“Cities are growing and people are asking us for more and more services. And we have fewer and fewer people doing that,” he said on Noovo Info. In his eyes, this manpower shortage in the world of snow removal is understandable, admitting that it's not a “desirable or enviable” job.
After Emmanuel Monette started his snow removal business in 2010, he had enough. Due to stress, he decided to quit his job.
“For 12 years, I was tied up 24 hours a day from November 15th to April 15th,” said the man, who said he suffered from burnout and depression due to snow removal. “I stopped leaving our house and waited for the snow to fall.”
Mr. Monette denounces the public's intolerance towards snow plows and blames customers for not always paying.
“It was a relief to celebrate Christmas with my four children this year. It was my first Christmas in 14 years where I wasn’t stressed,” he added.
A changing profession?
According to the general manager of the Association of Commercial and Residential Snow Plows of Quebec, Annie Roy, the snow removal industry has been in “transformation” for the past three years.
“After the pandemic, many people questioned their quality of life and working hours. And in that sense, snow removal is absolutely abhorrent because it is not us who determines the times, but the snow,” she explained.
After a quiet start to the season, snowplows across the province will have their hands full on Tuesday when “snow amounts between 20 and 40 centimeters” will hit certain regions, Environment and Climate Change Canada said.
“You have to be ready, no matter the situation,” concluded Jean-Luc Sigouin from Sig-Nature in Laval.
Watch François Breton-Champigny's report in the video.