Winter Activities - Skating - Indoor Pools
Events & Things To Do
Snow Clearing and Removal - Parking Bylaws - Snow Events
Events & Things To Do
Snow Clearing and Removal - Parking Bylaws - Snow Events
WINTER ACTIVITIES
CLICK ON MAGAZINE COVER TO READ
ABOUT WINTER PROGRAMS IN KITCHENER
TO REGISTER FOR WINTER PROGRAMS CLICK HERE
SWIM IN OUR INDOOR POOLS - DETAILS HERE
SKATING - OUTDOOR AND INDOOR OPTIONS
CLICK ON IMAGE FOR OUTDOOR AND INDOOR SKATING OPTIONS
EVENTS AND THINGS TO DO
Click Image For Events And Entertainment In Kitchener
For Kitchener's Events Page Click HERE
Check Out Events At Our Venues By Clicking On Their Name
CENTRE IN THE SQUARE REGISTRY THEATRE KW ART GALLERY CONRAD CENTRE KITCHENER MEMORIAL AUDITORIUM THEMUSEUM KITCHENER PUBLIC LIBRARY
For Kitchener's Events Page Click HERE
Check Out Events At Our Venues By Clicking On Their Name
CENTRE IN THE SQUARE REGISTRY THEATRE KW ART GALLERY CONRAD CENTRE KITCHENER MEMORIAL AUDITORIUM THEMUSEUM KITCHENER PUBLIC LIBRARY
THINGS TO DO DURING WINTER
Public Swims At Our Indoor Pools - DETAILS HERE
Free Skating at Carl Zehr Square At City Hall or Our Arenas - DETAILS HERE
Go To A Kitchener Rangers Game - TICKETS HERE
Go To A KW Titans Game - TICKETS HERE
Snowshoe or Cross Country Ski at the Huron Natural Area or Rockway Or Doon Golf Courses
Enjoy our over 125km of Trails
Do A Self Guided Walking Art or Heritage Tour - DETAILS
Ski or Snowboard at CHICOPEE SKI & SUMMER RESORT
Toboggan On a Designated Hill - LOCATIONS HERE
Kitchener’s New Year’s Night of Legends December 31, 7pm to midnight in Carl Zehr Square - DETAILS.
New Year’s Levee - January 4, 1 to 4 p.m., Kitchener City Hall
Family-friendly fun with games, live music, magic, refreshments and more. DETAILS
Free Skating at Carl Zehr Square At City Hall or Our Arenas - DETAILS HERE
Go To A Kitchener Rangers Game - TICKETS HERE
Go To A KW Titans Game - TICKETS HERE
Snowshoe or Cross Country Ski at the Huron Natural Area or Rockway Or Doon Golf Courses
Enjoy our over 125km of Trails
Do A Self Guided Walking Art or Heritage Tour - DETAILS
Ski or Snowboard at CHICOPEE SKI & SUMMER RESORT
Toboggan On a Designated Hill - LOCATIONS HERE
Kitchener’s New Year’s Night of Legends December 31, 7pm to midnight in Carl Zehr Square - DETAILS.
New Year’s Levee - January 4, 1 to 4 p.m., Kitchener City Hall
Family-friendly fun with games, live music, magic, refreshments and more. DETAILS
TRAILS
CLICK ON THE IMAGE FOR INFORMATION ON KITCHENER'S TRAILS
SNOW CLEARING - SNOW EVENTS - WINTER PARKING
SNOW CLEARING - SIDEWALK AND ROAD
We're Canadian, we know winter happens and we know how to deal with it. We help our neighbours, we help push cars that get stuck and we do our best to make sure the sidewalk in front of our home is safe for everyone, including those with mobility challenges to use. The City of Kitchener has supports to help. Below is a summary of things to be aware of in the winter months.
SIDEWALK SNOW CLEARING
Because safety is a priority and we want sidewalks accessible for all, property owners must clear the sidewalks around their property of both snow and ice within 24 hours of a snowfall. These sidewalks must be maintained to bare pavement on an ongoing basis. if you're on a corner lot, this includes clearing snow and ice at the pedestrian access to the road. The technical word for the snow there is called a windrow.
