Global Affairs Canada says email is down as storm hits Ontario, Quebec

An April storm has not only cancelled flights, closed schools and shut off power for hundreds of thousands in Ontario and Quebec, it also has hit Global Affairs Canada’s email.

In a statement Thursday, GAC said its email is down due to a power outage caused by the storm.

“Weather conditions and equipment failure have caused a power outage at one of our Data Centres in the National Capital Region and is disrupting access to some services, including email services,” GAC said in a statement.

“GAC is working with its IT partners to restore all services as soon as possible. It should be noted that this is not linked to a cyber threat.”

The storm is causing disruptions in Ontario and Quebec.

2:06 Spring storm rolls into Quebec

Hydro-Québec reported upwards of 280,000 customers were without power as of 9 a.m. Eastern Thursday, with affected areas ranging from near Gatineau to Montreal’s eastern suburbs.

The storm is expected to bring up to 20 centimetres of snow to several parts of Quebec by the evening, according to Environment Canada.

In Ontario, the spring storm brought high winds and downed power lines and trees. Hydro One says 59,000 of its customers have no electricity.

Several schools in Montreal, including the English Montreal School Board and Lester B. Pearson School Board, were closed for the day.  Other school boards in southern Quebec closed individual schools that didn’t have electricity.

“Snow will be heavy and wet at times as temperatures will remain near the freezing mark,” Environment Canada said in a warning. “Wet snow combined with northeast winds reaching up to 70 km/h are leading to locally reduced visibilities.”

In Montreal, many arrivals and departures were either delayed or cancelled at the Trudeau airport. City crews were also forced to quickly adapt to the blast of snowy weather and pivot from springtime street cleaning.

A handful of flights connecting travellers between Montreal and Toronto were cancelled, Toronto Pearson Airport said.

— with files from Global News’ Kalina Laframboise.

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