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What Snow Removal Insurance Covers in Ontario and Why Contractors Need It
It usually starts with an email in October. A property manager writes to say the snow contract is ready to sign, and before anything else they need a certificate of insurance. Five million in liability, their company named as an additional insured, within a week.
For a lot of Ontario contractors that email is the first time anyone explained what the winter requires of them. The plow is bought, the salt is ordered, the route is planned. The paperwork decides whether the work happens at all.
The name misleads people, so start here. Snow removal insurance in Ontario does not insure the snow and does not pay to clear it. It insures the business doing the clearing.
What is snow removal insurance?
Snow removal insurance is commercial business insurance for a contractor paid to clear snow and ice. It is a package built around commercial general liability, and it pays when the contractor injures someone or damages property doing the work, and when the contractor is sued over it.
It belongs in the same family as any other trade coverage. A plumber carries it, an electrician carries it. In Ontario the contractor who plows in January is usually the same person who cuts grass in July, so it is generally an extension of a landscaping or property maintenance policy rather than a separate product. It is not homeowner or personal auto insurance, and neither of those responds to a claim arising from paid work.
Why do Ontario snow contractors need insurance?
Because three things routinely go wrong in this trade and all three land on the contractor, not the client. None involve the snow damaging anything.
Somebody slips, and they sue you as well as the property owner
This is the exposure that defines the trade. A customer falls in a plaza lot at seven in the morning, breaks a wrist or a hip, and a claim follows.
Ontario law expects the contractor to be part of that claim. In December 2020 the province amended the Occupiers' Liability Act (external, open in new tab) to add section 6.1, requiring anyone injured by snow or ice to deliver written notice within sixty days, served on the occupier and on any independent contractor responsible for maintaining the premises. The statute names the snow contractor directly, and it requires the occupier to forward a copy to any contractor working the site in that period.
Serious fall injuries produce six figure claims once lost income and future care are counted, and even a dismissed claim has to be defended. General liability pays the defence and the settlement. Without it, an owner operator pays both personally.
The plow damages the property you are clearing
This is the highest frequency claim in snow work, and it is almost always a visibility problem. At five in the morning under fresh snow a blade catches a curb, a garage door, a bollard or a parked car. Come spring the sod along every edge is torn up, and salt has spalled the concrete.
That is damage to someone else's property caused by your operation, and it sits in general liability. It is also why the policy needs reading for care, custody and control wording, since some forms limit damage to property you are working on.
Your truck stops being a personal vehicle
The moment a pickup is used for paid plowing it is a commercial vehicle. A personal auto policy is written for personal use, and an insurer that discovers the truck was working a commercial route can deny the claim.
Two details get missed constantly. The truck needs commercial auto coverage, and the blade and spreader have to be listed on it. An unscheduled attachment is often not covered, which contractors discover after the blade is bent.
What type of insurance do you need for snow removal in Ontario?
A working snow contractor needs four coverages at minimum, and more depending on the size of the operation and what the contract demands.
Coverage | What it does | Who needs it |
Commercial general liability | Pays third party injury and property damage claims, plus the cost of defending them. The slip and fall coverage. | Everyone. This is the one on the certificate. |
Commercial auto | Covers the truck while it is working, including the plow and spreader when they are scheduled on the policy. | Everyone with a truck on a route. |
Tools and equipment | Replaces blades, spreaders, blowers and small equipment if stolen or damaged. | Almost everyone. Yard theft is common. |
Contractual liability | Responds when you have signed a contract taking on the client's liability. Most snow contracts contain that clause. | Anyone signing a commercial contract. |
What insurance limits do Ontario snow contracts require?
Most commercial clients ask for two million dollars in general liability, and municipal, school board and institutional tenders commonly ask for five.
Those are not theoretical numbers. Public tenders publish their requirements. The Township of Otonabee-South Monaghan has required general liability of at least five million per occurrence with a ten million aggregate, and the Bruce Grey Catholic District School Board two million per occurrence. Automobile liability in the same documents runs from two to five million.
