When Severe Weather Disrupts Canada, Your NUANS Report Shouldn’t Have to Wait

On September 2, 2026, a powerful severe thunderstorm moved directly through the Greater Toronto Area, bringing heavy rainfall, damaging winds and large hail. The City of Toronto declared a significant weather event as flooding, power outages and damaged trees affected parts of the city.[1]

Environment and Climate Change Canada reported widespread flooding in Toronto and Vaughan, with winds reaching 83 km/h at Toronto Pearson International Airport. In North York, reported hail ranged from approximately 2.5 to 6.5 cm, large enough to damage car windshields and apartment windows.[2]

The storm also demonstrated how quickly infrastructure that people normally take for granted can be disrupted.

Toronto Hydro reported that outages peaked at approximately 65,000 customers.[3]

For most people, a storm like this means changing plans, avoiding flooded roads or working from home.

For a business that depends on staff physically reaching an office before work can begin, however, severe weather can become an operational problem.

And in Canada, that problem does not end when summer is over.

Severe weather is part of doing business in Canada

The September storm was dramatic, but Canadian businesses also have to consider an entirely different set of weather risks once winter arrives.

Heavy snow, blizzards, freezing rain, strong winds and rapidly changing temperatures can make transportation difficult or unsafe. They can also contribute to power outages, road closures and other disruptions.

Toronto is no exception.

Environment and Climate Change Canada’s 1991–2020 Canadian Climate Normals put average annual snowfall at Toronto Pearson at approximately 114.5 cm.[4]

And individual storms can create disruption even when snowfall totals are nowhere near historic extremes.

During an early winter storm on November 9, 2025, Toronto Pearson recorded 9.8 cm of snow. Environment and Climate Change Canada noted that this was Toronto’s earliest snowfall exceeding 5 cm since 1966, and hazardous driving conditions contributed to hundreds of collisions across the Greater Toronto Area and eastern Ontario.[5]

For an online customer waiting for a business document, that raises a simple question:

Should the customer also have to wait for someone else’s commute?

In New Brunswick, winter can be an even bigger operational factor

The difference becomes clearer when we look east.

New Brunswick has a substantially snowier winter climate than Toronto.

According to Environment and Climate Change Canada’s 1991–2020 Canadian Climate Normals, average annual snowfall is approximately:

• Toronto Pearson: 114.5 cm[4]
• Fredericton Airport: 241.3 cm[6]
• Moncton: 309.9 cm[7]

Based on those climate normals, Moncton receives roughly 2.7 times Toronto Pearson’s average annual snowfall.[4][7]

And accumulation is only part of the story.

New Brunswick winter storms can bring combinations of snow, strong winds, blowing snow and freezing rain that significantly affect transportation and normal operations.

Environment and Climate Change Canada documented one January winter system in which parts of eastern New Brunswick experienced four to seven hours of blizzard conditions.[8]

Another major series of storms in February 2017 produced six to ten hours of blizzard conditions in parts of southeastern New Brunswick. During that event, public roads across central and southern New Brunswick were restricted to emergency vehicles, and some snowplowing operations were temporarily suspended because conditions had become too dangerous.[9]

A subsequent storm during the same period brought up to 60 cm of snow, wind gusts reaching approximately 80 km/h, and another six to nine hours of blizzard conditions in parts of New Brunswick.[9]

These are not merely inconvenient weather events.

They are examples of conditions under which normal commuting and office-based workflows can become much more difficult.

Alberta faces a different mix of extreme weather

Severe weather does not look the same in every part of Canada.

In Alberta, the operational challenge is not simply the amount of snow that falls.

The Government of Alberta notes that winter temperatures can reach −40°C or colder. At those temperatures, even short periods of exposure can be dangerous.[10]

Blowing snow can create another problem.

According to the Government of Alberta, a blizzard warning is issued when falling or blowing snow is accompanied by winds of at least 40 km/h, is expected to continue for four hours or longer, and reduces visibility to 400 metres or less.[10]

Under blizzard conditions, the province advises people to avoid driving where possible and to wait several hours after a storm has ended before travelling.[10]

That is a very practical example of why physical location can become an operational dependency.

If a service requires an employee to travel to an office before an order can be processed, severe weather does not need to damage the office itself to cause a delay. Unsafe travel conditions alone can affect when normal work resumes.

And Alberta’s severe-weather risk is not limited to winter.

The Government of Canada identifies the Calgary-to-Red Deer area as one of the parts of the Prairies that experiences Canada’s most frequent and severe hailstorms. That region can experience as many as 10 hailstorms in a year.[11]

The Government of Alberta notes that hailstones can fall at speeds of 100 km/h or more, with the potential to damage homes, vehicles, property and crops.[12]

This creates a different weather profile from New Brunswick, but the business lesson is similar.

The point is not that every storm closes every office.

It is that severe cold, blizzard conditions, dangerous roads, major thunderstorms and hail can all interfere with the physical routines on which traditional office-based workflows may depend.

The hidden dependency in a traditional online service

A website can accept orders at any hour without the service behind it actually operating at any hour.

Imagine ordering a NUANS® report online late at night.

The website accepts the order immediately.

But if the process behind that website requires an employee or agent to return to work, review the order, access another system, prepare the report and manually send it to the customer, the actual service still depends on that person becoming available.

Normally, that may simply mean waiting until business hours.

During severe weather, there may be additional complications:

• Roads may be unsafe or closed.
• Public transit may be disrupted.
• An office may lose power or internet access.
• Staff may be unable to reach their normal workplace.
• A backlog may develop while normal operations are interrupted.

None of this means that a traditional provider will necessarily be unable to deliver a report during a storm.

It means something much simpler:

Every manual or physical-office dependency is another point at which a delay can occur.

