Driveway Windrow Clearing in the GTA: The Deadlines Are in October

The ridge of packed snow a plow leaves across the bottom of a driveway has a name — a windrow — and in the GTA it gets five different answers inside about thirty kilometres. In Mississauga and on eligible Toronto streets a machine clears it as part of normal winter service. In Oakville, Burlington and Milton somebody has to apply and pay, and the applications open and close in October. This page sets out exactly what each municipality has published for the 2026-2027 season, what none of the programs cover, and what applies to the contract if you hire the work out instead.

Does your municipality clear the windrow at the end of your driveway?

Two of the five clear it automatically and three make you register. Mississauga added residential driveway windrow clearing to its standard service in 2025/2026 with no application, and Toronto clears three-metre driveway openings on eligible residential streets using a machine that follows the plows. Oakville, Burlington and Milton run paid programs with a limited number of spaces and an application period that opens and closes before winter starts.

All three registration programs run from 1 December to 31 March, and all three close before that. Burlington states why and what follows: "Late registrations for this program cannot be accommodated, as our road crews require sufficient time to plan and allocate resources for the winter windrow program based on the confirmed number of registrants. Residents interested in signing up for the program can sign up for the program the following year."

Oakville runs two phases, and the second one can close early

Oakville's program opens in two stages. Phase 1 priority registration runs 1 October to 15 October and is available only to residents 65 or older, residents with a physical disability or medical condition, or households where no able-bodied person under 65 lives at the address. Phase 2 opens on 20 October to everyone, including people eligible for Phase 1, and closes on 7 November.

The number that decides this is the cap. The Town takes a maximum of 1,100 total applicants and states that "Should program capacity be reached before November 7, the Town will close registration." 7 November is the latest the form can stay open. It can close earlier without warning, so treat the cap as the real deadline. If you qualify for Phase 1, the first two weeks of October carry no capacity risk at all.

Milton's application window is five days long

Milton's Windrow Removal Program is the narrowest of the three and the cheapest. Registration for 2026-2027 runs Monday 19 October at 8 a.m. to Friday 23 October at 4 p.m. — online, or in person from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Milton Leisure Centre. The fee is $71. Eligibility is restricted: residents 65 or older, or persons with disabilities, where there is no able-bodied person living at the address.

Milton also has the highest activation threshold in the group. Its service "begins every time a snowfall exceeds 10 cm (4 inches)" and only after the Town has finished plowing all roads — and then, "depending on the number of program registrants, it will be at least 36 hours after all the roads have been plowed before the windrow removal service is completed." A 7 cm Tuesday is a windrow you clear yourself, whether or not you are registered.

Burlington changed the fee this year and has not posted the dates yet

Burlington's program used to be scoped to residents who could not clear the windrow themselves. In June 2026 City Council approved a new fee model: an annual fee of $150 plus HST, with a 50 per cent reduction for residents who are 65 or older, have a disability or physical limitation, receive the Guaranteed Income Supplement or ODSP, or are enrolled in the City's Recreation Fee Assistance Program or Transit Low Income Pass Program.

As of 19 September the City's page still reads: "The City is currently working to finalize program details and implementation plans. More information about the 2026-2027 registration period, eligibility requirements and program operation will be shared in September 2026." If you are in Burlington, the action this week is to check that page rather than to assume last year's arrangement carried over — the fee structure did not. The program covers approximately 1,000 driveways city-wide and runs 1 December to 31 March, with windrows cleared within 36 hours of the end of snowfall and within eight hours of the completion of all residential road plowing.

Mississauga and Etobicoke clear it without an application

Mississauga made residential driveway windrow clearing part of its standard snow clearing service in 2025/2026. There is no form and no fee. The City states that "driveway openings will always be made at least 3 metres wide", cleared only after the final round of street plowing, on this published timeline: within four hours for 5–15 cm, within six hours for 15–30 cm, and longer than six hours for more than 30 cm or back-to-back storms. Below 5 cm the City states that the service is not required, because streets are salted rather than plowed and no windrow is created.

Toronto runs a comparable service on eligible residential streets — a specialized machine following the plows cuts three-metre driveway openings, aimed at within two hours of road plowing — plus collector and arterial roads where the windrow exceeds 25 cm. The City's page does not define eligibility by street on that page, so an Etobicoke address is worth confirming with 311 rather than assuming. Toronto also states that its expanded city-wide sidewalk service "means residents, including seniors and persons with disabilities, receive sidewalk snow-clearing directly through City operations, without the need for a separate assistance program."

The same snowfall does different things in different towns

Each municipality sets its own depth at which plowing begins, and the windrow only exists once the plow has been down the street. Those thresholds are not the same, so a single overnight snowfall produces a windrow on one side of a boundary and nothing on the other.

• Mississauga — clears City roads, sidewalks, trails, bus stops, bike lanes and crossings when 5 cm or more falls. Below that, surfaces are salted and not plowed.
• Oakville — "does not begin plowing residential roads until snowfall exceeds 7.5 centimetres", and windrow clearing starts after all roads are done.
• Burlington — registrants receive service "for any snowfall that exceeds 7.5 cm".
• Toronto — local roads are plowed at 8 cm; windrow clearing is allowed the adjacent roadway's time plus two hours.
• Milton — windrow removal begins "every time a snowfall exceeds 10 cm (4 inches)".

