CrowdStrike IT outage disrupts flights, hospitals, border

Toronto –

A global technology outage had grounded flights, disrupted hospitals and backed up border crossings in Canada on Friday, as reported issues persisted hours after the issues with Microsoft services were said to be getting fixed.

Cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike said that the issue believed to be behind the outage was not a security incident or cyberattack.  The issue affected Microsoft 365 apps and services, and escalating disruptions continued after the technology company said it was gradually fixing it.

Toronto Pearson International Airport and Montréal–Trudeau International Airport both said the outage could lead to flight delays and cancellations. 

Porter Airlines said it is cancelling its flights until 12 p.m. ET due to the outage.

Meanwhile, Air Canada said there is no major impact to its operations, adding it is monitoring the situation closely.

University Health Network, one of Canada’s largest hospital networks, said some of its systems had been impacted by the outage. In a post to social media, it said clinical activity was continuing as scheduled, but some patients may experience delays. 

Windsor Police reported long delays at both the Canada-United States border crossings at the Ambassador Bridge and the Detroit-Windsor tunnel. 

The government of Newfoundland and Labrador warned its “users of its digital platforms” of possible service disruptions. The province’s health authority, NL Health Services, said its IT services had also been affected, including the main information system used to manage patient care and finance information. 

Some companies are reporting their operations are unaffected by the tech outage.

Rogers Communications Inc. says there have been no impacts to its phone and internet networks, nor the media outlets it owns. Air Canada says there is no major impact to its operations, but the airline is monitoring the situation closely.

Microsoft 365 posted on social media platform X that the company was “working on rerouting the impacted traffic to alternate systems to alleviate impact” and that they were “observing a positive trend in service availability.”

CrowdStrike said in an emailed statement to The Associated Press that the company “is actively working with customers impacted by a defect found in a single content update for Windows hosts.”

With files from The Associated Press

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 19, 2024.