Type of client | General liability typically required | Other common requirements |
Residential driveways | $1 million | Usually nothing in writing, though this is changing |
Small commercial, plazas, condo corporations | $2 million | Certificate of insurance, named as additional insured, 30 days notice of cancellation |
Municipal and school board tenders | $5 million per occurrence, sometimes $10 million aggregate | Certificate within days of award, products and completed operations, sudden and accidental pollution, primary and non-contributory wording, WSIB clearance |
Two pieces of that list cause the most trouble. Additional insured means the client is added to your policy so your insurer defends them too, and it is almost never optional. WSIB clearance is not insurance at all, and clients want a current certificate from the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (external, open in new tab) before releasing the contract.
How much is snow removal insurance in Ontario?
An owner operator running one truck and plow in Ontario generally starts around three thousand eight hundred dollars a year for general liability at a one million dollar limit, and residential only work closer to eighteen hundred.
Those figures are for liability alone. Commercial auto, tools and equipment and any contract-required coverage price on top.
The biggest single rating question is whether sidewalks are in your scope, because sidewalks are where people actually fall. Commercial work, subcontracting and prior claims all push the number up. Documented site logs and years without a claim bring it down.
Why is snow removal insurance so expensive in Ontario?
Because Ontario produces more snow and ice injury litigation than the rest of the country, and pricing follows claims. The same one truck operation that starts near three thousand eight hundred dollars here starts closer to twenty five hundred in other provinces, and section 6.1 is a large part of the reason.
When is the best time to buy snow removal insurance in Ontario?
September and October. Coverage must be in force before the first push and the certificate must exist before the contract is signed, and both happen well before the first snowfall.
What sets the deadline is the contract calendar, not the weather. Tenders go out through late summer and fall, awards land between September and November, and some require the certificate within seven working days of award. A contractor who starts shopping after winning the bid can lose it on paperwork alone.
Capacity is the second reason. Markets for this class are limited, they tighten as the season approaches, and some insurers stop writing new snow risks once claims start. October gives a broker time to approach more than one insurer and negotiate wording rather than accept whatever is still open.
And you cannot wait to see a forecast. Measurable snow around Lake Simcoe can arrive in November, and one freezing rain event before coverage is bound is an uninsured push on a property you are responsible for.
When | What to do | How it goes |
August to September | Review last season's policy, confirm what you are bidding, start quotes | Best window. Full choice of markets |
October | Bind coverage, have certificates ready on demand | Still comfortable. Time to negotiate wording |
November | Place coverage before the first event | Tight. Fewer options, less room to negotiate |
December to February | Mid-season placement | Difficult. Some insurers stop writing, and any push before coverage is bound is uninsured |
March to July | Review wording, claims and limits | Off season. Cheapest time to fix problems |
What happens if you plow without insurance in Ontario?
Two things, and the first hurts long before the second. You cannot win commercial work, because no property manager, condo board or municipality signs a snow contract without a certificate of insurance. An uninsured contractor is capped at cash residential driveways.
Then there is the claim. If someone falls and sues, an uninsured contractor pays the defence and any judgment out of the business and then out of personal assets. In Ontario that is not remote. It is the most likely claim in the trade.
Who is liable if someone slips on a property you hired someone to clear?
The property owner or occupier is still liable after hiring a contractor, and hiring an uninsured one leaves nobody to share that liability with.
This matters to homeowners, landlords, condo corporations and small business owners as much as to contractors. The duty to keep a property reasonably safe belongs to the occupier. Hiring a contractor helps meet that duty but does not transfer it, and if that contractor has no coverage the claim lands on your policy.
So before winter, ask whoever clears your property for a certificate of insurance and check that it is current rather than last season's, ask to be named as an additional insured on commercial or rental property, and keep your own liability limit at two million dollars, which on a home policy or a condominium policy costs very little more than one million.
Snow contractors across York Region and Lake Simcoe
Snow work here looks different from snow work downtown, and that changes what the coverage has to do.
