Today Is The Deadline To Claim Up To $300 For Quebec Ice Storm Outages — Here's Who's Eligible
Over 1 million Hydro-Québec customers lost power during the April 2023 ice storm. Now, some Quebec households who lost food as a result can claim up to $300 in compensation from the government.
As CTV News reports, residents who benefit from social assistance programs, such as the Programme Objectif Emploi, le Programme d’aide sociale, le Programme de solidarité sociale and the Programme de revenu de base, have until end-of-day May 12 to submit an application.
The payment amounts are $75 per adult and dependent child, capped at $300 for an eligible household.
Social assistance program recipients must have lost perishable food items due to an outage of at least 24 hours.
Those who qualify have to fill out and sign a form called the Déclaration relative aux pannes d’électricité à la suite d’intempéries. They then have to either bring it and a piece of ID to a Services Québec office, mail or fax it to their local Services Québec office, or upload it online through their Mon dossier – Aide à l’emploi – Assistance sociale account.
Information on social assistance program eligibility and applications for claims related to lost food are online.
The April ice storm knocked down power lines serving around 1.1 million households, likely including millions of people. It took days for the Crown utility company to restore electricity to every affected household. In Montreal, officials set up warming shelters for affected residents and closed some parks due to the amount of debris that had accumulated. Some insurance companies also allowed customers to submit claims for lost food.
A map of southern Quebec showing in red the areas along the Saint Lawrence and Ottawa Rivers that are under a freezing rain warning on Wednesday The Cree community of Waskaganish (top left of the map) is under a separate extreme cold warning. 