Half the country is under extreme weather warnings going into the weekend, after an unusually warm and dry start to the winter season for most of Canada.
A polar vortex is sweeping in from the Arctic through the West, while a storm swirling up from Texas is wreaking havoc in the East, leaving millions of Canadians facing down snowstorms or severely cold temperatures.
“We’ve got really, really, really cold air coming down from the Arctic in the west. And then in the East, we have this really potent weather system that’s coming up from the south,” said Jesse Wagar, a warning preparedness meteorologist with Environment and Climate Change Canada.
“In the wintertime we do get these really dynamic weather patterns, but I think the the intensity of the systems that are moving through right now in this weather pattern is pretty unusual.”
Why is Western Canada so c-c-cold right now?
CBC News Science and Climate Specialist Darius Mahdavi explains the global climatic systems that are causing such a cold snap in British Columbia and the Prairies.
What’s happening in Western Canada
Environment Canada has issued extreme cold warnings for all of Alberta and Saskatchewan, as well as large parts of B.C., Yukon, the Northwest Territories and Manitoba.
B.C.’s capital, Victoria, registered its coldest Jan. 12 on record, hitting -11 C Friday, while Vancouver dipped to a windy -12 C and is expected to feel like somewhere between -10 and -20 C with wind chill through the weekend. Environment Canada said the coldest spot in B.C. on Friday morning was the Puntzi Mountain airport in the Cariboo region, which hit –48.1 C.
Temperatures in Prince George, B.C., plunged to below -35 C on Friday, Jan. 12 with the wind chill factor dropping below -42 C. (Andrew Kurjata/CBC)
Blowing snow contributed to numerous crashes in B.C.’s Lower Mainland Thursday.
Alberta was hit with a brutal cold snap this week after cruising through its hottest December on record.
Environment Canada updated its extreme cold warnings Friday, saying temperatures in Edmonton and Calgary will continue to fall through the weekend, with temperatures ranging from -40 to -48 C Saturday and Sunday mornings and wind chill values near -55 C.
A woman carries a dog during a period of cold weather in Vancouver on Friday. (Ben Nelms/CBC)
“Some of the temperatures that we are seeing in Western Canada, not only is it incredibly cold compared to what we’ve seen recently, but they’re record-breaking temperatures in general,” Wagar said.
The Alberta Motor Association has been inundated with roadside assistance calls, and at 4:09 p.m. MT was reporting wait times of 144 hours for a tow or 72 hours for a battery boost.
An icy look at downtown Edmonton as an extreme cold snap continued Friday. (Manuel Carrillos Avalos/Radio-Canada)
Similar temperatures are expected across Saskatchewan through the weekend, and on Friday all buses serving Saskatoon Public Schools were cancelled due to extreme cold, with temperatures falling below -30 C.
Several Manitoba school divisions closed schools and highways due to a snowstorm earlier this week before temperatures dropped, blanketing much of the north and western regions of the province with extreme cold warnings. Winnipeg has narrowly avoided the warnings, with lows predicted to hit -28 C this weekend.
An icy look at downtown Edmonton as an extreme cold snap continued Friday. (Manuel Carrillos Avalos/CBC/Radio-Canada)
What’s happening in Eastern Canada
A major snowstorm is set to hit parts of Ontario and Quebec late Friday, days after they were already hit with significant snowfall. For many parts of Canada, this week has been the first snowfall of the season.
A storm from Texas is blowing into Eastern Canada, bringing an expected 10 centimetres of snow to parts of Toronto, with even heavier snowfall forecast for Ottawa, Montreal and Quebec City.
Workers shovel a wet mess from freezing rain on Montreal’s Plateau-Mont-Royal Wednesday. (Ivanoh Demers/CBC/Radio-Canada)
Environment Canada is warning motorists to stay off the roads if possible Friday evening through Saturday morning, with heavy winds bringing blizzard-like conditions that will reduce visibility.
Toronto’s snow is expected to change to rain by Saturday morning as temperatures rise, potentially adding to dangers on the road.
“If you don’t absolutely need to be out on the roads, you know, we definitely recommend that you do not head out,” Wagar said.
Winter comes to King Edward Ave., in Ottawa on Thursday. (CBC/Radio-Canada)
Quebec City was also put under storm surge warning Friday, with high water levels from the St. Lawrence river raising the risk of flooding in areas.
Nova Scotia saw a winter storm with heavy rain and wind close dozens of schools and cause widespread power outages Wednesday, and much of the Maritime region can expect similar weather this weekend. Environment Canada issued a high wind warning for Digby County Friday afternoon, warning of potential for more outages.
Pedestrians make their way through wind and sleet in Halifax on Wednesday. (Darren Calabrese/The Canadian Press)
Northern New Brunswick can expect up to 20 centimetres of snow this weekend, while the south can expect ice pellets and rain starting Saturday into Sunday morning, as well as elevated wind and water levels.
