Updated April 8, 2025 @ 12:27pm
The City of Barrie declared a significant weather event that impacts travel and services throughout the municipality. This declaration was made in accordance with the Minimum Maintenance Standards for Municipal Highways and was in effect starting March 29, 2025, at 8:30pm. All streets in Barrie are now open allowing access to traffic, but the significant weather event will remain in place until crews are able to clear all sidewalks of tree debris.
There is a long cleanup ahead, as many trees were damaged or destroyed by the ice storm. For your safety, please stay out of trails and treed areas in City parks, and refrain from attempting cleanup on your property if you feel the area remains unsafe due to continued falling branches.
Cleanup assistance from Ontario’s big cities
Starting the week of Monday, April 7, the City of Barrie is getting assistance from many other Ontario municipalities. Now that the extra help has arrived, the City will collect ANY brush that is piled at the curb. This cleanup is expected to take months due to the extensive amount of storm debris. Thank you to residents for your patience and understanding as we work together to get through this. The City extends gratitude to the following municipalities for their support:
- Town of Ajax
- City of Brantford
- City of Burlington
- City of Cambridge
- City of Guelph
- City of Hamilton
- City of Kitchener
- City of London
- City of Richmond Hill
- City of Vaughan
- City of Windsor
Crews operating in priority/safety order
To report any downed trees on City property, please contact Service Barrie at 705-726-4242 or ServiceBarrie@barrie.ca. Do not call 911 for downed trees unless it’s a life-threatening emergency.
The order of priority of the cleanup operations:
- Clear road, driveways, and remove hazards.
- Remove materials off sidewalks, including boulevards.
- Cautioning off and assessing hazards in parks, and collection of debris off the ground in parks.
Since the ice storm, 26 crews have been out daily, including 24 chipper trucks. As of April 2, all streets in Barrie are open allowing access to traffic. The City is responsible for clearing up debris from street trees planted on the area of City-owned land between the property owner’s front property line and the street curb. Now that the extra help arrived the week of April 7, the City will collect ANY brush that is piled at the curb.
No residential brush tipping fees
The City is waiving residential brush tipping fees at the landfill site until Friday, May 2, to support storm cleanup. The landfill is located at 272 Ferndale Drive North and is open Tuesday to Saturday, 8:30am to 3:30pm. The Recycling Depot, located at the lower gate area of the site, opened early for the season and is temporarily accepting small loads of residential brush debris. Large loads/commercial traffic must use the upper landfill/scales. For more information about the landfill, visit barrie.ca/landfill.
We've been experiencing a high volume of traffic at the landfill site, and you may experience wait times. Please be patient as we work to manage the increased demand. As brush and tree cleanup is prioritized, we encourage you to visit the landfill only for the disposal of ice storm-related material at this time.
More information:https://www.barrie.ca/alerts/ice-storm
