Toronto – With cooler weather moving in, the City of Toronto’s winter maintenance crews are prepared to respond to snowfall and slippery conditions all season long to help ensure residents, business owners and visitors can move safely.
Deputy Mayor Jennifer McKelvie (Scarborough-Rouge Park), Chair of the Infrastructure and Environment Committee, was joined by City staff to outline the City’s winter maintenance service readiness plans for clearing roads, sidewalks, bikeways, walkways and multi-use trails and responding to watermain breaks.
City’s snow response
The City’s snow and ice winter maintenance response plan prioritizes safety and mobility for all residents and particularly for emergency and transit vehicles. A fleet of more than 1,400 pieces of snow clearing equipment is ready to quickly mobilize 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
The City continually monitors winter weather systems so that crews are ready to be deployed as necessary. The application of a liquid brine road salt is the first line of defence when winter weather arrives and plowing begins when the snow is:
- 2.5 centimetres deep – expressways
- five centimetres deep – major roads and transit routes
- eight centimetres deep – residential streets
The amount of time it takes to clear snow and ice depends on the weather, infrastructure type and location. Details about clearing timelines and service levels are available on the City’s website.
Residents can track the location of plows and salt trucks and find out which streets have been recently cleared on the PlowTO map.
The 2025 winter maintenance budget of more than $160 million, pending approval of the 2025 budget, clears snow and ice from:
- 14,700 lane kilometres of roads and on-street bike lanes
- 7,900 kilometres of sidewalks
- 486 kilometres of cycling infrastructure.
A Winter Road Operations Fact Sheet is available on the City’s Winter Road Operations webpage.
How residents can keep streets and sidewalks safe
Residents also have a role in keeping streets safe during the winter. When less than two centimetres of snow accumulates, property owners are responsible for clearing public sidewalks adjacent to their property within 12 hours of the end of snowfall.
Clearing private property like driveways, parking spaces, steps and ramps within 24 hours of the end of snowfall is also important as it provides safe access to people and vehicles. Find tips on how to shovel snow safely on the City’s Snow Shovelling webpage.
Beyond snow clearing, residents can take the following actions to increase their safety and the safety of others this winter:
- Plan for extra time when travelling
- Take public transit and drive according to road and weather conditions
- Keep a safe distance from snow clearing equipment and other vehicles
- Remove snow and ice from vehicles and install winter tires for better traction
- Wear warm clothing and appropriate footwear to avoid slips and falls
- Keep pets indoors during extreme weather conditions.
Watermain breaks during cold weather
City staff are monitoring underground infrastructure as cold weather and rapid swings between thaw and freezing temperatures can cause an increase in watermain breaks.
While the number of watermain breaks has steadily declined over the past decade thanks to capital investment in replacement and rehabilitation of the City’s sewer infrastructure, there are still an average of 700 watermain breaks annually – many occurring between November and March. City crews fix watermain breaks and restore water as quickly as possible. More information about watermains is available on the City’s Watermains webpage.
Cold weather can also cause pipes inside the home and on private property to freeze, which can lead to no water or burst pipes. Residents are reminded to:
- Prepare pipes for winter by wrapping foam pipe insulation around pipes prone to freezing, especially near outside walls and in crawl spaces, attics and garages
- Seal air leaks around windows and doors
- Disconnect outdoor hoses and drain and shut the outdoor water supply.
More tips can be found on the City’s Prevent or Thaw Frozen Pipes webpage.