Ontario’s Ministry of Transportation (MTO) has issued memo to inform the traveling public and trucking industry of the potential for significant delays and traffic congestion on the QEW, Highway 401, Highway 403, at border crossings in Southern Ontario, and on all roadways within the solar eclipse path of totality on Monday, April 8, 2024.

This is due to the mass movement of people expected to come into the area to view the total solar eclipse.

A total solar eclipse will occur over parts of Canada, the United States, and Mexico on Monday, April 8, 2024.

A total solar eclipse happens when the Moon passes between the Sun and Earth, completely blocking the face of the Sun. Within the area known as the “path of totality” (where the Moon’s shadow completely covers the Sun), the sky will darken as if it were dawn or dusk for between 2-4 minutes. The Canadian Space Agency has called this “a rare celestial event”, as the last total solar eclipse to occur over Ontario was in 1979 and the next total solar eclipse won’t happen over Ontario until 2079.

In Ontario, the eclipse will occur on April 8, 2024, between 2:00pm and 4:30pm EST, during which the parts of Southern Ontario that are within the path of totality will experience darkness, including complete darkness for a short duration. The entire eclipse will last for 2.5 hours.