If you see a sidewalk that hasn't been cleared within 24 hours, you can notify our bylaw department by calling our 24 Contact Centre at 519.741.2345. A bylaw officer will visit the area, if they determine the sidewalk is not clear will issue a notice to the property owner. The property owner will then have another 24 hours to clear it to the bare pavement standard. If the sidewalk has not been cleared after that, a contractor may be hired to clear your sidewalk and add the cost of the clearing is added to your property tax bill. We also have proactive bylaw officers who look for infractions. Their goal is to educate and inform so the property owner understands the importance of clearing their sidewalk snow.
If you need help clearing your sidewalk there are agencies who provide paid for service help. Try contacting Community Support Connections, 519-772-8787 or The Working Centre, 519-743-1151
Apply for our Assisted Sidewalk Snow Clearing Program For eligible Seniors and Persons with a Disability. Click HERE
The City removes snow from Sidewalks that surround city-owned property, like community centres, sidewalks within the downtown core, in connection with the Downtown Kitchener BIA, ‘back lot’ sidewalks that run along the back fence of properties that owners do not have to maintain under the bylaw, walkways between neighbourhoods, crossing guard locations and some crosswalks
FREE SAND FOR YOUR SIDEWALK - Kitchener provides free sand for citizens to put on the sidewalk to help with traction and prevent slips and falls. You'll need to bring your own shovel and containers. To find the closest sandbox to you just use this locator. HERE
Kitchener Does Not Maintain
Catholic or Public School Board sidewalks.
Waterloo Catholic District School Board 519-578-3660
Waterloo Region District School Board Sidewalk Maintenance 519.570.0003
Once sidewalk has been confirmed to be maintained by the WCDSB, customer should contact the WCDSB at
Mailboxes - Canada Post is responsible at 1.800.267.1177
Grand River Transit Bus Stops. All inquiries/complaints should be directed to GRT at 519-585-7555. This includes when GRT’s contractor occasionally (unintentionally) fills in a resident’s sidewalk with snow while clearing bus stops
Gravel/Stonedust trails. The trails that are not winter-maintained are have signs indicating “No winter maintenance – closed”
The Region of Waterloo maintains the Spur Line Trail
If you see a sidewalk that hasn't been cleared within 24 hours, you can notify our bylaw department by calling our 24 Contact Centre at 519.741.2345. A bylaw officer will visit the area, if they determine the sidewalk is not clear will issue a notice to the property owner. The property owner will then have another 24 hours to clear it to the bare pavement standard. If the sidewalk has not been cleared after that, a contractor may be hired to clear your sidewalk and add the cost of the clearing is added to your property tax bill. We also have proactive bylaw officers who look for infractions. Their goal is to educate and inform so the property owner understands the importance of clearing their sidewalk snow.
If you need help clearing your sidewalk there are agencies who provide paid for service help. Try contacting Community Support Connections, 519-772-8787 or The Working Centre, 519-743-1151
Apply for our Assisted Sidewalk Snow Clearing Program For eligible Seniors and Persons with a Disability. Click HERE
The City removes snow from Sidewalks that surround city-owned property, like community centres, sidewalks within the downtown core, in connection with the Downtown Kitchener BIA, ‘back lot’ sidewalks that run along the back fence of properties that owners do not have to maintain under the bylaw, walkways between neighbourhoods, crossing guard locations and some crosswalks
FREE SAND FOR YOUR SIDEWALK - Kitchener provides free sand for citizens to put on the sidewalk to help with traction and prevent slips and falls. You'll need to bring your own shovel and containers. To find the closest sandbox to you just use this locator. HERE
Kitchener Does Not Maintain
Catholic or Public School Board sidewalks.
