A Canadian Tire store. Right: An impacted snowblower.
Check your garage, folks! Health Canada has circulated a recall for a snowblower sold at Canadian Tire that poses a possible electric shock risk.
On February 28, the government agency updated an existing Yardworks snowblower recall to include products from even more batch numbers.
According to Health Canada, anybody who owns an affected Yardworks 15-Amp Electric Corded Snowblower, 22-in should stop using it "immediately" and return it to Canadian Tire for a full refund.
"The power cable on the affected units may become brittle and break when exposed to temperatures below -20 degrees Celsius, leading to a potential electric shock injury," the recall warns.
As of February 10, the company had received 11 reports of incidents related to this issue, although there had been no reports of injuries.
The company believes as many as 25,400 of the affected products have been sold in Canada, most between March 2019 and December 2021.
Yardworks 15-Amp Electric Corded Snowblower, 22-in.Health Canada
If you think you might have the recalled product at home, you can return it for a full refund to any Canadian Tire store — regardless of whether you've had any issues with it until now.
It's also worth keeping in mind that the Canada Consumer Product Safety Act prohibits any recalled products from being redistributed, so you shouldn't sell or give away this snowblower if you have one, even if it appears to work as expected.
The specific product affected by this recall is the Yardworks 15-Amp Electric Corded Snowblower, 22-in, sold via Canadian Tire across Canada.
The lot numbers included in the recall are 53019, 13619, 53719, 24119, 24219, 32920, 53220, 53420, 53520, 53620 and 44520.
Yardworks 15-Amp Electric Corded Snowblower, 22-in.Health Canada
It's not the first time a Yardworks snow machine has been recalled, either. In 2019, Health Canada recalled Yardworks, Yard Machines and Troy-Bilt two-stage snow throwers due to a risk of serious injury.
Although this latest snowblower recall may be bad news for those in Canada experiencing wild, wintry conditions right now, it's better to be safe than sorry — so double check your tools before clearing your driveway, folks!