Schools will reopen Thursday after a board-wide shut down Wednesday.
All elementary and secondary schools in Ottawa's four school boards were closed Wednesday because of a major winter storm.
It was the first board-wide school closure in the winter since the ice storm of 1998. The decision to close was made Tuesday, in consultation with the city's emergency prepardedness office.
The Ottawa Carleton District School Board also says all community uses of its facilities, after-school programs, night school and committee meetings were cancelled Tuesday night. All professional development, extra-curricular-activities, field trips and meetings requiring travel were cancelled on Wednesday.
The University of Ottawa said all classes would be cancelled for a period of 24 hours, starting at 4 p.m. Tuesday. However, by 12:00 p.m. Wednesday, the University extended the shut down, keeping classes cancelled until 7:00 a.m. Thursday.
Carleton University says all classes and academic related activities are cancelled until 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday.
Algonquin College says its Ottawa campus will reopen at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, but the Perth and Pembroke campuses will remain closed until Thursday morning.
Ottawa City Council has postponed its Wednesday meeting. Mayor Jim Watson announced the meeting has been cancelled, and everything on the agenda will be considered on February 27.
The City of Ottawa has issued an overnight parking ban. Only vehicles with on-street parking permits can park on city streets between 1 a.m. and 7 a.m.
In other parts of the region, schools in the Upper Canada District School Board and the Catholic District School Board of Eastern Ontario were also closed ahead of the storm. School Boards in Renfrew County and the Outaouais also closed schools Wednesday.
Schools in the Tri-Board area near Kingston remained open Wednesday, but school buses were cancelled.