Snow removal & salting

Our estimator is tuned for a typical Metro Vancouver winter — only a handful of accumulating snowfalls most years — so the seasonal budget is far lower than an interior Canadian market. Per-event billing is also available if you prefer to pay only when snow actually falls rather than carrying a fixed seasonal contract.

Contracted sites are on a monitored trigger — crews mobilise when accumulation reaches the threshold in your service agreement (typically 2 cm) so that entries, sidewalks, and accessible routes are clear before the first occupants arrive. Overnight and pre-dawn service is the default for office and retail properties.

Yes. Every response is logged with arrival and departure times, surface temperature, product applied and quantity, and photographs of cleared surfaces. Slip-and-fall claims are usually decided on documentation, so the log is issued to you after each event and archived for the season.

Product is matched to the surface and temperature: traditional salt on asphalt and durable concrete, and lower-chloride or magnesium-based blends near new concrete, landscaping, underground parkade entries, and pet-traffic areas where chloride damage or run-off is a concern.

Both models are available. Per-event billing suits properties with unpredictable exposure; a fixed seasonal contract gives strata councils and asset managers a predictable budget line and guarantees priority in the response queue during a major storm.

Yes. City of Vancouver and most Metro Vancouver municipalities require property owners to clear adjacent public sidewalks by 10:00 AM the day after a snowfall. Our sidewalk scope is written to meet that deadline, and the service log is your evidence of compliance if a bylaw complaint is filed.

Yes — it is the most common way clients add it. Same insurance, same WorkSafeBC clearance, same account manager, and one consolidated invoice with your existing exterior maintenance program.

Product is chosen by surface temperature and substrate, then applied at a calibrated rate rather than by eye. Above -7 °C on asphalt and mature concrete we use rock salt at roughly 8–12 g/m² for anti-icing and up to 20 g/m² for de-icing after clearing. Between -7 °C and -15 °C we switch to magnesium chloride or a treated-salt blend, because plain rock salt stops working and simply washes away. Below that, traction grit plus mechanical removal is the honest answer. We always clear first and then apply — salt spread over unremoved snow is wasted product and a slush hazard.

Concrete under one year old, pavers, planted edges, parkade entries, and pet-traffic routes are mapped in the pre-season walkthrough and specified for low-chloride or magnesium-based product at reduced rates. Residual product is swept and recovered after the melt to limit chloride run-off into storm drains, and we recommend rinsing entry glass, aluminium frames, and stainless at season end to prevent etching and pitting.

The forecast is monitored daily through the season and crews are staged when a qualifying event is projected. Anti-icing pre-treatment goes down ahead of forecast freezing precipitation. Mobilisation happens at your contract trigger, then clearing runs in priority order: accessible routes and curb cuts, primary entries and stair landings, public sidewalks before the municipal deadline, then parking lanes and loading bays. Re-check and re-application passes run through multi-day events, and the time-stamped log is issued after every response.

The estimator models a typical Metro Vancouver season of roughly 28 cm, concentrated in December and January. A severe winter like the 2021/22 Arctic outflow can push a Standard-tier site from three responses to five or six. The weather-event alert in the estimator shows exactly what each additional response costs, so the overrun is a known number rather than a surprise. A seasonal bundle caps the modelled events and holds your queue priority; anything beyond that is billed at the per-event rate you already have in writing.

Keep entrance matting long enough to absorb tracked-in melt and swap saturated mats during an event; post wet-floor signage at every entry; confirm exterior lighting works before November, since most responses happen in the dark; fix drainage low points in the fall, because refreeze at a known puddle is a predictable claim; and keep salt bins stocked so building staff can spot-treat between contracted responses. All of this is in the downloadable winter safety and salting standard.