About MPS

By late summer many homeowners are starting to think about fall cleanups and putting their gardens to bed in preparation for winter. Many are surprised to discover that fall is the second-best time to plant or lay sod! This is because the weather conditions in the fall are more ideal for plants and sod to establish strong roots than during the summer months. Here’s why we love planting in the fall:

• Up to 6 weeks before the ground freezes
• Lots of opportunities for the roots to take hold

1. Temperature

The temperatures may be cooler, but the days are typically sunny and warm. This will help protect your new plants and sod from burning out. The cooler temperature allows the ground to retain moisture, since the water doesn’t evaporate as quickly, and this combination promotes strong root establishment. We recommend planting in the fall up to 6 weeks before the ground typically freezes in your region.

2. Reliable Rainfall

When you’re planting or installing new sod, water is an extremely important factor for success. Since rainfall is more reliable during the fall than mid-summer, and isn’t evaporated as quickly, your new greenery will require less watering from you!

3. Sunlight

Fall provides enough sunlight for plants and sod to establish, but not so much that they are at risk of burning out.

4. Ready to go next spring

Planting or installing sod in the fall allows your new plants to establish themselves and gives you a head start on your landscaping for next spring!

Pro-Tip: Adding mulch to your gardens or around newly planted shrubs adds additional protection by insulating the roots and helping the soil retain water to optimize growing; please refer our blog on mulch for more information.

MPS is committed to continual learning, best practices and collaboration, which is why we’ve been members of the Snow and Ice Management Association (SIMA) since 2001. SIMA is a non-profit trade association with a focus on training, events, and best practices related to snow plowing, ice management, and business management. Their mission is to empowering snow & ice management for success

This year MPS’ Fleet Manager, Dave Grant, was nominated for and awarded SIMA’s ‘Snow Operations Employee of the Year’. Dave joined the MPS team in 2019, and although relatively new to the MPS organization, Dave stepped up and led by example, becoming a member of the MPS Leadership Committee and displaying continual commitment to the company and its growth. His communication skills and foresight allowed our winter staff instant access to the operational status of our entire fleet of vehicles and equipment. Dave never failed to show up when called in in the middle of the night to deal with breakdowns, another great example of leading by example. His ability to manage breakdowns and repairs allowed MPS to reduce our downtime and increase operational efficiency. His improvements to our damage tracking system also allowed MPS to have access to up-to-date repair costs and budget status. His implementations saved MPS thousands of dollars in downtime and prevented service disruptions too

One of Dave’s most impactful changes was the implementation of a web-based digital Vehicle & Equipment tracking portal (Fleetio) that allowed dispatch & operational personnel to continually see which (if any) vehicles or pieces of equipment were not operational or requiring service. This portal eliminated situations requiring “last-minute” operational planning changes due to lack of equipment. Dave and his team of mechanics maintained near 100% availability of our fleet of 150 vehicles and loaders, and an additional 120 pieces of equipment for walkway crews. When breakdowns did occur during snow events, the 24-hour scheduling and staffing of his team of mechanics allowed MPS to make repairs on-site or at the MPS shop. Dave is also a very proactive fleet manager, continually on the lookout for the best new pieces of equipment or vehicles, developing great relationships with dealers and distributors to plan for future growth. His impactful organization, knowledge and expertise has allowed MPS to grow our fleet and ensure near 100% operational functionality when the snow flies.

Thanks Dave, you’re a really important member of our MPS Team!

At MPS our Health & Safety Program is comprised of both Occupational and Operational safety and is based upon three fundamental procedures: training, accountability & prevention, and continual improvement. Together, these strategies help build a “culture of safety” within our daily workplaces and job sites and require all our team members to understand their roles & responsibilities towards health & safety on a daily basis.

Health & Safety training at MPS is comprehensive, ongoing, and focuses mainly on personal safety responsibilities, hazard recognition, tool & equipment safety, and “hands-on” competency demonstrations. Beginning with the onboarding orientation process, the new MPS worker is provided with a full day of in-class and hands-on instruction, with trained instructors working with them to evaluate their progress. Weekly “tailgate” training sessions are conducted in small groups throughout the season to continually highlight health & safety awareness, review key policies, discuss prevention strategies, identify workplace hazards, and allow for worker feedback and discussion opportunities. Additional training is required as the worker progresses to use more hazardous equipment or machinery or takes on new job responsibilities.

Accountability & prevention go together, with Daily Worksite Hazard Assessments performed each morning by our staff as a great tool for maintaining individual health & safety awareness on the job site. They are also a great source of raw data for analyzing hazards of the most concern for the various tasks and types of work our crews regularly perform. Accountability for safety also includes performing Worksite Inspections, completing Incident Reports, and having a very committed Joint Health & Safety Committee lead in evaluating the ongoing success of the MPS Health & Safety program. In addition, leadership training and Ministry of Labour Health & Safety for Supervisor training is mandatory for those in crew leader or management positions.

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Finally, one of the most important procedures for occupational health & safety is a commitment to continual improvement. Being able to measure and analyze our health & safety performance accurately, identify weaknesses or gaps that exist in our program, and then provide solutions for improvement is essential to keeping our team members safe. There is always something we can be doing better and recognizing that fact aids in driving our health & safety program forward.

As many of you know, Spring 2020 was the beginning of the COVID-19 lockdown here in Ontario. With restrictions that seemed to change daily, there was a lot of uncertainty and sales were slow from April through May. However early summer brought about a boom in landscape design consultations.

