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BlueGuard Snow Removal

RESIDENTIAL

Residential snow removal Ottawa homeowners can plan around

A residential snow removal Ottawa season pass covers the driveway, the walkway and steps, and the ridge the city plow leaves behind — dispatched automatically once 5cm falls, without a phone call and without you home.

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  • Driveway, walkway and windrow on one visit
  • Dispatched automatically at 5cm
  • Insured, permitted operators
  • Price fixed in writing before the season starts

WHAT YOU GET

What is included on every visit?

Four surfaces, one visit: the driveway cleared to the pavement, the walkway and steps to the door, the windrow the city plow leaves across the end of the driveway, and salting if you want it. The first three are in the base price; salting is charged per application. Nothing is billed as a separate call-out.

  • The driveway, cleared to the pavement

    Driveway snow removal done properly is not a single pass down the middle. The driveway is cleared to its full width and to the surface, with snow stacked where it will not block your sightline pulling out or bury the spot you park in.

  • The walkway and the steps

    The front walk and the steps to the door, on the same visit as the driveway. This is the surface most falls happen on, and it is the one most often left off a quote — check for it on anything you compare.

  • The windrow the city plow leaves

    The City of Ottawa confirms that clearing the ridge the plow pushes across your driveway is the property owner’s responsibility. It is in the base price here, not an add-on, and if the plow comes back after we have finished, so do we.

    City of Ottawa — winter maintenance

  • Salting, when you want it

    Applied to the walk and steps and charged per application rather than bundled. 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.

A residential Ottawa street under fresh snow, the conditions residential snow removal Ottawa crews are dispatched into

THE SEASON PASS

How does a seasonal snow removal contract work?

You pay one price, fixed in writing before winter starts, and every snowfall that reaches the 5cm trigger between October 15 and April 15 is cleared. Coverage is stated as 275cm of cumulative snow, and past that figure we keep clearing at no additional charge. Sign-up opens in September; routes close before the first storm.

In practice that means nothing to count and nothing to call about. A light winter and a heavy one cost the same on a season pass: the number of snowfalls changes how often the crew comes, not what you pay. The only thing that changes the figure in your snow removal contract is you changing the service, such as adding salting.

Routes close early for a reason. A route holds a fixed number of properties and cannot be stretched once winter starts: a crew that adds ten driveways in January finishes an hour later, and the last ten customers are the ones who notice.

A season pass suits you if

You are here through the winter, you would rather have the cost fixed in October than arriving storm by storm, and you want the driveway open before the commute without having to ask. It also secures a slot on the route, which matters most on the nights everyone wants one.

One-time suits you better if

You travel for part of the winter, you have a short driveway you can usually manage, or you only want help after the storms that genuinely bury you. It costs more per visit and does not hold a place on a full route, which is the trade.

In an average Ottawa winter the season pass costs less for most two-car driveways. In a mild one it does not. The cost page shows both numbers for your driveway size so you can make that call with real figures.

DISPATCH

When do crews come to clear the driveway?

Crews are dispatched automatically once 5cm of snow has accumulated, measured against Environment Canada’s Ottawa reporting. You do not call and you do not need to be home. Priority dispatch lowers the trigger to 2.5cm. The figure is written into your agreement, so nobody argues afterwards about whether a storm counted.

What the trigger means

Once accumulation reaches 5cm, your property is dispatched. You do not call, you do not need to be home, and nobody decides after the fact whether it was enough snow to bother. The figure is in your agreement, not in a sales conversation.

Why 5cm and not less

Below roughly 5cm most driveways are still passable, and sending a crew into every dusting would put the season price up for everyone without making a driveway more usable. If you want the lower threshold, priority dispatch drops it to 2.5cm.

How accumulation is measured

Against Environment Canada’s Ottawa reporting, not a guess out of the truck window. It is a public source you can check yourself, which is the point — a trigger only settles arguments if both sides can read the same number.

Environment Canada — Ottawa forecast

What priority dispatch changes

Priority moves you to 2.5cm and earlier in the route order. It costs more because it genuinely means more visits across a winter. It is worth it for a steep driveway, a shift worker leaving at 5am, or anyone for whom a passable driveway is not good enough.

