In Toronto, the sidewalk beside your home is your job — up to a point. The bylaw gives you 12 hours after the snow stops to clear it, unless the City's machines handle your sidewalk, which they now do on most streets once snow reaches about 2 cm. Your own driveway, steps and front walk are always yours, within 24 hours. Here are the rules in plain language, from Chapter 719 of the Toronto Municipal Code.
The sidewalk rule: 12 hours
Every owner or occupant of a building has to clear snow and ice from the sidewalk in front of, alongside and behind the building within 12 hours after a snowfall ends. Corner lots, take note: alongside and behind count too, so the long side-street stretch is part of your job even though it feels like it belongs to the City.
The clock starts when the snow stops, not when it starts. Snow that ends at midnight means a cleared sidewalk by noon.
When the City clears your sidewalk instead
Since 2021, the City has run mechanical sidewalk clearing across all of Toronto. Machines start once about 2 cm of snow has accumulated, and where the City clears a sidewalk under this program, the 12-hour duty for that sidewalk lifts — the bylaw exempts owners and occupants wherever the City has taken on the clearing. The City's own background summary of the snow-clearing rules explains how the service levels work.
Two gaps are worth knowing:
- Under 2 cm, no machines come. Light snow and the ice it leaves behind on the sidewalk are still your responsibility.
- The program covers the public sidewalk only. It never touches your driveway, steps or walkway.
Your own property: 24 hours
A separate rule runs on a separate clock. The snow and ice on your own land — steps, landings, walkways, driveways, parking pads and ramps — must be cleared within 24 hours of a snowfall. There is no city program behind this one and no exception for small amounts. If someone delivers to your door, collects your mail or walks your dog, this is the stretch that matters most for slips.
Ice is part of the job
Clearing once is not always the end of it. If a cleared sidewalk turns slippery afterwards — meltwater refreezing overnight is the usual cause — the bylaw expects you to spread salt, sand or a similar material over the icy patch, and to repeat it as often as needed. A bag of sidewalk salt by the door in November saves a scramble in January.
If you rent your home
The bylaw speaks to the owner or occupant of the building, and an occupant is an adult who lives there. So if you rent a whole house, the City can hold you responsible for the clearing whatever your lease says. What the lease says about snow still matters — it settles the arrangement between you and your landlord — but it does not change who the City holds to the rule. That is worth one conversation before winter, not after the first storm.
What happens if you leave it
If the City ends up clearing a sidewalk that was your responsibility, it can recover the cost from the property owner. Fines for breaking the chapter can reach $5,000, though that ceiling is meant for the serious end of things. And pushing your snow onto the road is its own offence, which can bring a separate fine.
Can't shovel it yourself?
If the rules are clear but the shovelling is the problem — a bad back, a newborn, a trip south — the usual answer on most streets is a neighbour. Plenty of Toronto homes pay someone on their own block per snowfall, typically $45 to $75 for a driveway and walkway, and our guide to what snow removal costs in Toronto breaks down the going rates. On Yoodle, neighbours post jobs like this and local helpers offer, free for both sides. You can post the job in a couple of minutes, or check local helpers first.
The short version
- Sidewalk beside your home: cleared within 12 hours of the snow stopping, unless the City clears that sidewalk under its winter program (machines start at about 2 cm).
- Your driveway, steps and walk: always yours, within 24 hours.
- Ice that forms later: salt or sand it, as often as it takes.
- Leave it, and the City can clear it, bill the owner, and fine up to $5,000.