Power Outages Affect Thousands Across Toronto Amid Heatwave

Toronto has experienced significant power disruptions over the past couple of days, impacting thousands of customers and affecting public transit, coinciding with a severe heatwave gripping the city.

Monday's Major Midtown Outage

Yesterday, Monday, June 23, 2025, a widespread power outage struck midtown Toronto, leaving thousands of homes and businesses without electricity.

Affected Area and Customers

The outage, which began around 12:18 p.m. EDT, primarily affected areas stretching from Eglinton Avenue south to Davenport Road and Bathurst Street east to Mount Pleasant Road. Toronto Hydro's outage map also showed disruptions in a broad swath from Bloor Street West and Avenue Road north to Bayview and Finch. Initially, at least 2,690 customers were confirmed affected, though the actual number was likely higher due to the density of the impacted region, including several condo buildings fed by single bulk meters.

Cause and Restoration

Toronto Hydro reported that the outage was caused by a loss of supply from provincial provider Hydro One's Bridgman Transmission Station. Hydro One confirmed the issue and stated teams were working with Toronto Hydro for a swift restoration. Power was initially expected to be restored by 4:30 p.m., but service was resolved earlier, by 3 p.m. yesterday afternoon.

Context: Severe Heatwave

This significant outage occurred as Toronto sweltered under extreme heat. Temperatures yesterday reached 36°C, with humidex values making it feel closer to 46°C. Much of Ontario remains under heat warnings today, compounding the difficulties for residents affected by power loss, especially those without air conditioning. The disruption also followed lingering outages from severe thunderstorms that hit the region Saturday night, which had initially affected approximately 50,000 Hydro One customers, with about 15,000 still without power as of yesterday afternoon.

Tuesday's Yonge Street Outage

Today, Tuesday, June 24, 2025, a separate power outage impacted a different part of the city, affecting over 6,700 customers along the Yonge Street corridor.

Affected Area and Customers

The outage began at 6:25 p.m. EDT and affected customers in the area of Yonge Street from south of Lawrence Avenue to north of Gerrard Street.

Impacts on TTC

The power loss had a direct impact on the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC). Emergency lighting was turned off at two Line 1 subway stations, Wellesley and College, resulting in lower than normal lighting levels. Due to the lighting issue, subway trains bypassed College station for a period.

Restoration

Toronto Hydro crews worked to restore power quickly. By 7:45 p.m., only a few hundred customers remained without service. Power was completely restored to all affected customers by 11 p.m. today. Normal TTC service has also resumed at the affected stations.

Planned Outage Amid Heat

Separately, yesterday morning, a planned power outage went ahead at an apartment building at 72 Gamble Avenue in East York, despite the ongoing heatwave. Toronto Hydro stated the work was critical for maintaining safe and reliable power to the building and deployed extra resources to expedite it. The outage, scheduled from 8 a.m., was completed ahead of schedule shortly before 1 p.m. However, residents reported experiencing "extreme" and "unbearable" heat for hours, raising concerns about the safety of elderly residents, those with health conditions, children, and pets during the high temperatures.