Record snowfall to test Toronto’s revamped snow clearing work

TORONTO — Toronto’s biggest single-day snowstorm on record is expected to be a major test of the city’s revamped clearing operation.

City officials say 600 plows have fanned out across Toronto and are starting the second round of snow clearing on local roads.

Mayor Olivia Chow says expressways are now on their fourth or fifth round after the historic weekend snowfall.

She says select crews are shifting to snow removal at priority locations, including hospitals and transit stops.

Chow says removal will ramp up in the coming days once the streets have been cleared.

She says changes made since the city’s much-criticized response to a February 2025 storm have been helpful, including an end to the temporary blackout on 311 winter service requests during storms and better co-ordination among Toronto’s agencies.

“I want to thank everyone for their patience. Tomorrow’s commute will be better than today’s,” Chow said at a news conference Monday.

Last year, impassable sidewalks and blocked road lanes lingered around Toronto after heavy February snowfall. 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.

A city report penned in November said Toronto would use its existing resources to bolster its snow removal capacity. 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.

City manager Paul Johnson said on Monday the city had expanded how much snow could be stored once it was trucked away and added more melters at those facilities since last year’s storm.

“The improvement we’re seeing incrementally is, I think, what’s different this year about the execution of the plan versus what we experienced in February,” he said.

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

Jordan Omstead, The Canadian Press