Item - 2025.EX27.2

The Executive Committee recommends that:  

1.  City Council direct the General Manager, Transportation Services to report to the Infrastructure and Environment Committee on the effectiveness of improvements made to the Winter Maintenance Program in the 2025-2026 season resulting from the Program Review.

2.  City Council approve the amendments to the City of Toronto Municipal Code Chapter 950-1316A, Schedule XVIIA, Parking and Standing During Major Snow Storm Conditions and Chapter 950-1316B, XVIIB, Parking/Standing on or Blocking Streetcar Tracks during Major Snow Storm Conditions, as generally described in Attachment 2 to the report (November 3, 2025) from the City Manager.

3. City Council direct the City Manager, in consultation with the Deputy City Manager, Infrastructure Services, to report back to the Infrastructure and Environment Committee meeting on December 4, 2025 on how they are modernizing the PlowTO tracking map using currently available software and technology, including Artificial Intelligence (AI). 

The Executive Committee requested the City Manager, in consultation with the Deputy City Manager, Infrastructure Services, to report directly to the November 12, 2025 meeting of City Council on:

 a. the utilization of friendly tow system in permit parking areas as is used in Montreal;

 b. the detailed process on proactive monitoring on how to deal with illegally parked vehicles on Toronto Transit Commission streetcar routes; 

c. the plan to plow snow around schools;

d. how City Councillors will be advised of the local snow plans and the role of SNOWTO and their lobbying firm in advising Councillors of their Ward plan and what are appropriate Councillor communications by SNOWTO; 

e. the Councillor’s direct pathway to appropriate City Officials during a snow event; and

f. the parking plan to ensure that permit holders receive the necessary communication and consideration in the relocation of vehicles to allow for snow clearing and removal, including communication prior to towing, as well as the approach to managing vehicle volumes in densely concentrated permit parking areas.

The President, Municipal VU Consulting Inc. gave a presentation on City of Toronto Winter Maintenance Review Update and the Acting Director, Winter and Seasonal Services gave a presentation on 2025-2026 Winter Maintenance Improvements.

In response to challenges experienced with winter maintenance operations during the February 2025 major snow events, City Council directed the City Manager to review the City’s Winter Maintenance Program, identify opportunities for improvement, and undertake a forensic audit of the procurement for the existing winter maintenance contracts. Municipal VU Consulting Inc. (MVU) was engaged to conduct the winter maintenance program review, and the Internal Audit Division was tasked with the procurement review. The interim results of both reviews were reported to City Council at its July 23 and 24, 2025 meeting, where Council directed the City Manager to continue working with MVU to develop a Major Snow Event Response Plan with a city-wide all hands on deck emergency approach, refine other opportunities for improvement, and to engage a third party to conduct a forensic audit on the winter maintenance procurement given the fraud risk identified by the Internal Audit Division.

MVU’s 2025 Winter Storm Response and Winter Maintenance Program Review identified 32 opportunities for improvement, which have since been refined into 11 recommendations for immediate, mid-term and long-term implementation.  This report provides an update on new and enhanced initiatives planned for the 2025-2026 winter season, highlighting several actions that align with or support elements of MVU’s 11 recommendations – such as the removal of 311 service request hold periods, surge planning, and development of a Major Snow Event Response Plan – as well as updates on the status of nine outstanding Auditor General recommendations that had not been fully implemented and three new Auditor General recommendations from June 2025.

Development of the Major Snow Event Response Plan will be finalized following the completion of the tabletop testing which will be scheduled shortly, with the following key components to strengthen the City’s winter resilience:

-  A scalable, city-wide response with escalation triggers, mapped routes, and clearly defined roles.

-  Activation of the Emergency Operations Centre for a coordinated city-wide response with an embedded communications plan.

- Snow removal using a combination of contracted, in-house, and surge resources, including enhanced parking enforcement and towing support.

-  Designating additional road segments as snow routes, as recommended in this report, and improving signage.

Staff have begun implementing a range of initiatives to strengthen winter maintenance operations for the 2025-2026 and future winter seasons, including:

-  Eliminating the temporary hold period on 311 winter service requests.