Waterloo Catholic District School Board 519-578-3660
Waterloo Region District School Board Sidewalk Maintenance 519.570.0003
Once sidewalk has been confirmed to be maintained by the WCDSB, customer should contact the WCDSB at
Mailboxes - Canada Post is responsible at 1.800.267.1177
Grand River Transit Bus Stops. All inquiries/complaints should be directed to GRT at 519-585-7555. This includes when GRT’s contractor occasionally (unintentionally) fills in a resident’s sidewalk with snow while clearing bus stops
Gravel/Stonedust trails. The trails that are not winter-maintained are have signs indicating “No winter maintenance – closed”
The Region of Waterloo maintains the Spur Line Trail
ROAD SNOW CLEARING
The Province sets the regulations for the order that snows are cleared of snow. Basically, the major roads that carry the most traffic and transit routes get cleared first. Here is the order the Province sets:
Priority 1 - Main roads and major arteries. All priority 1 and 2 routes and all GRT bus routes are maintained until complete.
Priority 2 - Hills, curves and GRT routes. Work on priority 2 streets begins only after priority 1 streets have been completed. If snow resumes while in priority 1 or 2, then clearing priority 1 roads is restarted.
Priority 3 - The balance of backstreets, completing a full plow of the city. Work on priority 3 routes starts only after priorities 1 and 2 have been completed. If snow resumes while in priority 1 or 2, then clearing priority 1 roads is restarted.
Check to see if your street is a Priority 1, 2 or 3 street HERE
The City of Kitchener is responsible for winter maintenance of roads, boulevard multi-use trails (BMUTs) that are in the road right-of-way, multi-use trails (MUTs) that are primarily in parks and open spaces (not in the road right-of-way – e.g. Iron Horse Trail) select City Facilities (parking lots and walkways) and certain City sidewalks. Winter maintenance includes plowing, sanding and salting. Several factors - temperature, future forecasts, precipitation type and amount - determine how and when this maintenance is completed.
All roads are classified as per traffic volumes according to Provincial criteria and the city must achieve quality standards that are consistent across the province. Often this standard is surpassed.
City of Kitchener staff act as soon as a snow event/storm begins and sometimes before. There are several factors including temperature, future forecasts and precipitation amount and type that determine how and when plowing, salting, or sanding should take place.
Winter Maintenance
Filled in Driveways/Sidewalks
Plows attempt to minimize impacts to driveways with snow windrows, however the snow must be directed to the side of the road.
Typically, it is the homeowner’s responsibility to clear this snow. Only serious and unreasonable reports of driveways being filled in (mostly in areas that do not have a boulevard) should be reported.
For extreme situations where the property owner has been maintaining the driveway/sidewalk on a regular basis and the amount of snow placed by the road plow is extreme, submit investigation to Scott Berry ([email protected]) The supervisor will investigate and may arrange to have the snow removed. There is no timeframe for when the supervisor will investigate. If the complaint is legitimate the plow area supervisor will arrange to have the sidewalk cleared by a sidewalk plow
If you have a bus stop in front of your home and the snow is a result of bus stop clearing, you would contact Grand River Transit at 519-585-7555 or use their online reporting form HERE
Why The City Does Not Use Plow Gates.
We have looked into using them and have spoken to other municipalities that currently use them or have previously used them.
Plow gates are generally on graders or tractors etc. and not available for tandem truck set ups, which constitute well over ¾ of our plowing fleet. To complicate this, trucks may be plowing with or without a wing plow - depending on the situation - so plow gates would be required on both plows on the truck to be consistent. The plow gate can only hold a small amount of snow until it gets full, which happens very quickly. These gates are very high maintenance devices and are prone to failure. Snow gates are very time consuming, and difficult to operate
This YouTube video shows how plow gates work: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gz_yXNaoysQ
Bike Lane Plowing
On street bike lanes are cleared by city road plows. Trackless plows clear these separated bike lanes as they require smaller equipment to fit in between the flex stakes
Trails and Paths - The City maintains most of the hard surface paths and trails that run through parks and open spaces, but not all. We don't clear snow from trails that don't have a hard surface because we don't want to damage them. Multi use paths that run alongside roads are cleared of snow through a partnership with the city and the Region of Waterloo.