Mixed routes. A typical operation around Keswick, Georgina, Sutton and Pefferlaw mixes residential driveways with a plaza, a church lot and a few rental properties, and newer tenders in Newmarket, Bradford, Uxbridge and Stouffville add real insurance requirements. Those are different exposures priced differently, and a policy written as residential only will not answer a commercial claim.
Lake effect volume. Snow east and south of Lake Simcoe arrives fast and heavy, so more events per season means more hours in the dark and more chances for a claim.
Long rural laneways. Around Mount Albert, East Gwillimbury, Holland Landing, Sharon and Queensville much of the work is private laneways with soft shoulders, culverts and buried services. Claims here are about what is under the snow, not who is walking on it.
The landscaping crossover. Most of these businesses are landscaping and property maintenance companies for eight months of the year, and the mistake we see is a summer policy that was never told about the winter work. Snow and ice operations have to be declared, or the liability coverage may not answer a winter claim.
Bidding snow work this season? Send us the contract before you sign it. We will tell you what limits and endorsements it actually demands, whether your current policy answers it, and what the certificate will cost. Have your equipment list handy, and whether sidewalks are in your scope, since that is the single biggest rating question. Al Dorman Insurance Brokers has placed contractor's insurance across York Region for more than fifty years, from our offices in Keswick and Mount Albert. Request a quote or get in touch.
One more thing, the cheapest risk control in this trade. Keep a dated log of every visit, push and salt application, with times. When a claim arrives eight months later, that log defends it.
Frequently asked questions
What is snow removal insurance?
It is commercial insurance for a business paid to clear snow and ice. It is built around commercial general liability, which pays third party injury and property damage claims and the cost of defending them, and it usually adds commercial auto and tools and equipment coverage.
Do you need insurance for snow removal in Ontario?
Not by statute, but yes in practice. Commercial, condo, school board and municipal clients will not sign a contract without a certificate of insurance, and without coverage the contractor personally absorbs any slip and fall claim.
How much is snow removal insurance in Ontario?
An owner operator with one truck and plow typically starts around three thousand eight hundred dollars a year for a one million dollar liability limit. Residential only operations start closer to eighteen hundred. Commercial auto and equipment are priced separately.
Why is snow removal insurance so expensive in Ontario?
Ontario has more frequent and costlier snow and ice injury claims than other provinces, and section 6.1 of the Occupiers' Liability Act brings the contractor into the claim alongside the property owner. The same operation often costs a third less to insure elsewhere in Canada.
What insurance limit do snow contracts usually require?
Two million dollars in general liability is the common commercial requirement. Municipal, institutional and school board tenders frequently require five million per occurrence, and some a ten million aggregate.
When should I buy snow removal insurance?
September or October. Coverage must be in force before your first push and the certificate must exist before the contract is signed. November is possible but tight, and mid-season placement is difficult because some insurers stop writing new snow risks once claims begin.
Does my landscaping policy already cover snow removal?
Only if the snow and ice operations were declared to the insurer. Many landscaping policies are written for the growing season alone, and undisclosed winter work may not be covered. Confirm it before the season rather than after a claim.
Is my plow covered by my truck insurance?
Not automatically. The blade and spreader generally have to be listed on the commercial auto policy, and a personal auto policy does not cover a vehicle used for paid plowing at all.
I hired someone to plow my property. Am I still liable if someone falls?
Yes. Under the Occupiers' Liability Act the duty to keep a property reasonably safe stays with the occupier. Hiring a contractor helps you meet that duty but does not transfer it, so ask for a current certificate of insurance and keep your own liability limit at two million dollars.
**This article is general information about snow removal insurance in Ontario and is not legal advice. Premiums, wordings, limits and availability vary by insurer, operation and contract. Al Dorman Insurance Brokers Ltd. has served York Region and the Lake Simcoe area for over fifty years, with offices in Keswick and Mount Albert. Speak with a licensed broker before signing a snow contract.
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