Winter Management - Community Style

Winter Management – Community Style

I think we can all agree that this winter has been a doozy thus far. With Ontario experiencing a significant amount of snow fall earlier than normal taxing our snow crews who work long hard hours when most of us are snuggled warm in our homes/beds. Let’s throw in the unprecedented salt shortage and it really is a recipe for disaster. Snow crews are using anything and everything they have to minimize hazards and make the areas they monitor safe.

Last week I experienced the pitfalls of snow maintenance from many different perspectives/lenses. Seriously…

Perspective One: The Owner (visible frustration)

With so much snow and very little salt the snow crews are finding it difficult to stay on top of clearing. Crews are running out of places to safely store the snow on site, and many owners/residents are feeling the pains of this. I received many complaints each day last week from residents who were unhappy in one way or another regarding the snow and/or the perceived incompetence of the crews – their words, not mine.

Garbage areas are blocked with snow, parking spaces are blocked. 2 residents could no longer park in their designated deeded spots because the spots are too close to the snow dumping area and there is nowhere else to put the snow.

A few attempts have been made to have all residents remove their vehicles off site for a few hours to allow the crews to properly clear the snow, however many residents either refused to move, or for some reason or other could not.

A few slip and falls, I am told, however there has been no contact with me – so not sure of the validity. One board member did slip and fall and injure themselves however has not competed the requested incident report.

Residents do not want to hear about the snow or how busy the crews are or that there is a salt shortage – what they want is clear driveways and walkways, so they feel safe exiting and entering their homes/communities.

To date, we have had the crews re-locate snow on site which would have been fine if mother nature had given us a break! The community is now forced to haul snow off site which, as many of you know, comes at a high cost – anywhere between $6,500 and $8,000! Not many residents realize the cost associated with all the “extras” for snow maintenance.

 I can appreciate the frustration for residents, however, also understand the constraints placed on the snow crews. For residents, the experience is immediate and personal. Snow is in their parking space. Sidewalks affect their safety. When expectations aren’t met, frustration often gets directed toward management.

Perspective Two: The Board (oversight pressure)

Boards sit at a challenging intersection - accountable to owners, dependent on contractors, and often forced to make decisions with incomplete or evolving information.

This one community I work with is lucky to have all three board members live on site. This, however, can make things even more difficult. Leaving the house to walk the dog or get to their car is often met by unhappy residents demanding the board do something about the snow and “unsafe” roadways and walkways. What residents do not understand is that the board works hard behind the scenes especially when there is an issue such as safety – where it is clear the service they are paying for is not being met. Not only are board members responsible for the overall function of the corporation, but they too are also owners or residents at the property.

Boards rely heavily on their management to facilitate concerns. When a corporation is locked into a contract – in this instance, snow maintenance, they have constraints that the other owners are not privy to. All they see is unsafe walkways and poor snow management and when they see a board member – they want answers and they want them now. Oftentimes, owners forget that board members are owners or residents just like them and that they are VOLUNTEERS working with the best of their knowledge and management governance with nothing but the corporation as a whole’s best interest at heart.

Perspective Three: The Manager (the middle)

The manager sits squarely in the middle - expected to explain, justify, coordinate, and respond, often simultaneously and under conditions outside anyone’s control. This perspective is a difficult one and must be juggled expertly, especially during winter events when emotions run high and expectations are immediate.

Managers receive complaints from owners, concerns and pressure from boards (“What are we paying for? They are in breach of the contract! Can’t you do something more?”), directives or involvement from by-law enforcement, and are expected to relay those concerns to contractors in a way that is firm, factual, and productive. All of this happens while the storm is still unfolding, information is still changing, and decisions must be made in real time.

 I often tell my snow crews up front that I am aware of many of their constraints, but that I will be forwarding any and all complaints their way. That transparency matters. It sets expectations on all sides and reinforces that my role is not to shield anyone from accountability, but to ensure concerns are heard, documented, and addressed where possible. It is the manager’s job, after all, to facilitate and truly manage the community. My responsibility, first and foremost, is to act in the best interests of the community as a whole.

What is rarely understood is that effective management relies heavily on the relationships built long before the first snowflake falls. Managers cultivate working relationships with boards grounded in trust and governance. They build rapport with contractors based on clear expectations, fair communication, and consistency. They maintain professional lines of communication with municipal officials and by-law staff. They also build relationships with owners and residents - relationships that often require empathy, diplomacy, and restraint.

These relationships form a complex system of carefully worded interactions, contractual understanding, governance obligations, and a whole lot of personality. A manager is constantly calibrating tone: knowing when to push, when to explain, when to escalate, and when to simply listen. The same message delivered to a contractor, a board member, or an owner must often be framed three different ways to be heard effectively.

During winter events, the manager often becomes the emotional buffer - absorbing frustration from residents, pressure from boards, and operational realities from contractors. This emotional labour is rarely acknowledged, yet it is central to maintaining order and forward progress in challenging conditions. When managed well, these efforts are largely invisible. When conditions deteriorate or expectations are not met, the manager’s role becomes immediately and intensely visible.

Ultimately, snow management is not just about equipment, response times, or materials. It is about coordination, communication, and decision-making under pressure. Managers are tasked with holding the entire system together - not by controlling the weather, but by navigating the human, contractual, and operational realities that surround it.