Grass And Turf Damage Caused By Snowplows
Report incident to Kitchener's Corporate Contact Centre (CCC) at 519.741.2345 or email [email protected] and copy Scott Berry ([email protected]) This allows the plow supervisor to investigate the damage and let's staff know what needs to be fixed in the spring. City staff check each street for plow damage in the spring, however, if a resident advises of damage, the CCC will create a service request for repair. Repairs to exposed grass areas damaged by snow-clearing operations along roadways and winter-maintained trails begin when staff are confident that the snow is done falling, usually by early April. To repair grass, staff apply topsoil, grade and seed the damaged area. It takes about six weeks to complete repairs across the city.
Anti-icing
Anti-icing is a proactive strategy where salt brine is applied to the road by specialized anti-icing units
It looks like we are spraying water on the roadway but it is a salt brine mixture of water and 23% salt. The water evaporates leaving a salt residue behind.
The brine aids in preventing a bond between the pavement and snow and ice. Less salt (if any) is required to break the bond and increases the effectiveness of plowing early in a winter storm.
The application is applied before a forecasted snow or frost situation or after rain has stripped all residual salt from the roadways. Anti-icing brine cannot be applied if it’s raining. Rain also washes away anti-icing brine and city forces will have to re-apply.
Bridges become slippery at temperatures different from the surrounding road - this is why bridges are anti-iced differently than the surrounding road.
Priority 1 - Main roads and major arteries. All priority 1 and 2 routes and all GRT bus routes are maintained until complete.
Priority 2 - Hills, curves and GRT routes. Work on priority 2 streets begins only after priority 1 streets have been completed. If snow resumes while in priority 1 or 2, then clearing priority 1 roads is restarted.
Priority 3 - The balance of backstreets, completing a full plow of the city. Work on priority 3 routes starts only after priorities 1 and 2 have been completed. If snow resumes while in priority 1 or 2, then clearing priority 1 roads is restarted.
Check to see if your street is a Priority 1, 2 or 3 street HERE
The City of Kitchener is responsible for winter maintenance of roads, boulevard multi-use trails (BMUTs) that are in the road right-of-way, multi-use trails (MUTs) that are primarily in parks and open spaces (not in the road right-of-way – e.g. Iron Horse Trail) select City Facilities (parking lots and walkways) and certain City sidewalks. Winter maintenance includes plowing, sanding and salting. Several factors - temperature, future forecasts, precipitation type and amount - determine how and when this maintenance is completed.
All roads are classified as per traffic volumes according to Provincial criteria and the city must achieve quality standards that are consistent across the province. Often this standard is surpassed.
City of Kitchener staff act as soon as a snow event/storm begins and sometimes before. There are several factors including temperature, future forecasts and precipitation amount and type that determine how and when plowing, salting, or sanding should take place.
Winter Maintenance
- For most inquires and after business hours, contact the Corporate Contact Centre (The CCC) by phone or email.
- Phone: 519-741-2345
- Email: [email protected]
Filled in Driveways/Sidewalks
Plows attempt to minimize impacts to driveways with snow windrows, however the snow must be directed to the side of the road.
Typically, it is the homeowner’s responsibility to clear this snow. Only serious and unreasonable reports of driveways being filled in (mostly in areas that do not have a boulevard) should be reported.
For extreme situations where the property owner has been maintaining the driveway/sidewalk on a regular basis and the amount of snow placed by the road plow is extreme, submit investigation to Scott Berry ([email protected]) The supervisor will investigate and may arrange to have the snow removed. There is no timeframe for when the supervisor will investigate. If the complaint is legitimate the plow area supervisor will arrange to have the sidewalk cleared by a sidewalk plow
If you have a bus stop in front of your home and the snow is a result of bus stop clearing, you would contact Grand River Transit at 519-585-7555 or use their online reporting form HERE
Why The City Does Not Use Plow Gates.
We have looked into using them and have spoken to other municipalities that currently use them or have previously used them.
