Snow-clearing crews are slowly making progress after an intense weekend storm battered parts of Ontario, allowing Highway 11 north of Toronto to reopen on Monday. But one of the hardest-hit communities in Ontario’s cottage country is still under a state of emergency and urging people to stay home as cleanup continues.

Blowing snow off Lake Huron also overwhelmed communities along the lake's eastern shores, temporarily shuttering roads and transit operations in some cities. Sault Ste. Marie and Bracebridge, two of the other hardest-hit communities, were both digging out from more than a metre of snow, Environment Canada said.

Ontario Provincial Police say they expect to reopen Highway 11 Monday afternoon, after officials were forced to close nearly 100 kilometres of the roadway between Orillia and Huntsville after a snowstorm rendered it impassable.

Those in Ontario's cottage country are still trying to dig themselves out of the historic snowfall over the weekend, some snow areas still under a state of emergency.