Perspective Four: The Contractor (often unseen, often judged)

On the ground, snow crews are working long shifts, often overnight and in unsafe conditions. The work is physically demanding, emotionally draining, and rarely met with appreciation - even when done well. It is also work that most residents never witness firsthand.

 This perspective is personal for me. I live with a snow contractor - my stepson and I see, up close, what significant snow and weather events actually demand of the people tasked with keeping our communities safe. When storms are forecasted, there are nights he leaves the house at two o’clock in the morning to get ahead of an incoming system. The goal is prevention: salting before conditions deteriorate, plowing while snow continues to fall, salting again, and then returning - over and over - to minimize risk.

There are short breaks, if any at all, before heading back out. Meals are eaten, when possible, sleep comes in fragments, and phones remain on because the next call could come at any moment. During active weather events, crews rotate between sites, often servicing multiple communities simultaneously. A shovelling and salting crew may be dispatched to one property while the plow is still at another, creating the appearance that “nothing has been done,” even when work is actively underway elsewhere.

What residents often don’t see, and understandably don’t factor in, is that snow management is not a one-and-done task. A site may be cleared, only for another band of snow to move through an hour later. Walkways that were safe at 6:00 a.m. may be hazardous again by 7:30 a.m. The work is repetitive, reactive, and dictated entirely by a system no one can control.

Throw in that wind can also impact snow maintenance. Snow that has already been addressed either by plow, snow blower or shovel can easily be blown making snow drifts and covering roadways and sidewalks. This is the “icing on the cake” once whatever weather systems moved through.

From a resident’s lens, the expectation is simple and fair: I pay condo fees, I pay for snow removal, therefore the snow should be cleared, and conditions should be safe, promptly and consistently. What is less visible is the reality that crews are navigating salt shortages, labour shortages, equipment limitations, and the physical toll of extended hours, all while working outdoors in cold, dark, and often dangerous conditions.

Communities also don’t often see the human side of snow crews. These are people with families, responsibilities, and lives outside of work. Like all of us, they feel exhaustion, frustration, and pressure, particularly during winters like this one, where snowfall is frequent, heavy, and unpredictable. While some winters bring long stretches of little activity, others demand relentless effort and flexibility. Mother Nature, as we have learned, is not always our friend.

None of this excuses poor performance or unmet contractual obligations. Accountability matters. But understanding the conditions under which this work occurs adds important context. Snow contractors are not faceless service providers; they are individuals doing demanding work in real time, under real constraints, in service of community safety.

What makes winters like this especially challenging isn’t one issue on its own, it’s the layering of conditions and constraints that push systems to their edge.

This winter has brought repeated freeze–thaw cycles that undo work almost as quickly as it’s completed. Areas that are cleared and safe in the early morning can refreeze within hours, creating new hazards that require immediate attention. These cycles increase the need for repeated salting and monitoring, just as salt supplies across the province have become limited and harder to replenish.

The unprecedent accumulation of snow is another factor. As I previously mentioned, there has been so much snow that communities are forced to pay to “move the snow” on site and in many cases paying to relocate the snow off site. Many mangers will factor in snow haulage in their annual budgets. It is a good buffer for those winters where snow relocation is required however quickly gets eaten up in winters like this one.  Once snow has nowhere left to go, every additional storm compounds the problem.

Overlay these realities with increased liability expectations, heightened safety awareness, and contractual limitations that define service levels rather than outcomes, and the pressure intensifies. Contracts are written to reflect reasonable standards under typical conditions, not perfection under relentless ones. Yet during extreme winters, systems are often judged against ideal outcomes rather than achievable ones.

In these moments, it becomes clear that what’s being tested isn’t the commitment or effort of individuals, but the capacity of systems operating under sustained strain. Best course of action… patience.

Much of the conflict surrounding winter maintenance comes down to expectations -  what people believe should be possible versus what actually is.

Snow removal does not mean snow elimination. It means managing accumulation, mitigating risk, and restoring reasonable access as conditions allow. Even well-maintained sites can become hazardous again as weather systems continue to move through. A cleared walkway can quickly be compromised by drifting snow, freezing rain, or falling temperatures.

Similarly, paying fees for winter maintenance does not guarantee perfection. It guarantees effort within agreed service levels, governed by contracts, budgets, and real-world constraints. Governance defines how decisions are made and how services are delivered; it does not eliminate weather, risk, or unpredictability.

Communication gaps can widen this disconnect. When residents don’t see crews on-site, it can feel like nothing is happening. When boards and managers are working behind the scenes - coordinating contractors, reviewing conditions, and responding to evolving information - that work is often invisible. The result is frustration on one side and pressure on the other, even when everyone ultimately wants the same thing: safe, accessible communities.

Winter maintenance works best when there is shared understanding, realistic expectations, patience, and respect for the people doing the work - on every side of the operation.

This includes recognizing the efforts of crews working through the night, the boards making difficult decisions under pressure, and the managers holding all the pieces together while the storm is still unfolding. It also includes acknowledging the very real frustrations of residents navigating snow-covered walkways, blocked parking spaces, and safety concerns that affect daily life.

Winter is a shared reality. It doesn’t belong to one group, one role, or one contract. When we approach it with collaboration rather than blame, and with appreciation rather than assumption, outcomes improve - not because the weather changes, but because the way we work through it does.

Sometimes, the most productive step forward isn’t demanding more, but understanding more. Patience and empathy can go a long way. No matter what lens you are using.