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The City of Vaughan provides residents with a high level of snow-removal services. Whether it’s reducing ice on roads, removing snow from roads or clearing it from paths, sidewalks and windrows, the City’s Transportation Services, Parks and Forestry Operations crews strive to ensure residents and visitors can travel safely despite the weather.
Road safety is our priority – salting
As soon as snow or ice begin to accumulate, our salting / sanding crews are out and about on the City’s main roads. Our goal is to complete this first round of salting on main roads within four hours.
Residential roads, including narrower streets like the laneways found behind townhomes, are salted next. The first round of salting on these streets can be expected to be complete within 12 hours.
Clearing the way – plowing
As soon as five centimetres (two inches) of snow accumulates, our snowplow and windrow crews are out to service the streets. During a snowfall, we’re focused on getting the City’s main roads cleared first so you can get where you need to go — especially emergency and transit vehicles. Main roads, which are travelled more frequently, are plowed within four hours after snowfall has ended.
Residential roads are plowed within 16 hours after snowfall has ended.
Please keep in mind that these services may be impacted by a number of factors, including heavy snowfall, cars parked on streets — which make it difficult for snowplows to clear the roads — and cars parked on driveways but are either too close to or hanging over the curb.
Windrows
The City’s windrow service is provided to residential properties only. Learn more about Vaughan’s windrow service.
Are you travelling to a business district or industrial area? Our snowplow crews service these spots once snow windrows reach or exceed a height of 45 centimetres (18 inches).
Keeping City sidewalks safe
As soon as five centimetres (two inches) of snow accumulates on public sidewalks, you can expect our crews to start sidewalk plowing. Sidewalks on main roads are serviced first. This includes sidewalks with York Region Transit stops and along schools and churches. During heavy snowfall or a major storm, these main sidewalk routes may be salted and plowed more than once before we move on to sidewalks in residential areas.
Sidewalks in residential communities are plowed once sidewalk plowing on main roads is complete. After that our plows service crosswalks, school crossings, paths and walkways within parks and private roads.
Doing your part
The community also has a role to play. Whether you are a resident or business owner in Vaughan, here are some ways you can do your part during a snowfall to help keep the community safe and winter operations running smoothly.
It’s important that cars are kept off the street while snowplows are clearing the roads. This allows crews to safely carry out plowing operations and ensures we can get the entire street cleared. It’s also important to keep the roads clear for emergency vehicles. Did you know it’s illegal to park on the street overnight in Vaughan between 2 a.m. and 6 a.m.? Read more about this parking by-law.
Garbage, recycling and composting bins should be placed on the right side of the driveway. Make sure to keep them about one metre (three feet) away from the curb, especially on collection days when plows may be coming. If there is a fire hydrant on or near your home or business, please make sure it’s clear of snow.
Residents are required to remove ice and snow on the sidewalk in front of or along your property by shovelling and/or throwing down salt. This must be done within 24 hours after snowfall has ended to ensure the community is safe for pedestrians. This applies to you if you are a homeowner, and/or you own vacant land or industrial or institutional buildings, whether occupied or unoccupied. Read more about this by-law and its amendment.
It’s illegal to shovel snow or ice onto the road – so be mindful of where you’re putting snow when you’re shovelling your sidewalk or driveway. Read the Ontario Highway Traffic Act – section 181.
Residents must remove anything that may interfere with or be hazardous to plow crews. This includes landscaping features like fencing, hedges, basketball nets, decorative stones, pots, bird baths, etc. Read more about this by-law.
Regional vs. municipal roads – who’s responsible for what?
The Regional Municipality of York has a big role to play when it comes to plowing major streets in the City of Vaughan, like Bathurst Street, Dufferin Street, Keele Street and Major Mackenzie Drive, to name a few. This interactive map highlights (in red) all the regional roads in Vaughan and York Region that are plowed by the Region.
Do you live on a regional road that hasn’t been plowed yet? Here are all the ways you can contact the Region of York to get your snowplow update: