Barrie’s harsh winter came with a hefty price tag this year, with record snowfall blowing the city’s winter control operations nearly $5 million over budget. A report heading to council Wednesday shows the city’s Roads, Stormwater, Rail and Fleet Operations spent roughly $11 million, nearly $5 million more than its $6 million budget. The biggest hit came from winter control, which alone finished $4.7 million over. Crews had to physically remove and haul away sleet from roads, sidewalks and laneways, forcing the city to bring in extra equipment to keep operations moving. Rented dump trucks, bulldozers, road graders and front-end loaders added to the bill, pushing labour costs even higher. The city declared a Significant Weather Event on Dec. 28, 2025, beginning what officials say became the longest continuous period Barrie has ever spent under the declaration. According to Canada Weather Stats, the city had received 300 centimetres of snow by early February. That’s already more than the 286 centimetres the City of Barrie says typically falls during an entire winter. By Feb. 27, CTV News had reported crews had hauled 9,000 dump truck loads of snow to city storage sites. At the peak of winter, the snow pile at Barrie’s Operations Centre reached nearly seven stories in height and was visible from Highway 400. Even as the heatwave pushed temperatures above 30 degrees this summer, the snow pile persisted, standing roughly 18 feet high and stretching 100 feet long in early June. Staff say ongoing growth is leaving less room to store snow in newer developments, while expanding cycling infrastructure means more surfaces must be cleared. The report says staff may need more centralized snow storage and removal capacity in the future. Snow wasn’t the only pressure on the budget. Fleet operations came in $639,000 over, largely due to aging vehicles and equipment required more repairs than expected. Rail operations provided some relief, coming in $338,000 under budget after railway service costs were lower than anticipated.
