Ice Storm Update - Clean Up

Here are the latest on storm clean-up measures in Barrie, Orillia, and Simcoe County.

BARRIE

April 14, 2025

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 ice storm cleanup crews 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. 

Cleanup 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:

1. Clear road, driveways, and remove hazards.
2. Remove materials off sidewalks, including boulevards.
3. 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 were 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 ice storm cleanup crews will collect ANY brush that is piled at the curb. 

During the cleanup, crews are inventorying trees city-wide; select trees are being flagged for removal.

As of April 10, crews have been able to make a first pass of 50 percent of the city to collect debris at the curb. Crews will be making multiple passes across the city until everything is cleaned up. 

Tips to help crews

When stacking brush curbside for ice storm cleanup crews, please note tips that can help chipping crews chip brush as quickly as possible:

• Stack brush at the curb in a neat pile.
• Be careful not to block sidewalks, fire hydrants, etc.
• For thicker pieces of brush and logs, face the freshly cut ends toward the road.

Please remember that regular curbside yard waste collection is taking place separately from ice storm cleanup operations, and anything that is intended for yard waste collection will only be collected by yard waste collection trucks if it's packaged for yard waste collection trucks.

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.

Trees flagged for removal

Crews are inventorying City-owned trees throughout Barrie for hazards. Trees marked with a "K" have been flagged for removal at a future date. Door knockers with more information will be delivered in advance of any action taken for specific street trees. Only structurally unsound trees will be removed. As part of the City's forestry program, all locations where City trees have been removed will be assessed for replanting, as it is our intention to replace City-owned trees destroyed during the ice storm.

ORILLIA

April 14, 2025

• Residential brush pick-up is underway. This city-wide effort will take time, and residents are asked to place downed brush and branches on their front property behind the sidewalk and off the roadway without blocking sidewalks, roads, or infrastructure.
• Curbside garbage collection will continue this week and next (April 7–19).
  • No garbage tags are required during this period.
  • No bag limit (clear bags only; double bag spoiled food waste if not using the green bin).
  • Spoiled food waste may be placed in garbage with packaging from April 14–19.
• The Waste Diversion Site is open with extended hours and fees waived for essential storm debris, including brush, wood, drywall, and storm-damaged materials. For questions about acceptable items, call 705-325-3522.

COUNTY OF SIMCOE

April 14, 2025

Cart Collection

In the aftermath of the ice storm, we are making every effort continue with regular curbside waste collection. The majority of our residents have received collection, however, some areas remain inaccessible due to debris, downed power lines or road closures. Impacted areas will be communicated through the Simcoe County Collects app.

What do I do if my carts haven’t been collected? Carts are required to be accessible and at the curb by 7 a.m. on your regular collection schedule and should have remained curbside during the week. If you believe your carts were missed, please contact Service Simcoe at service@simcoe.ca or 1-800-263-3199.

Curbside Brush Collection

In response to the recent ice storm, the County of Simcoe is deploying brush collection services starting on Monday, April 7, 2025, prioritizing the most impacted areas of the region, particularly Oro-Medonte, Ramara and Severn, which are in a continued declared emergency.  From April 7 – 25 only brush will be accepted curbside, not bagged leaf and yard waste or bagged brush. 

As collection ramps up, we will do everything we can to deploy crews to areas where they will be most effective and will service other impacted communities as quickly as possible. We anticipate that it will take time to reach all areas of the County. The County will continue to communicate with residents through social media and the Simcoe County Collects App. 

Collecting smaller brush, branches and limbs:  

• Regular leaf and yard waste trucks are currently collecting smaller brush piles only in the hardest-hit areas of the County.   
• These trucks can only collect branches/limbs up to 2 meters in length and 10 centimetres in diameter and we ask that piles be manageable for one person to clear. 
• Bundling of brush is NOT required, but it’s preferred as it will help us help our communities faster! 

Collecting larger brush, branches and limbs:  

• The County, with our municipalities, is procuring additional resources to collect and process larger brush debris. 
• Larger limbs can be left at a safe distance from the curb and will be collected and processed in time.  

TIP: Sort debris into larger and smaller brush piles. Crews will collect what they can now and return later for larger branches and limbs. 

Please remain patient as this may take months to clean up.  

Unbundled brush, large branches and logs are accepted at all County Waste Facilities, no limits apply. Brush debris will be accepted free of charge at Waste Facilities, through the end of May 2025. Root balls are not considered brush and will be charged at the full waste disposal rate. See ‘Free Brush Drop off’ for more information.

To support the cleanup process from the ice storm that affected homes and businesses across the region, County of Simcoe waste drop-off sites will be accepting brush debris, free of charge, until the end of May 2025 (extended from April 28). This is the fastest way for residents to remove debris from their property, especially large brush.

Note that root balls are not considered brush and will be charged at the full waste disposal rate.

This applies to all residents, businesses and municipalities in the County. Private contractors will NOT be charged for brush unless the material is clearly unrelated to the storm. Root balls will have a charge applied, as they require additional processing. 

For a full list of County waste drop-off facilities, including details on expanded operating days and temporary brush drop-off sites, please click here.

Free BrushDrop Off

To support the cleanup process from the ice storm that affected homes and businesses across the region, County of Simcoe waste drop-off sites will be accepting brush debris, free of charge, until the end of May 2025 (extended from April 28). This is the fastest way for residents to remove debris from their property, especially large brush.

Note that root balls are not considered brush and will be charged at the full waste disposal rate.

This applies to all residents, businesses and municipalities in the County. Private contractors will NOT be charged for brush unless the material is clearly unrelated to the storm. Root balls will have a charge applied, as they require additional processing. 

For a full list of County waste drop-off facilities, including details on expanded operating days and temporary brush drop-off sites, please click here.