Piercing cold across Canada brings heavy snow, leaves thousands in the dark

You’re frozen in January 25, 2026, as a polar vortex straps Canada into sub‑zero temperatures. Environment Canada issued orange alerts across the Prairies and E‑Canada. Saskatchewan towns broke cold records, prompting Saskatoon to trigger its winter emergency plan until Wednesday, while meteorologist Brad Vrolijk warned that skin could freeze in minutes. Ontario expects up to 40 cm of snow; Hamilton, Toronto, and Kitchener‑Waterloo urged residents to stay home. Ontario Police logged more than 50 collisions and Toronto Pearson cancelled 60 % of flights arriving through Saturday‑Sunday, with an additional 10 % delayed. Ottawa banned street‑parking Monday 10 a.m.–7 p.m. Esteemed on Quebec, Hydro‑Québec restored power to 3,727 of 13,368 homes after outages, and Atlantic forces cleared ices at the Bay d’Espoir plant, the province’s largest generator.