Quebec Road Conditions and Highway Weather

53 current reports along the route, including 1 full closure. The 8 most serious are listed below. Always check with Québec 511 before setting off.

• Road closed

  Roadway Redesign

  In Vaudreuil-Dorion, between Boulevard de la Gare and Rue Jean-Béliveau. EASTBOUND. Road closed at all times. Detour: Maurice-Richard Street

  QC • Until Oct 31, 11:59 PM

• Lanes blocked

  Structural repair

  In Montreal, in the access road from the Samuel-De Champlain Bridge and on the Clément Bridge. WESTBOUND. Closure of 1 out of 2 lanes, at all times. Track width: 4.5 m

  QC • Until Oct 20, 5:00 AM

• Lanes blocked

  Bridge construction

  In Québec, autoroute Henri-IV, between A-440 Charest and chemin des Quatre-Bourgeois. SOUTHBOUND. Highway closed. - From Monday to Wednesday between 9 pm and 5:30 am the next day. - Thursday between 10 pm and 5:30 am the next day. Detour: A-40 WEST, A-540

  QC • Until Oct 16, 5:30 AM

• Lanes blocked

  Bridge replacement

  In Québec, Exit 325 (R-368, R-138). EASTBOUND. Closure of 1 lane out of 2 at all times

  QC • Ongoing

• Lanes blocked

  Bridge repair

  In Lévis, between Boulevard du Centre-Hospitalier and Rue de la Concorde. Road closed NORTHBOUND, contraflow traffic on the opposite roadway (1 lane per direction) at all times

  QC • Until Nov 10, 11:59 PM

• Lanes blocked

  Road reconfiguration

  Between the Chemin du Fer-à-Cheval in Sainte-Julie and the Arthur-Branchaud Bridge in Beloeil. EASTBOUND. Reserved lane closed, 2 lanes open at all times. Traffic on diverted roads. Lane width: 3.3 meters

  QC • Until Nov 30, 11:59 PM

• Lanes blocked

  Maintenance

  In Saint-Louis-de-Blandford, to a-20 EASTBOUND. In both directions. Access closed at all times. Detour: A-20 WEST, interchange 228 (R-165), A-20 EAST

  QC • Until Sep 24, 11:59 PM

• Lanes blocked

  Road redevelopment

  In Lévis, between R-175 and rivière Etchemin. EASTBOUND. Traffic on diverted lanes at all times. WESTBOUND. Traffic of 1 lane out of 2 (left lane) diverted on the opposite roadway at all times. Closure of 1 lane ouf of 2 (contraflow left lane). - Sunday, September 20, between 8:30 p.m. and 10 p.m. Road closed WESTBOUND, contraflow traffic on the opposite roadway. - Sunday September 20 between 10 pm and 5 am the next day

  QC • Until Nov 9, 5:00 AM

Quebec Winter Tire Law

Quebec is the one province with a winter tire law that applies to everyone registered there: from December 1 to March 15 every passenger vehicle registered in Québec, rental cars included, must be on tires carrying the three-peaked mountain and snowflake pictogram or on studs, and the fine for not being is $200 to $300. A vehicle registered outside Québec — an Ontario or a US plate — is exempt.

What counts as a winter tire

Winter tires are required on every motor vehicle registered in Québec, rental cars included, on every road in the province every year from December 1 to March 15, regardless of the forecast on the day. A vehicle registered outside Québec is exempt for the whole season: a driver from Ontario, New Brunswick or the United States may cross the line on all-season tires without breaking the law, though not without meeting the same roads.

A qualifying winter tire in Québec displays the three-peaked mountain and snowflake pictogram or is studded; since 15 December 2014 nothing else counts, so a tire marked only M+S does not meet the rule. The requirement covers all motor vehicles registered in Québec, including rental vehicles, from December 1 to March 15. Heavy vehicles, utility vehicles and farm machinery are exempt, and so is any vehicle registered outside Québec.

Fines

Non-compliance is a fine of $200 to $300 for a vehicle registered in Québec without qualifying winter tires between December 1 and March 15.

Studded tires

Studded tires are permitted from October 15 to May 1 on passenger vehicles, taxis and commercial vehicles whose total loaded mass does not exceed 3,000 kg, and a studded tire counts as a winter tire for the December-to-March rule.

How you will know it is active

• The calendar: the rule is in force from December 1 to March 15 every year, whatever the weather
• Québec 511, which reports the road condition of about 400 highway segments from October 15 to April 15 in the ministry's own terms
• The Sûreté du Québec, which enforces the tire rule at the roadside and closes the autoroutes in a whiteout

The season is fixed and the fine is the province's; what changes through the day is whether an autoroute is closed or snow-covered, and Québec 511 ↗ is the province's own account of that before you set off.

