Record snowfall to test Toronto’s revamped snow clearing work

TORONTO — Toronto’s record-breaking winter storm is expected to be a major test of the city’s revamped snow clearing operations as officials ask for patience while striking an optimistic tone about recent changes.

More proactive snow removal and an end to the temporary blackout on 311 service calls at the onset of major snowfall were among the changes cited by city officials during a Monday news conference.

More than 600 plows have fanned out across the city and extra staff have been brought in to help. Snow plowing was expected to be largely done by Tuesday and then crews could start to focus on trucking it away, said city manager Paul Johnson.

He suggested the city’s efforts have improved since the much-maligned response to a February 2025 snowfall prompted resident backlash and a review of Toronto’s approach to snow clearing.

“I think the operation is better,” Johnson said.

After the snowfall that led to days of impassable sidewalks and blocked road lanes, Mayor Olivia Chow called city contracts signed under her predecessor “fatally flawed” for excluding snow removal work and promised a review of the city’s winter operations.

After the review, a city report penned in November outlined several of the changes anticipated for this season. It said Toronto would deploy its existing crews sooner for proactive snow removal, rather than waiting until snow piles became an issue. Yet, in the end, the report did not recommend “engaging in specific snow removal models” that can come with annual costs of up to $130 million.

Before the weekend storm, crews had already trucked away snow from previous downfalls, easing the burden on this operation, officials said Monday. Snow was starting to be moved from transit stops and hospitals, with wider removal expected to start Wednesday.

Johnson said more space and extra melters had been added to the system after the city struggled to find enough space for all that trucked snow in the aftermath of the February 2025 snowfall.

The city has also ended a temporary hold on 311 winter service calls at the outset of a snowstorm. The report noted that pause allowed crews to focus on “active deployments in an efficient manner” but it frustrated residents and city councillors.

At Monday’s news conference, Coun. Paula Fletcher suggested more 311 staff had been added and service calls were helping to get crews real-time information about areas in need.

Toronto’s Pearson Airport tallied 46 centimetres of snowfall on Sunday, the most in a day since records began in 1937.

Digging out Canada’s most populous city is no small undertaking. The city maintains about 23,500 kilometres of road lanes, bike lanes and sidewalks.

Chow said the city’s emergency operations centre was co-ordinating a unified response of the 1,300 city staff and contractors deployed around Toronto.

“I want to thank everyone for their patience. Tomorrow’s commute will be better than today’s,” she said Monday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 26, 2026.

Jordan Omstead, The Canadian Press