-  Strengthening quality monitoring and reporting to better monitor contractor performance.

-  Improved in-house fleet readiness by procuring additional equipment, testing alternative models of sidewalk clearing equipment, expanding technician availability with mobile responsiveness in the field, and providing additional staff training for major snow events.

-  Enhancing proactive snow removal to better manage snow at high-priority locations with limited storage capacity.

-  Establishing a year-round Winter Services Unit to focus on operational preparedness, contract management, and continuous improvement.

-  Improving the City’s winter communications strategy for both typical and extreme weather events.

MVU developed and analyzed snow removal contract models, which have estimated annual costs of up to $130 million. Given Toronto’s climate – where major snowstorms of sufficient scale to trigger full removal operations do not occur every winter – this report does not recommend engaging in specific snow removal models due to the cost. Instead, when snow removal is required in the remaining years of the existing winter maintenance contracts, the City will utilize existing resources (contracted and in-house) with improvements in place that strengthen performance and operational readiness in combination with surge resources. Up to an additional 200 support staff and 75 pieces of equipment (e.g., dump trucks, loaders, skid steers) from across City divisions is available to be redeployed to assist with a major snow event response. It is expected that incremental program improvements will be realized each year going forward. During the remaining contract years, lessons learned will inform the development of the future winter maintenance contracts. The implementation of previous and new Auditor General recommendations is ongoing, with a focus on contract oversight, operational preparedness, procedure updates, and performance monitoring. Enhanced field audits and data-driven tools will help identify potential service issues and verify equipment use, supporting consistent, accountable, and continuously improving winter maintenance operations.

The externally led forensic audit of the winter maintenance procurement and award process has progressed significantly, with the final report expected at the December 2025 meeting of City Council. The findings of this audit will also inform the procurement of future winter maintenance contracts.

The Executive Committee recommends that:

The purpose of this report is to advise that the City Manager will be submitting a report that provides an update on the winter maintenance program review to Executive Committee for its meeting on November 4, 2025.

The Executive Committee recommends that:  

1.  City Council direct the General Manager, Transportation Services to report to the Infrastructure and Environment Committee on the effectiveness of improvements made to the Winter Maintenance Program in the 2025-2026 season resulting from the Program Review.

2.  City Council approve the amendments to the City of Toronto Municipal Code Chapter 950-1316A, Schedule XVIIA, Parking and Standing During Major Snow Storm Conditions and Chapter 950-1316B, XVIIB, Parking/Standing on or Blocking Streetcar Tracks during Major Snow Storm Conditions, as generally described in Attachment 2 to the report (November 3, 2025) from the City Manager.

3. City Council direct the City Manager, in consultation with the Deputy City Manager, Infrastructure Services, to report back to the Infrastructure and Environment Committee meeting on December 4, 2025 on how they are modernizing the PlowTO tracking map using currently available software and technology, including Artificial Intelligence (AI). 

The Executive Committee requested the City Manager, in consultation with the Deputy City Manager, Infrastructure Services, to report directly to the November 12, 2025 meeting of City Council on:

 a. the utilization of friendly tow system in permit parking areas as is used in Montreal;

 b. the detailed process on proactive monitoring on how to deal with illegally parked vehicles on Toronto Transit Commission streetcar routes; 

c. the plan to plow snow around schools;

d. how City Councillors will be advised of the local snow plans and the role of SNOWTO and their lobbying firm in advising Councillors of their Ward plan and what are appropriate Councillor communications by SNOWTO; 

e. the Councillor’s direct pathway to appropriate City Officials during a snow event; and

f. the parking plan to ensure that permit holders receive the necessary communication and consideration in the relocation of vehicles to allow for snow clearing and removal, including communication prior to towing, as well as the approach to managing vehicle volumes in densely concentrated permit parking areas.

The President, Municipal VU Consulting Inc. gave a presentation on City of Toronto Winter Maintenance Review Update and the Acting Director, Winter and Seasonal Services gave a presentation on 2025-2026 Winter Maintenance Improvements.

