Campus winter weather procedures

Each winter in Ontario, winter weather conditions such as heavy snow, freezing rain and/or ice pellets can make basic travel difficult. During such situations, questions often arise about whether campus operations will change.

During most winter weather, the campus remains open and activities remain unaffected. It’s important to keep in mind that different organizations—public and private—follow their own protocols and best practices. When they make the decision to cancel operations or to close, please keep in mind that university operations and activities may remain scheduled as normal.

How the university communicates weather-related operational changes

If operational changes are implemented due to a winter storm warning, the university will issue information on social media channels and the Ontario Tech mobile app as quickly as possible. 

Depending on the situation, the university will also:

• Post full information about the campus status on the university’s Service Disruptions page and home page.
• Forward official university messages to regional newspapers and radio/television stations.
• Communicate via other means as needed, including campuswide emails to faculty and staff; emails to students’ ontariotechu.net accounts; and on-campus digital signage.

Travelling to campus

Please monitor the university’s mobile app, social media channels and website for late-evening and early-morning updates on severe winter weather days or for class cancellations.

If you are travelling to or from campus, please allow for plenty of time, and travel with due caution and care, especially if you are in an area heavily affected by the weather. If you are in an area heavily affected by the weather and cannot get to campus, contact your supervisor or professor regarding your absence.

Students, faculty and staff are reminded they are responsible for determining when weather conditions make their travel unsafe.

Helpful internal links:

• What happens when there are operational changes at the university due to an emergency
• The university’s Emergency Closure Policy
• The university’s Emergency Closure Procedures

Helpful external links:

• Ontario Ministry of Transportation winter driving information
• Environment Canada weather forecasts for Ontario (select your town or city from the list)
• Durham Region Transit service alerts and detours
• GO Transit service updates