GTA cleanup will take days, as Pearson airport smashes snowfall record — and more is on the way

The cleanup after a record-breaking winter storm that left mountains of snow across Toronto and the surrounding areas is expected to take several days, city officials said Monday as a snow day was declared for schools across the region and commuters faced severe transit delays.

Mayor Olivia Chow said even though plowing is well underway in the aftermath of Sunday's storm that dumped up to 60 centimetres of snow in some parts of the Greater Toronto Area, snow removal will take a while, especially on narrow residential streets where some people may still be struggling to get out of their driveways.

"I want to thank everyone for their patience," she said at a news conference Monday afternoon.

"Tomorrow's commute will be better than today's."

Toronto city manager Paul Johnson said plowing will continue until enough space is opened up on both arterial and local roads, after which crews will focus on "major scale" snow removal.

"It does take us some time to get there because we have to get through the plowing before we can get to that large scale operation," he told reporters.

Environment Canada said Pearson International Airport saw the highest daily total snowfall on record with 46 centimetres on Sunday, bringing this month's snowfall total to 88.2 centimetres. That makes it the snowiest January and snowiest month since records began in 1937.

Johnson also mentioned Monday that more snow is on the way for the city, and Environment Canada’s forecast concurs. A 40 per cent chance of flurries is expected all the way until Friday this week, according to the weather agency.  

Chow has been touting the city's improved snow response plan after back-to-back storms last winter left many streets and sidewalks unplowed for days, drawing sharp criticism of city operations. She said that a centralized response system and the deployment of extra city staff will ensure faster and more efficient snow clearing this time around.

More than 600 plows were out on roads and sidewalks and more than 1,300 city staff and contractors have been mobilized, Chow said. The city has activated its second major snow event response plan of the year, which includes a parking ban on some major streets as well as streetcar routes.

The Toronto Transit Commission reported major problems on multiple transit routes Monday morning, with subway service shut down between several stations on Lines 1 and 2, and the entire Line 6 — the new Finch West LRT service — shut down for a few hours.

Shuttle buses were running instead, with delays due to road conditions also affecting streetcar service across the city.

Meanwhile, GO trains were running on a special schedule in the aftermath of the storm, and commuters were urged to double check the departure times.

Ontario Provincial Police said they responded to approximately 200 collisions and another 150 calls for vehicles stuck in ditches in the greater Toronto and Hamilton areas over a 24-hour period. In one fatal incident, a driver lost control of their vehicle on a Highway 8 ramp in Kitchener and launched over the snow embankment to a highway below, Sgt. Kerry Schmidt said in a social media post.