“We do normally see these heavy winter storms and some coastal flooding will come with it. But the extent of it, how widespread it is, how intense it is, Is a bit out of the norm,” Wagar said.
A snowplow clears snow from a sidewalk in Moncton during a snowstorm on Jan. 10. (CBC/Radio-Canada)
VANCOUVER – Contract negotiations resume today in Vancouver in a labour dispute that has paralyzed container cargo shipping at British Columbia’s ports since Monday.
The BC Maritime Employers Association and International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 are scheduled to meet for the next three days in mediated talks to try to break a deadlock in negotiations.
The union, which represents more than 700 longshore supervisors at ports, including Vancouver, Prince Rupert and Nanaimo, has been without a contract since March last year.
The latest talks come after employers locked out workers in response to what it said was “strike activity” by union members.
The start of the lockout was then followed by several days of no engagement between the two parties, prompting federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon to speak with leaders on both sides, asking them to restart talks.
MacKinnon had said that the talks were “progressing at an insufficient pace, indicating a concerning absence of urgency from the parties involved” — a sentiment echoed by several business groups across Canada.
In a joint letter, more than 100 organizations, including the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Business Council of Canada and associations representing industries from automotive and fertilizer to retail and mining, urged the government to do whatever it takes to end the work stoppage.
“While we acknowledge efforts to continue with mediation, parties have not been able to come to a negotiated agreement,” the letter says. “So, the federal government must take decisive action, using every tool at its disposal to resolve this dispute and limit the damage caused by this disruption.
“We simply cannot afford to once again put Canadian businesses at risk, which in turn puts Canadian livelihoods at risk.”
In the meantime, the union says it has filed a complaint to the Canada Industrial Relations Board against the employers, alleging the association threatened to pull existing conditions out of the last contract in direct contact with its members.
“The BCMEA is trying to undermine the union by attempting to turn members against its democratically elected leadership and bargaining committee — despite the fact that the BCMEA knows full well we received a 96 per cent mandate to take job action if needed,” union president Frank Morena said in a statement.
The employers have responded by calling the complaint “another meritless claim,” adding the final offer to the union that includes a 19.2 per cent wage increase over a four-year term remains on the table.
“The final offer has been on the table for over a week and represents a fair and balanced proposal for employees, and if accepted would end this dispute,” the employers’ statement says. “The offer does not require any concessions from the union.”
The union says the offer does not address the key issue of staffing requirement at the terminals as the port introduces more automation to cargo loading and unloading, which could potentially require fewer workers to operate than older systems.
The Port of Vancouver is the largest in Canada and has seen a number of labour disruptions, including two instances involving the rail and grain storage sectors earlier this year.
A 13-day strike by another group of workers at the port last year resulted in the disruption of a significant amount of shipping and trade.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
The Royal Canadian Legion says a new partnership with e-commerce giant Amazon is helping boost its veterans’ fund, and will hopefully expand its donor base in the digital world.
Since the Oct. 25 launch of its Amazon.ca storefront, the legion says it has received nearly 10,000 orders for poppies.
Online shoppers can order lapel poppies on Amazon in exchange for donations or buy items such as “We Remember” lawn signs, Remembrance Day pins and other accessories, with all proceeds going to the legion’s Poppy Trust Fund for Canadian veterans and their families.
Nujma Bond, the legion’s national spokesperson, said the organization sees this move as keeping up with modern purchasing habits.
“As the world around us evolves we have been looking at different ways to distribute poppies and to make it easier for people to access them,” she said in an interview.
“This is definitely a way to reach a wider number of Canadians of all ages. And certainly younger Canadians are much more active on the web, on social media in general, so we’re also engaging in that way.”
Al Plume, a member of a legion branch in Trenton, Ont., said the online store can also help with outreach to veterans who are far from home.
“For veterans that are overseas and are away, (or) can’t get to a store they can order them online, it’s Amazon.” Plume said.
Plume spent 35 years in the military with the Royal Engineers, and retired eight years ago. He said making sure veterans are looked after is his passion.
“I’ve seen the struggles that our veterans have had with Veterans Affairs … and that’s why I got involved, with making sure that the people get to them and help the veterans with their paperwork.”
But the message about the Amazon storefront didn’t appear to reach all of the legion’s locations, with volunteers at Branch 179 on Vancouver’s Commercial Drive saying they hadn’t heard about the online push.
Holly Paddon, the branch’s poppy campaign co-ordinator and bartender, said the Amazon partnership never came up in meetings with other legion volunteers and officials.
“I work at the legion, I work with the Vancouver poppy office and I go to the meetings for the Vancouver poppy campaign — which includes all the legions in Vancouver — and not once has this been mentioned,” she said.
Paddon said the initiative is a great idea, but she would like to have known more about it.
The legion also sells a larger collection of items at poppystore.ca.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
