Has Toronto's snow removal strategy been enough? A review of what's been done
With Toronto facing more snow this winter, and city officials are working around the clock to keep roads and sidewalks clear
January's historic snowstorm in the City of Toronto has posed quite a challenge, but officials say they're making progress in their snow-clearing efforts.
“We need to realize as Canadians, when we get a dump like this, it'll take a little while to get a city like Toronto back on track,” said the Toronto City Manager, Paul Johnson.
The City is still clearing large amounts of snow after a historic storm in late January brought record-breaking snow. (City of Toronto)
As extreme weather becomes more frequent, questions are being raised about whether Toronto’s snow removal strategy is still enough.
“We do know that weather is getting more volatile and difficult to predict,” he added. “I think moving forward, we've talked about it, our contracts will look different the next time they come up, but for the next couple of years, we'll be using the knowledge we have to do the best we can in these situations and continuing to monitor what the future holds.”
A street view in East York, Toronto, on Jan. 25, 2026. (The Weather Network)
While Toronto's snow event on January 25-26 was unprecedented, bringing record-breaking snowfall to the city, officials state that they were as prepared as possible and utilized all available resources to remove the snow.
RELATED: Snow to take a trip across Canada, with plunging temperatures to follow
“We have 600 plows deployed across the roads and sidewalks, over 1300 city staff and contractors are mobilized citywide—and we are continuing to add more,” Mayor of Toronto Olivia Chow said in a press conference.
A historic storm on January 25-26 brought over 60 cm snow to the Greater Toronto Area. (The Weather Network)
“We have the budget," Johnson reassured. "There was actually an increase in the budget for this season, and we've got a little bit there.”“And we also have a reserve. So these are the things Canadian cities have to do. Torontonians should not be worried at all that somehow the money might run out and we have to stop the operation.”
When a heavy snowfall hits, the city declares a ‘Major Snowstorm Condition and Significant Weather Event,’ which triggers its Major Snow Event Response Plan. In cases like these, the City works in two phases.
“As plowing continues, we are shifting some crews to snow removal, prioritizing hospitals and transit spots,” Chow explained.
Chow says the City has been ramping up its snow removal operations. (City of Toronto)
Once plows clear major routes, the next step is removal.
“We will ramp up removal operations, especially on narrow residential streets where space is tight,” added Chow.
This process entails the city collecting and transporting snow to storage and snow melter sites across Toronto.
As of February 2026, there are five snow storage sites and three snow melter locations throughout Toronto, with officials assessing the need for more.