Review of Toronto’s Winter Maintenance Program

3. City Council request the City Manager to investigate the gap between City reports that 100 percent of sidewalks were cleared of snow at least once and the reality of residents who can see no plow had visited a given stretch of sidewalk. 4. City Council request the City Manager to determine whether the private winter maintenance contractors have upheld their obligations under their contracts and, if not, pursue all options to hold the contractors accountable and recover public funds where appropriate. 5. City Council request the City Manager to evaluate all options to improve winter maintenance work, including renegotiating or breaking existing contracts, improving maintenance of the City-owned fleet of winter equipment, purchasing improved winter equipment that can handle heavier snow falls (particularly for sidewalks), developing contingency plans to redeploy more City staff to winter maintenance work when a Snow Condition is declared, and creating a policy to determine when snow removal should be undertaken. 6. City Council request the City Manager to report to the Executive Committee on the work outlined in Parts 1 to 5 above and City Council request the City Manager, as part of the 2026 budget process, to report on any recommendations that have a financial impact on the Transportation Services Operating Budget. 7. City Council request the Auditor General to consider adding, as part of the Auditor General's 2025 Work Plan, an audit of the following: a. the City of Toronto's handling of the February 2025 major winter storm, taking into consideration prior audits of this winter service contract and provide recommendations for improving winter maintenance during significant winter storms; b. whether previous Auditor General recommendations related to winter maintenance operations were enacted by City management ahead of the February 2025 winter storm; c. the City's snow removal system to determine whether it was activated in a timely and effective manner; d. the City's sidewalk plow fleet to determine whether they are the optimal equipment based on local winter conditions, whether the plows are maintained in accordance with the manufacturer's recommended practices, the average percentage of the plow fleet that is in service throughout a major snow event and whether all warranties from the manufacturer have been leveraged to limit the City's cost of sidewalk plow maintenance; and e. the 2021 Negotiated Request for Proposals awards that resulted in the current suite of winter maintenance contracts to determine if they were awarded in a fair and competitive manner; and recommend improvements to the City's winter maintenance contracts. 8. City Council request the General Manager, Transportation Services to conduct a jurisdictional scan of relevant cities for best snow clearing and removal practices, and report back in the 2025 Annual Winter Maintenance Report on the findings to the appropriate committee in July 2025. 9. City Council request the General Manager, Transportation Services to conduct a jurisdictional scan of relevant cities on how to leverage artificial intelligence and machine learning in cloud-based systems to improve snow clearing and removal practices, and in particular, how these technologies can be used to optimize traffic flow using real-time data during inclement weather conditions, prioritize the movement of essential vehicles such as snowplows, emergency responders and public transportation and overall reduce the time required to clear roads, sidewalks and public transit stops, and report back on the findings to the appropriate committee. 10. City Council direct the General Manager, Transportation Services to: a. provide ward-specific detailed briefings on the 2024-2025 winter season contract management, performance findings, public complaints, and GPS tracking information to each member of Council; b. gather Ward specific feedback from members of City Council concerning local winter maintenance issues, in particular complaints which were not entered into the 311 system during the initial 311 post event blackout period or for other reasons; c. review the equipment used by the contractors for appropriateness, capacity and clearing widths and ensure that associated complaints and observations are formally conveyed to the contractors; d. develop new or improved equipment specifications which may be used in the next update to contract terms; e. better articulate the standards which apply to the pavement clearing width requirements and use appropriate measurement and management systems to ensure the standards are met; f. investigate and report to the appropriate Committee on specific issues affecting Ward 2 and Ward 15, including: 1. singe plow passes down the centre or one side of a street; 2. narrow or inadequate plow passes and snow clearing; 3. extended delays in street clearing, either on the initial pass or follow-up passes; 4. contractor equipment which broke down or became stuck; 5. missed sidewalks segments; and 6. blocked street corners and sidewalks which remained for extended periods of time. 11. City Council request the City Manager and the General Manager, Transportation Services to review the current guiding principles and priorities for when snow clearing and removal is undertaken on residential streets with no sidewalks, in comparison to when snow clearing is undertaken for sidewalks, to determine if the guiding principles and priorities for those streets should be enhanced in consideration of pedestrians.