A 6 cm snowfall is a plowed street and a cleared windrow in Mississauga, and no plow at all in Oakville, Burlington, Toronto or Milton. Two households 15 minutes apart can therefore have entirely different winters from identical weather. It also means a city program and a private contract are not priced against the same work: the municipal service only starts at the municipality's own threshold, and a private agreement can set a different one.

What none of the five programs will do

This is the part worth reading before paying for anything, because the limits are consistent across all five and each one is stated on the municipality's own page.

1. 1They do not clear the drivewayOakville states the program "does not remove snow on the driveway, only windrow accumulation at the base of the driveway." Milton lists "plowing of driveways" under what is not included. The driveway itself remains yours or your contractor's.
2. 2They do not clear the windrow the sidewalk plow leavesOakville, Burlington and Milton each state this separately. If a sidewalk crosses your property line, a second machine will push a second ridge across your walkway, and no windrow program touches it.
3. 3They do not clear to bare pavement and they do not saltOakville clears approximately 80 per cent of the windrow specifically "to ensure there is no damage to the curb or sod (not to bare pavement)." Burlington clears to a snow-packed condition and says plainly that "residents are responsible for applying material to avoid the accumulation of ice." Mississauga states its openings "are not cleared down to bare pavement and are not treated with salt."
4. 4They will skip you if the entrance is blockedCars, garbage and recycling bins, basketball nets, planters and sports equipment at the base of the driveway all mean the machine passes by. Burlington says failing to move them "will result in missed service"; Mississauga says blocked driveways and sidewalks "will not be cleared."
5. 5They may not suit a decorative drivewayOakville warns the service "may not be appropriate if the driveway has a special surface such as patterned concrete as the equipment may cause damage", and states the Town is not responsible for damage to driveways or curbs from windrow clearing.

Some addresses are outside all five programs

Check this before you plan around a municipal program, because the exclusions are written into the service itself and no application will change them. Oakville states the service "does not apply to private roads, unassumed roads or laneways." Mississauga states it "doesn't clear windrows for condominiums, commercial properties and homes on private roads." A townhouse complex or a new subdivision whose roads have not yet been assumed by the municipality is not in the program and never was, regardless of what the neighbouring street receives.

If that is your address, the winter question is not which form to fill in. It is whether the condominium corporation's contractor already covers your entrance, and if not, what you arrange privately. That is worth asking property management in writing now, while there is still time to arrange something else if the answer is no.

If you are hiring instead, these rules apply to the contract

Ontario's Consumer Protection Act names snow removal directly. Under the CPA, most agreements for a product or service costing more than $50 must be in writing, and the province's list of examples includes "when you hire a business or individual, like a general contractor or mover or snow removal services." Three things follow from that page, and all three are worth knowing before October.

1. A contract signed in your home carries a cooling-off period. The province states: "You always have a cooling-off period when you sign a contract in your home", and in those cases you can cancel for any reason within 10 days of receiving a written copy of the agreement. Send the cancellation by email or registered mail so you have a record of the date.
2. A written estimate inside the contract caps the price. If a written estimate is part of the contract, the final price cannot be more than 10 per cent above it unless you agree to a new price and sign a change. Make sure the estimate is part of the contract, or the cap does not apply.
3. The terms and all fees must be on the document. The contract must show the terms of the agreement, and every fee and charge must be what it says it is. If your contract has a cooling-off period, the contract itself has to say so and explain how a cancellation is handled.

Those are the same protections whoever you hire. What they do not do is decide what the service covers, so the scope is the part to agree in writing: the trigger depth at which a visit happens, whether walkways and steps are included alongside the driveway, whether the return visit for the plow windrow is part of it, and whether de-icing material is applied or left to you. The municipal programs above answer none of those questions, which is exactly why the two things are not substitutes for each other.

What to do this week

1. Oakville, and you are 65+, have a physical disability or medical condition, or have nobody able-bodied under 65 at home — Phase 1 opens 1 October and closes 15 October. This is the phase with no cap risk attached to it.
2. Oakville, everyone else — 20 October, and treat 7 November as a ceiling rather than a date, because the Town closes registration when 1,100 applicants are reached.
3. Milton — 19 to 23 October, and only if the eligibility applies to your household. Five days, then the program is closed for the season.
4. Burlington — check the City's windrow page now. The dates are due to be published this month and the fee model changed in June.
5. Mississauga or an eligible Toronto street — there is nothing to apply for. What is worth doing is moving what sits at the bottom of the driveway before the first plow, since an obstructed entrance is skipped.
6. Private road, laneway or condominium — no municipal program applies. Ask property management what the corporation's contract covers before winter.

The windrow is only one item on an autumn list that also includes gutters, the last cut and outdoor water — our month-by-month GTA property calendar sets out how the municipal dates and the weather-triggered jobs fit together, and the autumn patio and BBQ storage guide covers the other things that have to be off the ground before December.