More than $100 million: a record budget for snow removal in Quebec

In 2025, the City of Quebec plans to devote $104.5 million to its snow removal operations, a record amount which represents a very marked increase of nearly $40 million compared to 2022.

This is what the vice-president of the executive committee, Pierre-Luc Lachance, confirmed Thursday afternoon at a press briefing.

The renewal of six snow removal contracts, the indexations contained in the various contracts, telemetry as well as the general increase in the prices of salt, small stones and machinery largely explain these steep increases, he said. he asserted.

Mr. Lachance specified that there will be an additional 14 km of sidewalks cleared of snow (for a new total of 1,315 km) and 14.6 km of cycle links added. Some $3.2 million over four years will be devoted to the development of telemetry, i.e. the provision of real-time GPS data from snow removal operations.

Municipal councilor Lachance did not hide the fact that this is a response to the latest report of the auditor general, who concluded, in June, that the City of Quebec did not have reliable data to measure its effectiveness in snow removal matters.

Telemetry

“Telemetry provides us with reliable data to optimize and improve the efficiency of our operations. This will allow us to regain control over the increase in the budget. Necessarily, we are all concerned and we understand very well the ability of citizens to pay,” added Pierre-Luc Lachance.

Thanks to telemetry, the Municipality hopes to facilitate its decision-making process and make gains in truck travel times.

Should we expect a drop in the level of service when the next snow removal policy is unveiled in spring 2025? Cautious, Mr. Lachance was content to mention “adjustments” to come. He assured that the Marchand administration seeks to optimize available resources and that its priority remains “people’s safety” which includes proper snow removal from sidewalks.

Reactions from opposition parties

Called to react, Claude Villeneuve, head of Quebec First, was concerned about this “exaggerated jump” in costs. He said he was “perplexed that it is increasing so much even though we have been told in the past that they have put in place certain measures such as delaying the time to scratch.”

Patrick Paquet, unelected leader of Équipe Priorité Québec, argued that the snow removal budget in Quebec is “out of control.” The latter is convinced that the Marchand administration is preparing to reduce the level of services to citizens. “Despite the little snow that falls in the city, there are practically no savings,” he was surprised.

For her part, Jackie Smith, head of Transition Québec, said she understood that operations could cost more in a post-pandemic context. On the other hand, she regretted the fact that the City does not communicate well enough the fact that snow removal from cycle paths, often criticized, only represents 1.6% of the snow removal budget.