In response to challenges experienced with winter maintenance operations during the February 2025 major snow events, City Council directed the City Manager to review the City’s Winter Maintenance Program, identify opportunities for improvement, and undertake a forensic audit of the procurement for the existing winter maintenance contracts. Municipal VU Consulting Inc. (MVU) was engaged to conduct the winter maintenance program review, and the Internal Audit Division was tasked with the procurement review. The interim results of both reviews were reported to City Council at its July 23 and 24, 2025 meeting, where Council directed the City Manager to continue working with MVU to develop a Major Snow Event Response Plan with a city-wide all hands on deck emergency approach, refine other opportunities for improvement, and to engage a third party to conduct a forensic audit on the winter maintenance procurement given the fraud risk identified by the Internal Audit Division.

MVU’s 2025 Winter Storm Response and Winter Maintenance Program Review identified 32 opportunities for improvement, which have since been refined into 11 recommendations for immediate, mid-term and long-term implementation.  This report provides an update on new and enhanced initiatives planned for the 2025-2026 winter season, highlighting several actions that align with or support elements of MVU’s 11 recommendations – such as the removal of 311 service request hold periods, surge planning, and development of a Major Snow Event Response Plan – as well as updates on the status of nine outstanding Auditor General recommendations that had not been fully implemented and three new Auditor General recommendations from June 2025.

Development of the Major Snow Event Response Plan will be finalized following the completion of the tabletop testing which will be scheduled shortly, with the following key components to strengthen the City’s winter resilience:

-  A scalable, city-wide response with escalation triggers, mapped routes, and clearly defined roles.

-  Activation of the Emergency Operations Centre for a coordinated city-wide response with an embedded communications plan.

- Snow removal using a combination of contracted, in-house, and surge resources, including enhanced parking enforcement and towing support.

-  Designating additional road segments as snow routes, as recommended in this report, and improving signage.

Staff have begun implementing a range of initiatives to strengthen winter maintenance operations for the 2025-2026 and future winter seasons, including:

-  Eliminating the temporary hold period on 311 winter service requests.

-  Strengthening quality monitoring and reporting to better monitor contractor performance.

-  Improved in-house fleet readiness by procuring additional equipment, testing alternative models of sidewalk clearing equipment, expanding technician availability with mobile responsiveness in the field, and providing additional staff training for major snow events.

-  Enhancing proactive snow removal to better manage snow at high-priority locations with limited storage capacity.

-  Establishing a year-round Winter Services Unit to focus on operational preparedness, contract management, and continuous improvement.

-  Improving the City’s winter communications strategy for both typical and extreme weather events.

MVU developed and analyzed snow removal contract models, which have estimated annual costs of up to $130 million. Given Toronto’s climate – where major snowstorms of sufficient scale to trigger full removal operations do not occur every winter – this report does not recommend engaging in specific snow removal models due to the cost. Instead, when snow removal is required in the remaining years of the existing winter maintenance contracts, the City will utilize existing resources (contracted and in-house) with improvements in place that strengthen performance and operational readiness in combination with surge resources. Up to an additional 200 support staff and 75 pieces of equipment (e.g., dump trucks, loaders, skid steers) from across City divisions is available to be redeployed to assist with a major snow event response. It is expected that incremental program improvements will be realized each year going forward. During the remaining contract years, lessons learned will inform the development of the future winter maintenance contracts. The implementation of previous and new Auditor General recommendations is ongoing, with a focus on contract oversight, operational preparedness, procedure updates, and performance monitoring. Enhanced field audits and data-driven tools will help identify potential service issues and verify equipment use, supporting consistent, accountable, and continuously improving winter maintenance operations.

The externally led forensic audit of the winter maintenance procurement and award process has progressed significantly, with the final report expected at the December 2025 meeting of City Council. The findings of this audit will also inform the procurement of future winter maintenance contracts.

The Executive Committee recommends that:

The purpose of this report is to advise that the City Manager will be submitting a report that provides an update on the winter maintenance program review to Executive Committee for its meeting on November 4, 2025.