Item - 2025.IA28.3

Councillor Jennifer McKelvie, Ward 25, Scarborough-Rouge Park, has submitted the following Administrative Inquiry:

I am submitting this Administrative Inquiry under Municipal Code S27-7.11 for the March 26, 2025 meeting of City Council.

In February 2025, the City of Toronto experienced the largest snow accumulation since January 2022. After every major storm event, there is an opportunity to review our response and make improvements.

To evaluate our response and constructively guide the development of new recommendations, I am requesting answers to the following questions:

1. Downtown Sidewalk Plowing

a. When did City Council pass the motion to start plowing downtown sidewalks?

b. When was the sidewalk plowing pilot conducted, what were the results, and when did plowing of all downtown sidewalks commence?

c. What sidewalks in the City are cleared by in-house staff? (Please include maps.)

i. How many kilometers are cleared mechanically?
ii. How many kilometres are cleared manually?

d. For the February 2025 major snow events, what day was the first pass of all downtown sidewalk plowing completed? Was all equipment working? What additional rounds were conducted?

2. Service Requests

a. What was the number of snow related 311 service requests, by ward and complaint category (sidewalk, road, windrow, snow plowing vs removal), for:

i. January 2022 major snow event; and
ii. February 2025 major snow events.

b. What was the average response/resolution time for 2022 and 2025?

c. What were the 311 blackout times for the 2022 and 2025 events?

3. Snow Removal

a. What percentage of snow removal is done by in-house vs. external contractor?

b. What criteria is used to initiate snow removal operations?

c. What is the criteria used for prioritization of snow removal routes?

d. What is the prioritization in each ward? (Please include maps)

e. How long does snow removal operations take with existing resources and what is the cost?

f. What would be involved in developing a service standard for snow removal?

g. What is the cost of having the equipment and personnel on stand-by all winter?

4. Contracts

a. What audits of the winter maintenance program and contracts has already been undertaken?

b. What are the key differences between the current and previous winter maintenance services contracts?

c. Were there any incidents during the February 2025 event that will result in the city being able to fine a contractor? Has the contract management approach been reviewed by the Auditor?

d. Do all vehicles have GPS tracking?

5. Extreme Weather Response

a. What new measures were implemented as part of the City’s commitment to continuous improvement following the 2022 winter storm?

b. How many cars were ticketed or towed in 2025 vs 2022?

I would also like to extend my thanks to all the contract and in-house personnel who worked many hours plowing and removing snow from our streets this February.