Almost half of Toronto’s winter sidewalk clearing equipment not operational during February snowfall

A new report from the City of Toronto found that almost half of the City’s winter sidewalk clearing equipment was not operational during the snowstorms in February that buried Torontonians under 50 centimetres of snow.

The report was released Wednesday by the City, following a request for an administrative inquiry launched by Deputy Mayor Jennifer McKelvie regarding the three snow events in February.

After the snowfall, the city’s snowpack measured 50 cm deep, which was the second-highest on record and the deepest since Jan. 15, 1999.

Complaints about how long it was taking to clear sidewalks began rolling in shortly after. Mayor Olivia Chow called for a review of the contracts with private companies hired to do snow removal for Toronto.

The removal eventually took a total of 18 days to complete.

However, the report has revealed that of the 59 pieces of sidewalk clearing equipment owned and operated by Transportation Services, only 34 were operational on Feb. 8, the first day of snow, 36 pieces on Feb. 12 and 26 on Feb. 15.

Through the deployment of the equipment, their availability averaged 60 per cent due to ongoing repairs.

Of the equipment not available, 60 per cent was not operational due to vehicle issues while 40 per cent was due to operational use; meaning collisions, overloading and broken components.

A pilot project completed back in 2021 when between 10 to 15 centimetres fell in the Toronto found the same operational difficulties that were noted this year.

The sidewalk-clearing equipment had issues such as lack of power, lack of traction and failed hydraulic systems due to snow accumulations surpassing machine capacity.

The City handles the clearing of 1,461 kilometres of sidewalks in the city and is responsible for approximately 30 per cent of snow removal operations. Private contractor crews handle the remaining 70 per cent.

The review also touched on setting a service standard for snow removal after a major storm and said there are challenges in developing standards because operations are dependent on accumulations, weather conditions and other factors, including illegally parked vehicles.

During the Feb. storm, more than 3,600 vehicles were ticketed for parking on snow route and more than 70 were towed.

Transportation Services will be presenting options for a service standard in their July 2025 Annual Winter Maintenance report that include performance obligations such as specified timelines and outcomes; and resources needed to meet those performance obligations.