Mississauga homeowners are reminded that city work crews will for the first time in the coming months clear troublesome snowy messes from the bottom of driveways as part of regular winter maintenance service.

However, residents must keep up their end of the bargain — a relatively simple task — if they want the windrows eliminated for them, City of Mississauga officials say as they prepare to tackle the winter ahead.

Windrows are the difficult-to-move piles of hard-packed snow and sometimes 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.

Starting this winter, city snowplow crews will for the first time ever clear the windrows in front of homes across the entire city.

If homeowners want to receive the service, they must ensure snowplows can access the space required by doing several things, city officials say:

  • Don’t park on the street, sidewalk or at the end of your driveway.
  • Move garbage and recycling bins away from the curb.
  • Remove sports equipment, yard decorations and other items from around your driveway entrance and sidewalk.

“Driveways and sidewalks blocked by parked cars, garbage and recycling bins, sports equipment or other obstacles will not be cleared,” city officials said in an online description of the new service.

“The city’s standard snow-clearing service now includes driveway windrow clearing,” officials added. “After the snowplow passes, we clear the portion of snow at the end of your driveway so it stays accessible. Snow along the curb is not cleared.”

The city’s new winter service also now includes clearing the sidewalks.

10-foot openings will allow people to access their driveways

As for the windrows, the city says snowplows will clear a 10-foot opening at the end of driveways following winter storms.

The new citywide program replaces the previous windrow-clearing service that was available for older adults and those with mobility challenges.

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 citywide 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.

Mississauga joins several other Greater Toronto Area municipalities in providing windrow clearing to all residents. Toronto, Richmond Hill and Vaughan already offer the snow- and ice-clearing service.

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.


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