A STORM NIGHT

What happens on a storm night?

Residential snow removal Ottawa crews are easiest to judge by the night itself. Routes are planned from the forecast, go out at 5cm and work overnight so driveways are open before the commute. A long storm gets two visits, and when the city plow leaves a fresh windrow, we come back for it. This is the sequence.

The forecast is watched, not the window

Routes are planned from the forecast before the snow starts, so crews are staged rather than scrambling once it is already falling.

The trigger is reached and the route goes out

At 5cm your property is on the list. Crews work overnight and into the early morning, in route order, so driveways are open before the commute rather than at lunchtime.

A long storm gets two visits

If snow is still falling heavily, we clear once during and return after it stops, rather than waiting for the end and leaving you stuck in the meantime. That is one storm, not two charges.

The plow comes back, so do we

City plows often pass after driveways have been cleared, leaving a fresh windrow. Returning for it is part of the service, not a second call-out.

A blocked driveway is not a used visit

If a car is in the way we clear what we can reach and leave the rest. Tell us and we return at no charge once it moves. A blocked visit is never counted as a completed clear.

WHERE WE WORK

Do you serve my area? Within 20 km of Barrhaven

Yes, if you are within 20 km of our Barrhaven base. Residential snow removal Ottawa routes reach every postal code inside that line, across ten areas with their own page — Ottawa, Kanata, Barrhaven, Nepean, Stittsville, Manotick, Westboro, Centretown, the Glebe and Gloucester — plus Aylmer and Hull on the Quebec side. Everyone inside it pays the same price.

Route density is the whole economics of snow removal. A crew that spends its night driving between scattered properties clears fewer of them, and everyone on that route waits longer. That is why the line stops at 20 km, and why everyone inside it pays the same price: no zones and no charge for the drive.

Riverside South, Findlay Creek, Greely, central Ottawa neighbourhoods such as the Glebe and Westboro, and Aylmer and Hull on the Quebec side have no page of their own and are quoted at that same price — plus GST and QST in Quebec instead of HST. If your postal code is more than 20 km out, the calculator says so and offers a callback rather than quoting a price.

See the service areas

Live service area

  • Our Barrhaven base
  • Routes we run

QUESTIONS

Residential snow removal Ottawa — common questions

The driveway cleared to its full width and to the pavement, the walkway and steps to the door, and the windrow the city plow leaves across the driveway — all on the same visit. Salting is available per application and is the only piece charged separately.

No. Dispatch is automatic at the trigger, and crews typically work overnight. You do not need to call, be awake, or be in the province. What helps is keeping the driveway clear of vehicles, since a blocked driveway is the one thing that stops a visit finishing.

As many as the winter needs. Every snowfall over the 5cm trigger is cleared, up to 275cm of cumulative snow — and past that we keep going at no extra charge. The pass is priced on an average winter, which means a heavy one costs us more and costs you nothing extra.

This is a new service line. BlueGuard is an established Ottawa home services company with a 4.9-star record on its existing work, and the snow service is run by the same company with insured, permitted operators. We would rather say that plainly than imply a snow history we do not have.

Coverage begins on October 15. A storm before that is not covered by a season pass, though we can usually take a one-time booking if a route has capacity. Signing up in September is the reliable way to be covered for the first storm.

Yes. Salting is charged per application, so it can be added at any point without changing the base agreement. It is the one part of the service that makes sense to decide on once you have seen how your walkway behaves in a freeze-thaw.

No. This is driveway, walkway and windrow clearing only. Roof snow and hauling snow off site are different jobs with different equipment and different insurance, and we would rather not offer them than offer them badly.

Call and we come back. A callback is free and does not count against anything. The service only works if the driveway is genuinely usable, and a clear you had to finish yourself was not one.

KEEP READING

Where to go next

The price, the single-storm alternative, and the mechanics of a storm night in more detail.

GET STARTED

See what your driveway costs for the season

Driveway size, plan and postal code, and the calculator returns a real range in about twenty seconds. Routes close before the first storm.

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