Snow & Ice Control

The District provides 24-hour snow removal service during times of heavy snowfall, as well as salting and sanding during extreme cold temperatures, to keep our roads safe.

• Calls for service can be directed to Operations: 604-815-6868, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday to Friday (except statutory holidays).
• After-hours emergencies: 604-815-4040 (24-hr service).
• Complaints about bylaw contraventions: via email or 604-815-5067.

How you can help

Please help the snow clearing process by:

• removing your vehicle from the street.
• place garbage and recycling totes on your driveway instead of the road (the arms of the garbage truck extend 12 feet!).
• shoveling the snow out of the catch basin in front of your house.
• clearing the snow from the sidewalk.

Sidewalks

The Traffic Bylaw requires owners and occupiers of property to clear snow and ice from sidewalks adjacent to their property. "Duty to clear ice and snow" is outlined in section 4.12. The District clears sidewalks adjacent to municipal and vacant Crown property.

Tips for snow clearing:

• Pile snow to the right side of your driveway, when facing the road, to prevent it from being pushed back onto your driveway by snow plows.
• Please do not shovel snow onto the roadway or into the cycle lanes. This creates unsafe conditions.
• Keep catch basins clear of snow and ice.
• Keep fire hydrants clear of snow and ice.
• Clear snow soon after it falls. It is more difficult to remove after it has been packed down.

Thank you for doing your part to ensure sidewalks are safe to use in a timely manner following a snow storm.

Snow clearing priorities

1. Open up priority routes for emergency vehicles and public transportation routes.
2. Keep the priority routes open — this may mean starting over during large snow events.
3. Open up business areas, civic buildings and then provide one access to residential properties.
4. After the storm has passed, restore mobility on residential streets as well as removing snow off the roads to permit drainage.

During snow storms, crews will be focused on first priorities that may cause delays to clearing secondary and residential areas.

Sanding and plowing may be carried out on a 24-hour basis as long as poor conditions exist.

When the storm lets up or crews have successfully plowed and sanded/salted the first priority routes, the remaining work on residential routes is performed during regular eight-hour shifts.

Snow clearing operations shall be conducted according to the following: 

Primary:

• Arterial roads, major collector roads, bus routes, police station, fire stations, ambulance stations, hilly areas and school zones.
• Sanding and plowing are carried out on a 24-hour basis during poor conditions
• Once the storm ceases or crews have successfully plowed and sanded/salted first priority routes, second and third priorities will then be addressed.

Secondary:

• Drainage monitoring and maintenance to prevent flooding.
• Through-roads between the arterial or major collector road grids. Secondary work is performed during scheduled eight-hour shifts. 

Remaining Residential Roads:

• Dealt with in a systematic manner starting with the more significant roads, and specific problem locations. Third priority work is performed during scheduled eight-hour shifts.

'Widening out' roads is done to ensure that there is enough room for snow storage and to push back snow to the ditch and catch basins to allow for drainage. A common misconception is that this work is done specifically to clear bike lanes for cyclists at the expense of snowing in pedestrian sidewalks. This is not the case. Widening the roads is done to clear storm drains, which are often in bike lanes. 

What this means to residents

“Widening out” the streets may cause frustration to residents because the ends of driveways may get filled in. Crews will try to remove significant windrows across driveways as much as possible, however please understand that it is not always possible. We ask all residents for assistance and patience while we do our best to ensure the roads are safe, and to prepare for any upcoming storms.