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Communities across the central and eastern parts of Canada are on high alert as officials warn of spring flooding caused by rainfall and rapidly melting snow.
Medically vulnerable residents of a First Nation community located 180 kilometres north of Winnipeg are being moved out in advance of anticipated flooding.
Manitoba Infrastructure Minister Lisa Naylor says Peguis First Nation is proceeding with the partial evacuation in case rising water levels of the nearby Fisher River render local roads impassable.
The community has been sandbagging since last week, but Chief Stan Bird said Tuesday it remained to be seen whether all of the 200 or more homes that might need protection will get barriers.
Tents and teepees have also been set up inside the community arena, according to Naylor. There are no current plans to evacuate more people, but leaders in Peguis are preparing for the possibility.
A flood warning was in place Tuesday for Brandon, Man., along with four other communities across the province.
Environment and Climate Change Canada says recent flooding has been driven by a combination of rain and rapid snowmelt. Those conditions have also led to flood warnings in Ontario, Quebec and farther east.
The Canadian Climate Institute says climate change is driving increasingly severe and frequent floods in many parts of Canada.
In New Brunswick, the Saint John River reached flood stage east of Fredericton, a designation given to water levels that begin to incur significant costs to the province. The Environment Department says levels reached 4.26 metres at Gagetown, N.B., Tuesday morning, with a peak expected at 4.4 metres over Wednesday and Thursday.
Several trails along the river are closed in Fredericton as the capital city remains under a flood warning, along with the rural community of Jemseg. Flood watches were declared for areas around Saint John and Oromocto, while five other locations had advisories in place.
A spokesperson for the New Brunswick Emergency Measures Organization said water levels should begin dropping by Friday if the weather remains dry and cool. But Paul Bradley warned that water volumes could easily spike again.
“As long as there’s snow on the ground somewhere and precipitation, all it takes is the combination of those things flooding into the system that’s going to raise the levels again,” Bradley said in a Tuesday interview.
He warned people against getting close to the river. “The water is cold. Hypothermia is a risk. The water is moving fast. You can be swept away in a hurry and there’s debris floating by it,” Bradley said.
“That’s really our message right now: stay away from the water. And people that live near waterways, if they’re not prepared, they should be.”
Parts of southern, central and northern Ontario remained under flood warnings on Tuesday, according to a government flood map.
Officials in Sudbury, Ont., declared a state of emergency Tuesday, saying it would allow them to respond more quickly as the community grapples with rising water levels.
Crews are working around the clock to monitor and manage municipal infrastructure, the city said, urging residents to take precautions to protect themselves and their property.
Provincial data on Tuesday afternoon indicated one case of major flooding in Quebec, in the municipality of Fort-Coulonge in the province’s west. Water levels were going down in the area, where a state of emergency has been in place since Sunday.
There were also 11 medium floods and 18 minor ones across the province, the data said.
In western Quebec, officials in Gatineau said the continued rise of the waters has resulted in about 125 additional properties being affected.
Mayor Maude Marquis-Bissonnette said in a social media video that the total number of homes that were affected, either by flooding or having road access cut off, stood around 250 as of Tuesday morning. She said river levels were rising by about 10 centimetres per day, although officials remain hopeful the situation will stabilize later this week.
There was medium-level flooding reported in Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue, west of Montreal.
The municipality said in an update late Monday that water levels were still rising, and there was a “real and present risk of flooding” for residents along the shores of Lac des Deux Montagnes.
Dikes and barriers were being installed in vulnerable areas, said the city, which encouraged residents to stay vigilant and take measures to protect their homes.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 21, 2026.
— With files from Pierre Saint-Arnaud in Montreal, Rianna Lim in Toronto and Steve Lambert in Peguis First Nation
Eli Ridder, The Canadian Press
