N環球 
N.D.G. senior died of hypothermia during January power outage, coroner rules
A newly released coroner's report rules that 87-year-old Sheila Padmore of Montréal's NDG neighbourhood died of accidental hypothermia after about 36 hours without power or heat during the January 2026 Hydro-Québec outage.
Why it matters
Quebec coroner Marie-Claude Boutin has ruled that Sheila Padmore, 87, died of accidental hypothermia after spending about 36 hours without power or heat in her Notre-Dame-de-Grâce apartment during the Jan 24–26, 2026 Hydro-Québec outage, when temperatures ranged from –10°C to –20°C. The outage began around 10 a.m. on Jan 24 after equipment failure at Hydro-Québec's Hampstead substation in Côte Saint-Luc, and at its peak cut power to more than 20,000 customers in Montreal, Montreal West and Côte Saint-Luc for up to three days.
Full report
Padmore was found confused on her apartment floor during a police wellness check around 9 p.m. on Jan 25. At the hospital her body temperature was 24.5°C, indicating profound hypothermia. She went into cardiorespiratory arrest in the ambulance and was pronounced dead around 3 a.m. on Jan 26.
The ruling, released Sept 29, closes a tragic local case and raises public-safety questions about how vulnerable seniors fare during extreme-weather outages. Police and paramedics in Montréal already run wellness checks during prolonged blackouts; the coroner's report may prompt a review of how at-risk residents are identified.
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