Though winter weather won’t arrive for a while yet, city officials are already thinking about clearing snowy messes from roads and driveways across Mississauga later this year and into 2026.
One particular change in the City of Mississauga’s winter maintenance operations is expected to please many residents: starting this winter, snowplow crews will for the first time ever clear troublesome windrows from the bottom of people’s snowy driveways across the entire city.
Windrows are the difficult-to-move piles of hard-packed snow — and ice — left at the end of driveways after the streets are plowed. They’ve been a contentious issue in Mississauga the past few years as residents have been pushing city council to deliver a winter plan to keep their driveways accessible.
Last November, city council approved a plan to clear windrows from all homes in Mississauga starting this winter. A $224 increase on the 2025 residential property tax bill for the average homeowner included $21 per household for city-wide windrow removal to be implemented for the 2025-26 winter season.
Secondary sidewalk snow clearing (at an additional $7 per household) and enhanced snow removal for bike lanes ($1) are also part of the city’s updated winter maintenance plan.
Councillors are expected to discuss winter maintenance operations for the upcoming season at next Wednesday’s general committee meeting. Senior city staff will also table a report at that time calling for a new $150 fine for parking on streets during winter storms.
Mississauga joins several other Greater Toronto Area municipalities in providing windrow clearing to all residents. Toronto, Richmond Hill and Vaughan currently offer the snow- and ice-clearing service.
Prior to council’s approval of the windrow-clearing plan last November, city officials heard from a new residents’ group on the matter.
Gianluca Ferrari, president of the Huron Heights Residents Association in central Mississauga, said at the time that people of all ages, particularly seniors and those with physical limitations, require help with heavy snow.
He said the group was disappointed the program “didn’t get off the ground” the previous year, but residents appreciate that it’s now starting this winter.
Ferrari noted one of the major complaints from many residents was repair costs incurred after their snow-clearing machines were damaged while removing windrows.
The matter of windrows became a big issue during winter 2022-23 when several major storms left numbers of people in Mississauga trapped in their homes, unable to clear the heavy snow and ice themselves.
Mississauga councillors said at the time they fielded more windrow complaints from residents than ever before.
Windrows have also been a significant source of growing public frustration in recent years that hit new heights in early 2023, culminating in several isolated incidents in which angry residents attacked Mississauga snow plow drivers and their machines.
In response, city councillors at that time discussed adopting a Mississauga-wide program.
In May 2023, faced with a staff report that showed it would cost $11.6 million a year to run a city-wide windrow-clearing service, council decided against the move at that time.