Plow gates are generally on graders or tractors etc. and not available for tandem truck set ups, which constitute well over ¾ of our plowing fleet. To complicate this, trucks may be plowing with or without a wing plow - depending on the situation - so plow gates would be required on both plows on the truck to be consistent. The plow gate can only hold a small amount of snow until it gets full, which happens very quickly. These gates are very high maintenance devices and are prone to failure. Snow gates are very time consuming, and difficult to operate
This YouTube video shows how plow gates work: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gz_yXNaoysQ
Bike Lane Plowing
On street bike lanes are cleared by city road plows. Trackless plows clear these separated bike lanes as they require smaller equipment to fit in between the flex stakes
Trails and Paths - The City maintains most of the hard surface paths and trails that run through parks and open spaces, but not all. We don't clear snow from trails that don't have a hard surface because we don't want to damage them. Multi use paths that run alongside roads are cleared of snow through a partnership with the city and the Region of Waterloo.
Grass And Turf Damage Caused By Snowplows
Report incident to Kitchener's Corporate Contact Centre (CCC) at 519.741.2345 or email [email protected] and copy Scott Berry ([email protected]) This allows the plow supervisor to investigate the damage and let's staff know what needs to be fixed in the spring. City staff check each street for plow damage in the spring, however, if a resident advises of damage, the CCC will create a service request for repair. Repairs to exposed grass areas damaged by snow-clearing operations along roadways and winter-maintained trails begin when staff are confident that the snow is done falling, usually by early April. To repair grass, staff apply topsoil, grade and seed the damaged area. It takes about six weeks to complete repairs across the city.
Anti-icing
Anti-icing is a proactive strategy where salt brine is applied to the road by specialized anti-icing units
It looks like we are spraying water on the roadway but it is a salt brine mixture of water and 23% salt. The water evaporates leaving a salt residue behind.
The brine aids in preventing a bond between the pavement and snow and ice. Less salt (if any) is required to break the bond and increases the effectiveness of plowing early in a winter storm.
The application is applied before a forecasted snow or frost situation or after rain has stripped all residual salt from the roadways. Anti-icing brine cannot be applied if it’s raining. Rain also washes away anti-icing brine and city forces will have to re-apply.
Bridges become slippery at temperatures different from the surrounding road - this is why bridges are anti-iced differently than the surrounding road.
SNOW EVENTS
There are times when we get a significant snowfall and our snow clearing crews need to quickly clear the snow from our streets in a short period of time including overnight hours. When this happens we declare a Snow Event. We usually declare a snow event by 5pm to give you time to move your car. I have Snow Event Information for you HERE
During a Snow Events, parking on city streets is not allowed until the Snow Event is declared over you can't park on city streets. Cars that are parked on a street during a snow event may be towed We let you know about Snow Events by updating our Storm and emergency updates page at kitchener.ca, by posting on our Facebook, Instagram and X (Twitter) accounts, sending an email to our snow web page subscribers and through the local media.
You can subscribe to receive Storm and Emergency updates by subscribing to website page updates here STORM & EMERGENCY UPDATES Look for a green box near the bottom right of the page that says Subscribe To Page Updates.
WINTER OVERNIGHT PARKING - Overnight parking (between 2:30 - 6am) on city streets is not allowed between December 1 and March 31. You can apply for an exemption up to 5 times for each license plate. You must apply before 2am. To request a parking exemption call our 24 hour contact centre at 519.741.2345 or apply online HERE
Kitchener's Parking Bylaws can be found HERE
During a Snow Events, parking on city streets is not allowed until the Snow Event is declared over you can't park on city streets. Cars that are parked on a street during a snow event may be towed We let you know about Snow Events by updating our Storm and emergency updates page at kitchener.ca, by posting on our Facebook, Instagram and X (Twitter) accounts, sending an email to our snow web page subscribers and through the local media.
You can subscribe to receive Storm and Emergency updates by subscribing to website page updates here STORM & EMERGENCY UPDATES Look for a green box near the bottom right of the page that says Subscribe To Page Updates.
WINTER OVERNIGHT PARKING - Overnight parking (between 2:30 - 6am) on city streets is not allowed between December 1 and March 31. You can apply for an exemption up to 5 times for each license plate. You must apply before 2am. To request a parking exemption call our 24 hour contact centre at 519.741.2345 or apply online HERE
Kitchener's Parking Bylaws can be found HERE
Full Snow Removal Information HERE