Slippery sidewalks have been a real problem in Montreal this winter, as evidenced by the number of complaints to 311.
The City of Montreal has received 2,761 calls to 311 this winter about slippery sidewalks.
According to open data by the City of Montreal, that’s a 10-year high – and the 2025-26 winter is not over yet. It’s also higher than the previous two winters combined.
The City of Montreal provided to CityNews figures for the last four winters – with minor discrepancies from the open data numbers.
In 2024-25, there were 957 calls to 311 about slippery sidewalks. The winter before, it was 1,755 and the winter before that, 990.
A city spokesperson told CityNews in an email that “the changing weather conditions of the current winter season… are conducive to ice formation on sidewalks and roadway.”
For that reason, “the number of sidewalk salting operations has increased significantly.”
The city says from Nov. 15, 2025, to Feb. 15, 2026, crews carried out 30 “sidewalk safety operations,” whereas the historical average for a full winter is between 20 and 25.
“Considering that several weeks of winter are still ahead, this situation highlights the significant need for sidewalk safety operations,” the spokesperson said.
The city says it’s conducting frequent monitoring of the situation in the context of closely spaced freeze-thaw cycles.