Over 100 Residents in Côte Saint-Luc Lose Heat and Power After Outage

More than 100 residents in Côte-Saint-Luc, a suburb on the Island of Montreal, were left without heat and power early Sunday morning after a significant electrical outage affected local infrastructure, officials confirmed. The blackout occurred amid cold winter temperatures, prompting concern among residents and a swift response from utility crews working to restore services.

The outage was first reported in the Notre-Dame-de-Grâce and Côte-Saint-Luc areas, where residents woke to find lights, furnaces and other essential systems offline during a period of deep-freeze weather. Many households reported temperatures well below freezing, making loss of heat especially challenging for families, seniors and those with health conditions.

Hydro-Québec crews were dispatched promptly after the outage was detected, with technicians assessing damage to power lines, transformers and other equipment to determine the cause and the scope of repairs needed. Officials indicated that a fault in electrical infrastructure — possibly related to equipment failure or weather-related stress on the grid — had contributed to the widespread disruption.

City and utility representatives set up temporary warming centres to provide affected residents with a place to stay warm while repair teams worked to reconnect services. Local community centres and emergency facilities extended their hours to accommodate residents seeking refuge from the cold, and volunteers brought blankets and warm beverages to those waiting for power to be restored.

Public safety messages urged residents to use portable heaters with caution and avoid using unsafe alternatives such as gas stoves or barbecues indoors, which can pose fire and carbon monoxide risks. Emergency services also reminded citizens to check on vulnerable neighbours, particularly the elderly or those with limited mobility who may be more at risk in extreme cold without heat.

Hydro-Québec said its crews were committed to restoring full service as quickly and safely as possible, noting that some repairs required detailed inspection of lines and equipment that could not be rushed. Updates from the utility were shared periodically to keep residents informed of progress and expected timelines.

Residents expressed frustration on social media, describing the darkness and chill that accompanied the outage. Some praised the rapid response of technicians and city officials, while others raised questions about infrastructure resilience amid increasingly volatile weather patterns.

The outage underscores ongoing challenges for aging electrical grids when faced with winter storms and heavy demand for heating. Experts say that cold-weather demand spikes can strain systems and lead to outages if equipment is unable to handle rapid temperature changes or latent faults.

As repair work continued into Sunday afternoon and evening, many households reported partial restoration of heat and power, with utilities urging patience as crews worked through the most complex sections of the network. Officials said a full post-mortem of the outage would be conducted once normal service was restored, to identify causes and preventive measures to mitigate future disruptions.