Source: Québec.ca, Requirements for winter tires, checked September 9, 2026.

When roads get bad in Quebec

What the road normally throws at you, month by month, from Environment and Climate Change Canada's 1981–2010 normals at Montréal-Trudeau International Airport, Drummondville, Québec City Jean Lesage International Airport and Bagotville Airport (Saguenay) — four stations, four climates, and each month names the worst of them and the place that measured it. This is what the month is usually like, not a forecast and not a rule.

• Jan Snow 72 cm of snow in an average month at Québec City, with 31 nights below freezing there.
• Feb Snow 64 cm of snow in an average month at Québec City, with 28 nights below freezing at Saguenay.
• Mar Snow 46 cm of snow in an average month at Québec City, with 30 nights below freezing at Saguenay.
• Apr Freezing rain Freezing rain on about 0.7 day a month somewhere on the network, and 22 nights below freezing at Saguenay.
• May Cold nights 7 nights below freezing at Saguenay; the high passes can still see snow.
• Jun Rain and fog Frost is rare even at Saguenay, the coldest of the four; the hazards are rain, fog and the odd summer storm.
• Jul Rain and fog Frost is rare even at Saguenay, the coldest of the four; the hazards are rain, fog and the odd summer storm.
• Aug Rain and fog Frost is rare even at Saguenay, the coldest of the four; the hazards are rain, fog and the odd summer storm.
• Sep Rain and fog Frost is rare even at Saguenay, the coldest of the four; the hazards are rain, fog and the odd summer storm.
• Oct Cold nights 13 nights below freezing at Saguenay; the high passes can still see snow.
• Nov Snow 47 cm of snow in an average month at Saguenay, with 26 nights below freezing there.
• Dec Snow 73 cm of snow in an average month at Saguenay, with 31 nights below freezing there.

Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada, Canadian Climate Normals 1981–2010, through the MSC GeoMet API. Snowfall is the monthly total; nights below freezing are days whose minimum was at or under 0 °C.

Québec 511 is the road conditions service run by the Ministère des Transports et de la Mobilité durable, at quebec511.info, by web, app and phone. It is the province's own account of its highways, and it publishes:

• The winter condition of about 400 highway segments from October 15 to April 15, in the ministry's terms: bare and dry, snow covered, ice covered, with visibility good, reduced or none
• Closures, roadwork, incidents and traffic, on a map coloured black for clear, yellow for partially covered, white for snow, red for closed
• Traffic cameras across the network, which the ministry itself uses to check the reports
• The same by phone at 511 in Québec and 1-888-355-0511 elsewhere in North America, in French and English

Québec 511 and the conditions on this page

Québec 511 reports what the ministry's crews and cameras have seen and declared for each segment — snow covered, ice covered, closed. What this page adds is the layer under those declarations — the surface condition estimated along the whole road from radar and analysis, and the precipitation type and temperature, which in the St. Lawrence valley is the difference between snow and the freezing rain Montréal gets more of than any other city on this site.

Quebec Winter Driving FAQ

Are winter tires mandatory in Quebec?

Yes, for vehicles registered in Québec: from December 1 to March 15 every passenger vehicle, rental cars included, must be on tires carrying the three-peaked mountain and snowflake pictogram or on studs — a tire marked only M+S does not count. The fine is $200 to $300. Heavy vehicles, utility vehicles and farm machinery are exempt.

Does the Quebec winter tire law apply to a car registered in Ontario or the US?

No. The requirement applies to motor vehicles registered in Québec, and a vehicle registered outside the province is exempt for the whole season — you may drive into Québec on all-season tires in January without breaking the law. A car rented in Québec is registered there and must have them. The roads, of course, do not read the plate.

Are studded tires legal in Quebec?

Yes, from October 15 to May 1, on passenger vehicles, taxis and commercial vehicles up to 3,000 kg loaded, and a studded tire satisfies the December-to-March winter tire rule on its own.

Where does Quebec publish road conditions and closures?

On Québec 511, run by the Ministère des Transports et de la Mobilité durable: the winter condition of about 400 highway segments from October 15 to April 15 in the ministry's own terms — bare and dry, snow covered, ice covered, with visibility good, reduced or none — plus closures, roadwork and cameras, by web, app and at 511 or 1-888-355-0511 from outside the province.

How much snow does Quebec get compared with Ontario?

Roughly double. On the 1981–2010 normals Montréal-Trudeau averages 210 cm a year against Toronto Pearson's 108 and Ottawa's 176; Québec City 303 cm with 45 cm on the ground on an average January day; Bagotville in the Saguenay 322 cm. Montréal also records more freezing-rain days than any other station on this site, nearly eleven between November and March.