FAQ
Snow removal FAQ, answered without the sales language
Everything people actually ask before hiring a snow contractor in Ottawa — including the questions most companies would rather field on the phone than publish.
- Pricing answered with real numbers
- The trigger and the coverage cap, stated
- What happens when things go wrong
- No answer that needs a phone call to decode
PRICING
Pricing and plans
Season passes start at $399 for a one-car driveway and run to $749 for an extra-long or rural one. One-time clearing runs $65 to $145 per visit. Both are before HST and before the zone adjustment for your postal code, which the calculator applies for you.
It depends on the winter. Divide the season price by the one-time price for your driveway size and you get the break-even — about 6 visits for a two-car driveway. Above that the pass costs less; below it, one-time does.
Before. Every figure on this site is pre-HST, which is added at 13% on your invoice. We present it that way because it is how the quotes you are comparing us against are presented.
No. The figure in your agreement holds for the season it covers. The only thing that changes it is you changing the service — adding salting mid-winter, for example. How much it snows does not change it, including past the 275cm coverage figure.
Route density. A property twenty minutes past the last stop costs real time on every storm, so three zones apply a small adjustment rather than averaging that cost silently across everyone else.
No. Lots, loading areas and commercial walkways vary far too much for a driveway-size table to be honest about. Send the address and we will quote it properly.
THE SERVICE
What is included
The driveway to its full width and down to the pavement, the walkway and the steps to the door, and the windrow the city plow leaves across the driveway — all on the same visit. Salting is the only piece charged separately.
Yes, in the base price on every plan. The City of Ottawa confirms that clearing it is the property owner’s responsibility, and it usually arrives after your driveway has been done — so on a season pass, if the plow comes back, we come back. City of Ottawa — winter maintenance
No. Driveway, walkway and windrow only. Roof snow and off-site hauling are different jobs with different equipment and different insurance, and we would rather not offer them than offer them badly.
Because salting a surface that does not need it is a cost with no benefit, and repeated over-salting damages concrete and the lawn edges it runs off into. Charging per application means it happens when it helps.
Two things: your trigger drops from 5cm to 2.5cm, and you move earlier in the route order. It costs more because it genuinely means more visits across a winter. Worth it for a steep driveway or a 5am shift; unnecessary for most.
STORMS
Storms and timing
Once accumulation reaches 5cm your property is dispatched automatically. You do not call and you do not need to be home. The number is written into your agreement, so nobody is deciding after the fact whether a storm counted.
Environment Canada’s Ottawa reporting, which is public and which you can check yourself. A trigger only settles arguments if both sides read the number from the same place.
There is no fixed appointment, because a storm does not keep one. Crews work overnight and into the early morning in route order, aiming to have driveways open before the commute.
We clear once while it is still falling and return after it stops, rather than waiting for the end and leaving you stuck. That is one storm, not two charges, on a season pass.
Ice does not respond to a plow. We salt the walkway and steps instead, and if your driveway is glazed rather than snow-covered we will tell you plainly what we can and cannot fix.
We keep clearing at no additional charge. The 275cm figure is a coverage commitment stated up front, not a cut-off — and it is the single most useful clause to check on any snow contract you are offered.
WHEN THINGS GO WRONG
Problems and what happens next
We clear what we can reach and leave the rest. Tell us and we return at no charge once the vehicle has moved. A blocked visit is never counted as a completed clear — it is the most common problem and the easiest to avoid.
Call and we come back. The callback is free and does not count against anything. A driveway you had to finish yourself was not cleared, and we would rather know than not.
Snow hides edging, downspouts and low walls. If something is damaged we tell you rather than waiting to be asked, and the commercial general liability cover is what it is for. Ask to see that certificate before you sign — with us and with anyone else.
A thirty-centimetre night takes longer than a five-centimetre one, and the last property on a route feels it. Season passes hold their order. What we will not do is promise every driveway by the same hour regardless of how much fell.
SIGNING UP
Signing up and cancelling
Coverage runs November 1 to April 15. Sign-up opens in September and routes close before the first storm, because a route holds a fixed number of properties and cannot be stretched once winter starts.
Only if the route still has room, which frequently it does not. One-time bookings are usually still possible; a season pass in January depends entirely on capacity.
No. The calculator gives you a range immediately, and we confirm the property from satellite imagery or a drive past before anything is signed. Nobody stands in your driveway with a clipboard.
Before the first storm, straightforwardly. Afterwards the route has been built around your property, so it depends where in the winter you are. Ask before you sign rather than after — and ask the same of anyone else you are considering.
Twelve areas this season: Ottawa, Kanata, Barrhaven, Nepean, Stittsville, Orléans, Manotick, Kemptville, Carleton Place, Almonte, Arnprior and Carp — with some surrounding areas quotable depending on route capacity. Enter your postal code in the calculator and it will tell you directly rather than making you call to find out.
STILL STUCK
Not answered here?
The phone reaches a person and the email gets read every business day. If your question is about price, the calculator will beat both of them by several minutes.
KEEP READING
Where to go next
Each of these covers one of the topics above in full rather than in summary.