At about 9pm local time (8am Singapore time) the category one storm on the five level Saffir-Simpson scale, travelling at 24km per hour, struck just north of Yarmouth on the southern tip of Nova Scotia province, said the government agency.

It then tracked over the Bay of Fundy late in the evening, and was expected to reach Saint John, New Brunswick, after midnight or early Monday morning.

With gusts of 120kmh winds and heavy rains, most flights in and out of the provincial capital of Halifax were cancelled or delayed, and electricity was out in parts of southern Nova Scotia.

Authorities warned of coastal flooding, downed power lines, and tree damage, as well as damage to structures from fallen trees.

In Yarmouth, the McClelland family told AFP by telephone rain was blowing sideways, but the storm seemed tame compared to the last hurricane that struck exactly five years ago.

Their son Pat, who works at the Halifax Airport, said he would 'just throw some sandbags in the old Honda to make sure it doesn't blow away' on his ride home, with visibility low.

The military was called in to clean up the carnage left by Hurricane Juan in 2003, including the devastation of Point Pleasant Park.

The last hurricane to hit New Brunswich was in 1969.

Earlier, Kyle veered away from New England and sped its ripping winds and pounding rains straight towards southeastern Canada, the US National Hurricane Centre said.

The Maine Yacht Centre in Portland, Maine, which had expected to take a beating from the storm if not a direct hit, said it had turned off the electricity and fuel lines at the marina, just in case.

'We've turned all the vessels toward the wind and right now there's no panic,' dockmaster Alexandre Hofmann told AFP.

'Boat owners keep calling to check on the marine forecaster reports,' he said.

As Kyle crosses over the cold waters of the Bay of Fundy, 'it should weaken then rapidly finish its transition into a post-tropical low as it moves over southeastern New Brunswick,' said the Canadian Hurricane Service.

'It will continue to weaken over the Gulf of St Lawrence then dissipate over the eastern Quebec,' it said, after dropping 50mm to 100mm of rain on the region.

All storm warnings are expected to be lifted Monday, it said. -- AFP