Weather warnings were called off in Eastern Canada on Monday as a massive winter storm moved over the northern Atlantic Ocean and people dug out from the snowfall.

But some travellers in the area may have to wait until Monday evening or Tuesday when Air Canada returns to a normal schedule following delays and cancellations because of the weather.

Areas of the East were hit with more than 50 centimetres of snow, along with freezing rain. Thousands in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island also faced outages as hydro crews worked around the clock to restore power. 

An eight-year-old boy died in northern New Brunswick on Saturday while playing in the snow. Police said he appeared to have suffocated after a narrow tunnel of snow he was playing in collapsed and he became trapped.

Ontario was pounded first by the winter storm Saturday, before it headed east through Quebec, leaving tens of thousands in the region without power. By the end, it had dumped more than 45 centimetres of snow in southern Ontario and Quebec.

Classes cancelled in Montreal

Ottawa received between 52 and 56 centimetres over the weekend.

On Monday, as Quebecers dug themselves out of the storm, school boards in Montreal cancelled classes because of difficult driving conditions.

The storm dumped 30 centimetres on Montreal, between 35 and 40 centimetres in the Lanaudière region and 37 centimetres in Quebec City, where this winter's snowfall is close to a record.

Air travel at the Trudeau International Airport was still difficult after about 400 flights were grounded on the weekend. Several flights were delayed Monday as the airport tried to catch up on the backlog of cancelled flights.  

Over the weekend, airports reported hundreds of flight delays and cancellations in Montreal, Toronto and Ottawa.

With files from the Canadian Press