North York · Toronto Hydro service area
Emergency electrician in North York, any hour
A burning smell, half the house dark or water near the panel can't wait for Monday. We answer emergency calls across North York 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Call (647) 930-2907, any hour.
Stay safe first
Smoke, flames or sparks that won't stop: get everyone out and call 911. A wire down on the street or across a yard: keep well back, keep children and pets away, and report it to Toronto Hydro. Once people are safe, call us.
What emergencies look like in North York
North York's housing creates its own set of late-night calls. Postwar bungalows and split-levels still carry original panels and connections that have been working for 60 years or more. Mature trees shade many streets, with overhead service wires running through them. And finished basements sit below grade, where heavy rain looks for a way in.
Each shows up differently: a scorched breaker, a mast bent sideways by a branch, water creeping across the floor toward the panel. On the phone we ask what you're seeing, tell you what to switch off and then come out to make it safe.
If an old panel is behind repeated trouble, the lasting fix may be a panel upgrade in North York. We'll tell you once the emergency is over, not in the middle of it.
Grid side or house side
Whose problem is it?
Sorting the utility's side from yours quickly saves time and money in the middle of the night.
| Situation | Usually handled by | What we do |
|---|---|---|
| Whole street dark | Toronto Hydro | Nothing, unless your own service is damaged |
| Only your house dark, neighbours lit | Often your service or panel | Test the main breaker and service, and bring in Toronto Hydro if the fault is theirs |
| Service wire pulled off the house | Toronto Hydro for the wire, you for the mast and meter base | Repair your side, then coordinate ESA and reconnection |
| Condo suite without power | Your suite panel, or the building if several units are out | Check your panel; management looks after common systems |
| Water near the panel | You, right away | Shut off wet circuits safely, dry out, test before restoring |
Storms and ice
When weather hits the service entrance
Many older North York houses are still fed by an overhead wire from a pole, often through the branches of a big maple or oak. Summer windstorms and winter ice load those branches. When one comes down on the service drop, it can bend the mast, crack the weatherhead or pull the meter base away from the wall.
Newer subdivisions and many custom rebuilds have underground service, which avoids this particular problem. For overhead houses, we make the damaged equipment safe, repair or replace it, and arrange ESA's sign-off so Toronto Hydro can restore power.
If storms keep leaving you in the dark, a standby generator in North York keeps the furnace and sump pump running through the next one.
Mast bent or leaning
A branch or ice has pulled hard on the service drop.
Meter base loose on the wall
The connections behind it may be damaged.
Lights suddenly very bright or very dim
A possible lost neutral. Switch off sensitive electronics and call.
Sparks where the wire meets the house
Keep well clear and call Toronto Hydro, then us.
Basements
Water, sump pumps and finished basements
Below-grade living space is normal in North York: family rooms, offices and rental suites. When a heavy storm beats a sump pump or backs up a drain, water can reach outlets, baseboard heaters and sometimes the panel itself.
Don't walk through standing water to reach the panel. If you can get to it from a dry spot, switch off the basement circuits. Otherwise wait for us. We isolate the wet circuits, let them dry, test the insulation and replace damaged devices before power goes back on.
Once the emergency is over, the cause often needs a scheduled visit. Repeated trips and dead outlets are covered under troubleshooting and repairs in North York.
After you call
How a North York emergency call runs
Talk it through
You describe what you see, smell or hear, and we tell you what to switch off.
An honest arrival estimate
We tell you when to expect us for your part of North York.
Make it safe
The faulty circuit or equipment is isolated so the rest of the house can stay on.
Explain the fix
You hear what failed and the price of the permanent repair before any work.
Repair and permit
Repairs that need a permit are filed with ESA and inspected.
Questions
24/7 emergency electrician in North York: questions
Do you offer 24/7 emergency service?
Yes. For an electrical emergency call (647) 930-2907 any time, day or night. If you see smoke or fire, leave the house and call 911 first. If a power line is down, stay well back and call your hydro utility's emergency line.
The whole street is dark. Should I call you?
Probably not first. A dark street is usually a utility outage, so check Toronto Hydro's outage map or report it to them. Call us if your neighbours have power and you don't, or if you can see damage to the wire, mast or meter on your house.
A branch pulled the hydro wire off my house. Who fixes what?
Toronto Hydro owns the wire from the pole. The mast, weatherhead and meter base on your wall are yours to repair. We fix your side and file the work with ESA, and Toronto Hydro reconnects once ESA authorizes it.
I'm in a North York condo. Can you help after hours?
Inside your suite, yes: the suite panel, outlets, switches and fixtures. Corridors, risers and the building's electrical room belong to the condo corporation, so let management or security know too. We work with them on access when we arrive.
What changes the cost of an emergency call?
When you call, what's wrong and what it takes to fix. A visit in the middle of the night costs more than one in the working day. A loose connection found in minutes costs less than a fault buried in a finished basement ceiling. Parts run from a single breaker to a new mast, and mast repairs bring in an ESA permit and Toronto Hydro's reconnection. We give you the rate on the phone and price the repair before starting it.
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