For something as standardized and time-sensitive as a NUANS® report, we think there is a better way to design the process.

GetNuans was built differently

GetNuans was designed around automated online processing rather than a traditional business-hours workflow.

Eligible NUANS® orders are processed automatically and reports are delivered electronically, normally within minutes. GetNuans provides automated NUANS® report delivery for Ontario, Alberta, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and eligible federal requests, with service available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.[13]

That distinction matters.

When an eligible order is placed during the afternoon, the system does not need to wait for an employee to manually begin processing it.

When an eligible order is placed in the middle of the night, the workflow is the same.

And when the roads outside are covered in snow, the automated system does not need to commute to an office.

For New Brunswick orders, GetNuans also includes the accompanying name search firm cover letter with every New Brunswick NUANS® report at no additional charge.[14]

The goal is simple:

If the systems required to generate the report are available, your order should not have to wait simply because an office is closed or someone cannot get to work.

Automation cannot control the weather — or every system

Automated delivery does not make a service immune to every possible disruption.

NUANS® reports ultimately depend on external systems and infrastructure. Scheduled maintenance, upstream technical outages, telecommunications problems, power failures affecting infrastructure or other exceptional events can still interrupt processing.

No responsible online provider should promise that a service can never experience an outage.

The advantage of automation is different.

It removes unnecessary human and physical-office dependencies from the normal delivery process.

A snowstorm does not need to become a report delay merely because someone cannot commute.

A weekend does not need to become a next-business-day queue.

And an overnight order does not necessarily need to sit in an inbox waiting for an office to open.

Canadian weather is unpredictable. Your online workflow doesn’t have to be.

The September 2, 2026 GTA storm was a reminder of how quickly normal routines and infrastructure can be disrupted.[1][2]

But the challenge takes different forms across Canada.

Toronto can face severe thunderstorms, flooding and damaging winds in the warmer months, followed by snow, freezing rain and other winter hazards.

New Brunswick experiences a much snowier climate, with Moncton averaging 309.9 cm of snowfall annually under Environment and Climate Change Canada’s 1991–2020 climate normals.[7]

Alberta faces its own combination of severe conditions, from winter temperatures of −40°C or colder and dangerous blizzard conditions to a Calgary–Red Deer corridor that can experience as many as 10 hailstorms per year.[10][11]

Different provinces. Different weather.

But the operational question remains the same:

How many unnecessary human and physical dependencies does an online service require before it can complete a customer’s order?

Businesses cannot control the weather.

But they can decide how many unnecessary dependencies they build into their services.

At GetNuans, we built NUANS® report delivery around the idea that an online service should actually behave like an online service: automated, predictable and available 24/7.[13]

Whether it is a normal weekday, late at night, a weekend or severe Canadian weather outside, eligible orders continue through the same automated workflow whenever the required upstream systems are available.

Need a NUANS® report?

GetNuans is a registered NUANS® member providing official NUANS® reports through authorized member access to the NUANS® system.[15]

Eligible reports are available for Ontario, Alberta, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and applicable federal requests, with automated electronic delivery normally within minutes.[13]

Choose your jurisdiction and order your NUANS® report online.

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References

[1] City of Toronto — Extreme Storm Weather Response. Updated following the September 2, 2026 severe thunderstorm and significant weather event.

[2] Environment and Climate Change Canada — Weather Summary for Ontario and the National Capital Region, issued September 3, 2026. Reports severe weather from September 2, including flooding, Toronto Pearson wind observations and North York hail reports.

[3] Toronto Hydro — Your Storm Restoration Questions, Answered by Our Storm Lead, September 3, 2026. Reports a peak of approximately 65,000 affected Toronto Hydro customers.

[4] Environment and Climate Change Canada — Canadian Climate Normals 1991–2020: Toronto Pearson (Airport). Annual snowfall: 114.5 cm.

[5] Environment and Climate Change Canada — Canada’s Top 10 Weather Stories of 2025. Includes the November 9 Toronto snowfall and transportation impacts.

[6] Environment and Climate Change Canada — Canadian Climate Normals 1991–2020: Fredericton (Airport). Annual snowfall: 241.3 cm.

[7] Environment and Climate Change Canada — Canadian Climate Normals 1991–2020: Moncton. Annual snowfall: 309.9 cm.

[8] Environment and Climate Change Canada — Gulf of Maine Quarterly Climate Impacts and Outlook: March 2018. Documents winter storms and four to seven hours of blizzard conditions in parts of eastern New Brunswick.

[9] Environment and Climate Change Canada — Gulf of Maine Quarterly Climate Impacts and Outlook: March 2017. Documents prolonged blizzard conditions, road restrictions, suspended plowing operations, snowfall up to 60 cm and wind gusts up to 80 km/h in New Brunswick.

[10] Government of Alberta — Blizzards, Freezing Rain, Ice Storms and Extreme Cold. Describes Alberta extreme-cold conditions, blizzard warning criteria and official travel guidance.

[11] Government of Canada — Hailstorms. Identifies the Calgary-to-Red Deer area as one of Canada’s most frequent and severe hail regions, with as many as 10 hailstorms per year.

[12] Government of Alberta — Thunderstorms, Lightning, Heavy Rain and Hail. Notes that hailstones can fall at speeds of 100 km/h or more.

[13] GetNuans — GetNuans | Instant NUANS® Reports, Delivered 24/7. Describes automated processing, supported jurisdictions and around-the-clock delivery.

[14] GetNuans — Does a New Brunswick NUANS Report Need a Cover Letter?. Describes the included New Brunswick name search firm cover letter.

[15] GetNuans — About GetNuans | Registered NUANS® Member. Describes GetNuans as a registered NUANS® member providing reports through authorized member access.