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Ottawa has one of the highest standards in the province for winter maintenance — and it’s time to rethink that, says the auditor general’s annual report.

The city adopted its standards in 2003 after amalgamation. Since then, no one has added up how much this is costing the city.

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In fact, snow removal and disposal only counted for 10 per cent of labour hours, according to the report. Applying chemicals such as salt brine occupied 13 per cent of the hours; spreading sand and gravel on sidewalks took up nine per cent and applying dry salt took nine per cent of labour time. On-call accounted for another nine per cent, while everything else represented half of all labour hours.

When city staff aren’t assigned to plow, clear snow or apply salt or sand, they are assigned to “miscellaneous duties,” said the report. “These duties can be of a lower priority and available more cost-effectively from commercial sources.”