afternoons when air-conditioning load peaks. Less dramatic but very common.
Planned outages
Maintenance work, line upgrades, tree clearance. Utilities are required to notify customers in advance — check your email, texts, and the distributor’s planned-outage page.
Power outage compensation by province
Canada has no federal outage compensation scheme. Each province’s utilities commission sets the rules. Three patterns exist: reliability standards provinces (ON, MB) where chronic underperformance triggers OEB/PUB complaints; spoilage claim provinces (QC, NS) where food and medication reimbursement is codified; and case-by-case provinces (BC, AB, SK, NB, PEI, NL) where claims go to the utility individually with no statutory minimum.
Below is a province-by-province summary. Important: even when there is no automatic credit, you can almost always file a claim with the utility for spoiled food and damaged appliances — keep receipts, photos, and a timeline of the outage. File within 30–60 days.
| Province | Framework | What you can claim |
|---|---|---|
| Ontario | Reliability standard | Hydro One and LDCs operate under OEB reliability standards. No automatic credit, but persistent reliability failures can trigger Service Quality Indicator complaints to the Ontario Energy Board. |
| Quebec | Spoilage claim | Hydro-Québec reimburses food spoilage up to $500 per residential customer after an outage exceeding 8 hours (per the Régie de l’énergie service quality rules). Submit within 60 days with photos and receipts. |
| British Columbia | Case-by-case | BC Hydro and FortisBC accept damage claims case-by-case through the BC Utilities Commission complaint process. No automatic credit; spoilage claims require itemized receipts. |
| Alberta | Case-by-case | Alberta Utilities Commission oversight. ENMAX, EPCOR, ATCO and FortisAlberta handle claims directly. AUC complaint pathway for disputed claims. |
| Manitoba | Reliability standard | Manitoba Hydro operates under PUB reliability standards. Spoilage claims accepted for outages exceeding 12 hours; submit with documentation. |
| Saskatchewan | Case-by-case | SaskPower handles claims through its customer service. No statutory automatic credit. Saskatchewan Rate Review Panel oversees disputes. |
| Nova Scotia | Spoilage claim | Nova Scotia Power’s Customer Assurance Plan: food spoilage up to $250 after outages exceeding 24 hours (with documentation). UARB oversight. |
| New Brunswick | Case-by-case | NB Power accepts spoilage claims case-by-case. New Brunswick Energy and Utilities Board complaint process. |
| Prince Edward Island | Case-by-case | Maritime Electric handles claims through its customer service. PEI Regulatory and Appeals Commission oversees disputes. |
| Newfoundland and Labrador | Case-by-case | Newfoundland Power and NL Hydro accept claims case-by-case. PUB complaint process for disputed claims. |
Choose your province
Power outage by province: 10 province pages, 300+ cities
Each province page lists the utilities serving that territory, their outage phone numbers, and the major cities with their own pages.