TORONTO, August 13, 2026 – A large power outage hit parts of east Toronto and the downtown area on the evening of August 12, affecting more than 31,000 Toronto Hydro customers at its peak. Toronto Hydro said the outage was connected to a Hydro One supply interruption.
The affected areas included Regent Park, Cabbagetown, the Distillery District, Riverdale, Leslieville and East York. After the outage began, elevators and escalators at some TTC Line 2 subway stations were also temporarily unavailable.
Several buildings at Toronto Metropolitan University were affected as well. Because the outage could have affected safety systems such as fire alarms and sprinklers, the university temporarily ordered people to evacuate. Classes, labs and exams also had to be paused.
Since thunderstorms were also moving through Toronto that evening, many residents may have initially thought the outage was weather-related. However, Toronto Hydro later said the issue came from a Hydro One “supply interruption.”
Hydro One said crews were carrying out maintenance at Basin Transmission Station when the outage occurred. After the incident, crews immediately began repairs and restored power supply to Toronto Hydro. By around 10:30 p.m., electricity had been restored to most affected areas.
Although the outage did not last especially long, the fact that more than 30,000 customers, TTC facilities and university buildings were affected at the same time shows how a major power supply issue can create chain reactions across public infrastructure in the city.
For residents affected last night, one upstream supply interruption was enough to leave large parts of the city in the dark for a period of time.（LJI by Yuanyuan）