We soon discovered that most people realized the COVID-19 lockdown was going to be a long-term situation; and that meant no traveling, events, attractions, camp, or even sports for the foreseeable future. Our customers were instantly spending more time than ever at home and were eager to create outdoor living spaces and landscapes that suited their new lifestyle. Whether it was creating a safe place for their kids to play outdoors, or installing outdoor entertainment spaces, patios, firepits, or pool installations, our customers wanted to maximize their useable living space.

MPS took action to protect the health of our employees and customers while continuing to offer residential landscape design and build, as well as commercial grounds maintenance services. To ensure our MPS staff were safe, we implemented the following:

• Installed plexiglass dividers in the necessary trucks
• Cleaning and sanitization kits were supplied to all crews
• Porta potties were placed on job sites
• Mandatory facemasks, when necessary
• COVID-19 prevention & operations training

Here is what MPS is expecting for the landscape industry this summer

One word, BUSY! Our landscape design and sales team has worked harder than ever this winter, creating stunning (and functional) custom landscape designs for customers who are eager to start their 2021 landscape projects. With the borders still closed and international travel discouraged, we anticipate most people will be staying close to home this summer and looking to make improvements to their landscape. We’ve even heard from other industry professionals that most pool companies are booked well into summer 2022! If you’re hoping to make some changes to your landscape this summer, don’t wait – contact us today.

Some fun ideas that we’ve been incorporating into our 2021 landscape designs:

• Play-areas for kids
• Putting greens
• Basketball courts
• Outdoor kitchens and bars
• Outdoor theater and TV areas
• LOTS of outdoor lounge areas

Wanting to get started on your landscaping projects for this summer? Contact our team at MPS Property Services today to learn more!

We keep hearing from customers that, since they’re not going away on vacation this summer, they will be investing in their landscape and outdoor living spaces instead. What a great way to take advantage of your property and enjoy a beautiful Canadian summer! The best way to get this process started is to book a free landscape design consultation with an MPS expert. Our team of designers and landscape professionals love what they do and take every step to find the balance between aesthetics and quality for your landscape project.

MPS offers a free landscape design consultation, this includes a visit to your home to assess the property and chat with you about your landscape ideas, wants and budget. The landscape design consultation process is important because we believe that every landscaping project is different. The dynamic relationship between your property, lifestyle, and preferences requires a high attention to detail to properly bring your landscape ideas into reality.

To book your landscape design consultation simply click this link to fill out some information and one of our designers will be in touch to schedule a visit to your property.

During your consultation, you may ask “what’s a ballpark price for the job do you think?” Unlike many companies, our MPS designers refrain from giving “ballpark pricing” on site. This is because many factors can influence the pricing of a project such as scope, access, time of year, existing site conditions etc. An accurate landscape project quote can only be given after the landscape design is complete.

Once you’ve met with our designers and received your landscape design consultation, it’ll be time to decide whether you want to move forward to the next stage of the landscape design process, which is hiring MPS to create a landscape design. At MPS we do charge a landscape design fee, however this cost is refunded to you when you decide to hire MPS for your landscape project.

Not ready to book a consultation just yet? We encourage you to take a look at our Shop your Landscape Design feature on our website to understand what we can offer you within your budget or simply give you a better idea of what your landscape could look like.

ISO/SN 9001 Update

When MPS Property Services became only the 2nd company within our industry in Canada to successfully achieve ISO/SN 9001 certification in September 2016, we understood that this was only the first of many steps to be taken towards our goal of long-term continual improvement within the Snow & Ice Management industry.

ISO 9001 is an internationally recognized Business Management credential that identifies an organization as meeting specific standards and requirements related to their Quality Management System. Our relevant policies and procedures are thoroughly assessed and evaluated annually by Smithers Quality Assessments, an accredited 3rd party company who determines if full ISO accreditation can be awarded and then maintained by MPS.

SN 9001 is the snow & ice industry-specific standards that are applied in tandem with the ISO’s general requirements. These internationally recognized standards are determined and outlined by the ASCA (Accredited Snow Contractors Association).

MPS Property Services chose to go through this rigorous certification process in order to continually improve upon our established policies & procedures and the overall quality of our operations, with the ultimate goal of increasing our customer’s satisfaction and the quality of our winter services and snow removal work.
In the past two years, we have successfully passed five External ISO audits, without a single non-conformity to the standards being found. One of the main reasons for this continued success has been Jenna Monk, one of our own administrative team members. Last year, Jenna became certified as an ISO Internal Auditor, and her diligent work has helped prepare us for the regular External Audits conducted by Smithers Quality Assessments throughout the year.

This summer, MPS Property Services was audited again for confirmation of our successful transformation to the new ISO/SN 9001: 2015 standard (updated from the previous 2012 publication). Key changes to the ISO standards and requirements included an increase in responsibility for top management towards greater risk-based thinking, and recognizing how improvements to customer satisfaction can be made through identifying risks and opportunities in all of the services MPS provides. In other words, MPS has committed to taking even more accountability for every single process and strategy that we include in our comprehensive Snow & Ice Management operations planning and execution.

Continuing to improve is not something taken lightly at MPS; it is a fundamental, core ideal that has been fully incorporated into our day-to-day business philosophy.
It is simply part of “The MPS Way”!