The mayor’s move comes as residents grow increasingly frustrated that streets, sidewalks and transit stops remain clogged a week after more than 50 cm of snow fell.
Mayor Olivia Chow said Monday she is calling for a formal review of the “controversial” long-term contracts the city has signed with private companies for snow plowing and removal services.
The move comes after city hall has been under fire from residents over streets, sidewalks and transit stops that are still clogged with snow more than a week after back-to-back storms blanketed Toronto.
“I gave it a week. I was supportive of what the staff had been doing because I said, ‘Well, give them a chance for the first few days,’” Chow said at an unrelated press conference on Monday.
“In my personal observation, in the number of calls to my office, what I’ve been hearing from the councillors, what I’m seeing on the street: people are getting hurt, being injured, can’t get out — it is not working well.”
See more: Mayor Olivia Chow calls for review of ‘controversial’ snow removal contracts: ‘It is not working well’, Toronto Star, February 25, 2025
Photo: Can Pac Swire, CC BY-SA 2.0
