Mississauga is ready for winter with more snow clearing services

The City’s winter maintenance crews are ready to keep everyone moving safely during the winter months. New this winter season, the City is implementing several new services to help get residents where they need to go and make travel safer for all road users.

New: residential driveway windrow clearing

A windrow is a pile of snow that gets pushed onto a driveway by a plow as it clears the street. Residents with single, shared and double driveways will get at least a three-metre space cleared in their driveway windrow. No application or registration is required. The City will not clear windrows for condominiums, commercial properties and homes on private roads.

New: citywide winter parking restrictions

To make snow clearing safer and more efficient, the City has introduced a penalty of $150 for those who park their vehicles on the road when the City is plowing and declares a Citywide Winter Parking Restriction.

Vehicles parked on the road can prevent City crews from being able to clear roads and residential driveway windrows, making it difficult for emergency vehicles, public transit and residents to travel.

The City will declare a Citywide Winter Parking Restriction when the City needs to plow roadways. When a Citywide Winter Parking Restriction is declared, on-street parking is not allowed, except in areas identified by signage (e.g. 15-hour maximum). On-street parking on statutory holidays and religious observances is also prohibited. Temporary parking permits and residential paid parking permits will not be issued and current ones will be suspended.

The City will announce that a Citywide Winter Parking Restriction is in effect on its website and on its social media channels. Residents can also sign up to receive an email alert or call 311.

The City’s winter maintenance operations

What the City clears

The City is responsible for clearing snow and ice from City-owned infrastructure. This includes roads, on-street bike lanes and cycle tracks, sidewalks, bus stops, pedestrian crossings, and roadside multi-use trails. Starting this winter, the City will also clear 134,000 residential driveway windrows.

City staff also provide winter maintenance at City facilities including community centres, libraries and select park parking lots, paved pathways and trails. Peel Region is responsible for clearing most regional roads in Mississauga.

City service levels

The City plows snow when five centimeters or more accumulates. If there is less than five centimetres of snow, infrastructure is salted.

The City clears priority infrastructure first. Depending on how much it snows, it can take 12 to 24 hours to clear this priority infrastructure after the snow has stopped:

• Priority roads: routes for emergency vehicles, transit and high-traffic volumes.
• Priority sidewalks: sidewalks located along major roads and bus routes and outside schools, hospitals and long-term care homes.
• Bus stops, roadside multi-use trails, pedestrian crossings and on-street bike lanes.
• Parking lots and entrances connected to City community centres, arenas and libraries.

City crews then move on to clearing residential roads and sidewalks, which are cleared within 24 to 36 hours after the snow has stopped. Residential driveway windrows will be cleared four to six hours after the neighbourhood has received its final round of street plowing.

Residents are reminded that snow clearing will take longer if Mississauga gets back-to-back storms or more than 30 centimetres of snow.

Stay updated

• Visit mississauga.ca/snow to learn more about snow clearing in the city and use the online plow tracker.
• Follow @MississaugaSnow on X for snow-clearing updates.
• Sign up to receive an email alert when a Citywide Winter Parking Restriction is in effect and temporary parking permits are suspended.
• Call 311 (905-615-4311 if outside city limits) for questions related to the City’s snow-clearing operations.
• Follow @PeelPublicWorks on X for snow-clearing updates on regional roads.

Mayor Parrish joins Councillor Horneck, Councillor Fonseca, Councillor Hart and Works Operations and Maintenance staff for the launch of Mississauga’s winter maintenance season.

Residential driveway windrow clearing equipment.

City of Mississauga snow plow.

Quotes

“Winter storms with heavy snowfall are the new normal in Mississauga, and with heavy snowfall comes windrows. We know the strain and frustration that they cause. I have been advocating for citywide driveway windrow clearing for years because I believe this is about more than just convenience – it’s about our City’s commitment to accessibility and safety, even in tough weather. We’re helping seniors, those with mobility issues and busy families get to where there need to go. As we roll out this new service for the first time this winter, I want to remind residents to please be patient, give crews and equipment space to work, and treat our crews, and each other, with kindness and respect.” – Mayor Carolyn Parrish, City of Mississauga

“There are simple things that residents can do to prepare for snow clearing and windrow clearing to make it safer and more efficient for our crews to work. First, do not park your vehicle on the road, sidewalk or lower portion of your driveway – doing so makes it difficult for our crews to plow the road and can prevent crews from clearing the sidewalk and windrow. It’s also important that there aren’t any obstacles left on or near the road, like sports equipment or garbage bins. If snow clearing is happening on your garbage collection day, we ask that you place your bins away from the curb so crews still have space to clear the windrow. We appreciate your patience and support. By working together, we can have a smooth snow-clearing season.” – Helen Noehammer, Director, Works Operations and Maintenance

Tags

• Snow Removal and Maintenance