Commercial News

November 7, 2024

Winter 2024-2025 in Southern Ontario: What to Expect from the Farmer’s Almanac

MPS Team Commercial News, General, Residential News, Snow & Ice Management accuracy, almanac, average, cold, environment canada, farmer's almanac, frosty, season, snow, snowfall, southern ontario, trend, weather, weather network

As winter 2024-2025 rolls in, Ontarians are eager for seasonal predictions. While Environment Canada and The Weather Network keep forecasts to short-term projections, the Farmers’ Almanac has been bravely offering full-winter outlooks since 1818, with a self-claimed 75-80% accuracy rate. So, what does the Almanac say this year?

According to their predictions, this winter in Southern Ontario will be one for the books, with colder-than-normal temperatures and higher-than-average snowfall. They’re calling for particularly frosty days in early December, early and late January, and late February. Snowy spells are expected throughout the season, with peak snowfall likely in early November, December, January, February, and even into early March.

In addition, the Farmer’s Almanac warns of a “wet winter whirlwind,” where snow, ice, and rain could all make appearances during an active storm period toward the end of January, which means icy roads and challenging conditions.

However, last winter, the Farmers’ Almanac predicted a cold, snowy season for Southern Ontario, but the reality turned out quite differently. Instead of bitter cold and frequent snow, the 2023-2024 winter was one of the warmest on record, with temperatures averaging 5.2°C above normal nationwide and 5.4°C above average around the Great Lakes. Thanks to a strong El Niño, which often brings milder, drier conditions, snowfall was also below average. So, while the Almanac forecasted a classic Ontario winter, we experienced an extended fall-like season that barely resembled it.

For those who rely on the Almanac’s century-old methods—based on celestial and meteorological patterns—there’s a sense of anticipation and curiosity. Whether or not the Farmer’s Almanac’s predictions will prove accurate this year, we’ll have to wait and see. Let the winter begin!

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October 24, 2022

Jobs in Snow Removal and Snow & Ice Management

MPS Team About MPS, Commercial News

Do you think you have what it takes to work in snow removal? Snow removal work is definitely not for the faint of heart! It takes commitment, dedication, and perseverance but the benefits of good pay, the sense of accomplishment you will experience, and time off during the winter months is worth it!

The MPS snow removal season officially begins Nov. 1 and runs through to April 30^th; however, snow work is only required when there is snow falling or conditions become icy. Typically, December, January, and February are the busiest months for snow removal work in the GTA.

MPS only provides commercial snow removal services. If you’re not familiar with the snow removal industry, you might be wondering what’s the difference between residential and commercial? The biggest difference between the two is the scale of work involved, a commercial plaza or office building requires much larger equipment and more time to service than residential driveways. At MPS we only operate heavy equipment for commercial snow plowing, plowing with large front-end loaders allows the operators to push heavy piles of snow across large areas of asphalt.

All winter positions at MPS are on-call and weather dependent. This means we look for individuals with flexible schedules, who don’t mind working odd hours or driving in winter conditions. We typically receive the most snowfalls at night, so this is when most snow removal work is completed.

Seasonal industries and positions that work well with MPS’ snow work include machine operators, heavy equipment operators, construction workers, paving companies, summer-only landscapers, roofing, and general labourers.

Available Positions for Snow Removal Operations

Field Staff:

Walkway Shovellers: Our walkway crews are responsible for clearing snow from and/or salting commercial walkways, entrances, and stairs. These crews of 2-3 people use shovels, snow blowers, and “SnowRator” walkway plows to effectively clear the snow.
Salt Truck Operators: To salt commercial parking lots, our salt truck operators drive large trucks with salt-spreader units on the back.
Snow Plow Operators: Snow Plow Operators use front end loaders, equipped with 5-way angle blades, to plow and pile snow on commercial parking lots.
Field Supervisors: The role of a field supervisor is to over-see and assist the walkway shovellers and plow operators in the performance of their duties.

Operations Staff:

Dispatchers
Mechanics
Office Support Staff

MPS has provided snow removal work for almost 30 years, growing into one of the largest private commercial snow removal companies in the GTA. During the winter months, our number of skilled field staff grows significantly to be able to provide the highest level of snow and ice management to our customers – this means we have multiple opportunities for individuals looking for jobs in snow removal.

MPS offers high hourly wages, bonuses, and monthly standby pay for all positions. If you think you’ve got what it takes to be a member of our Winter Snow Team

APPLY TODAY

March 21, 2022

Hardy Gardens for Your Commercial Property

MPS Team Commercial News, Landscaping

Commercial and Industrial properties vary from high-end retail centers and hotels with lots of foot traffic, to industrial distribution centers with minimal occupants. These factors greatly influence the amount of curb-appeal your commercial property requires and will determine the budget needed for property maintenance.

Many commercial properties do not have unlimited budgets allocated for landscaping and grounds maintenance services, but property owners/managers want to ensure their property is safe and attractive looking. Low maintenance landscape features, like hardy flowerbeds are a great option for commercial properties because they are functional, colourful and won’t break the bank!

Hardy flowerbeds are designed with perennial plants and flowers that require minimal seasonal pruning and low amounts of irrigation. Compared to annual flowers which only last one growing season, perennial plants last for multiple seasons saving you money. Since most commercial properties have little to no irrigation, perennial plants are a great option. Annual flowers are beautiful but require daily watering, sometimes twice a day.

Some other reasons we love perennial plants are the many variations in colours, flowers and leaf options. Perennials bloom throughout the seasons and the best gardens will be designed to have continuous bloom throughout the seasons.

Some of our favourite Perennial plants for your hardy commercial Garden:

Daylillies:

Spirea:

Hydrangeas:

Hostas:

Cone Flower:

Cranesbills:

Yews:

Boxwoods:

Get in touch with your dedicated site manager to start planning your garden renovations.

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exterior-view-of-modern-office-buildings-picture-id94986003.jpg (1)

February 16, 2022

Commercial Grounds Maintenance Contracts

MPS Team Commercial News, Landscaping

A commercial property requires different landscaping services than those for a residential home due to its size, accessibility, landscape elements and use of space. Commercial property owners/managers want their buildings to look good but they also have an increased responsibility to keep their properties safe from hidden dangers since they’re liable for accidents that happen on their property. Commercial properties require professional landscape maintenance from a company like MPS.

What is a Commercial Grounds Maintenance contract?

A commercial grounds maintenance contract provides year-round landscape services to your commercial property. This generally includes a spring clean-up, weekly turf & garden maintenance through the summer, a fall clean-up and snow & ice management services in the winter. The goal of these landscaping services is to maintain and continually provide safe, accessible properties that look appealing.

What should you look for in a Commercial Landscaping company?

For the best service it’s important to choose a reputable and professional landscaping company that is fully insured, provides training programs for their staff, and is knowledgeable about commercial landscape property maintenance.
Choose a company that can provide both summer and winter services. In recent years, commercial snow removal services have become more difficult to find due to the rising cost of insurance. Choosing a company that can provide both services will allow you to build a relationship with your landscape customer service representative, and a better understanding of your property and its needs.
When choosing a landscape company be sure that they can provide additional services such as pruning & gardening, masonry work, litter pick-up, hard surface services, for example: line painting, sign installation, power sweeping, and interlocking paver repairs. Having a landscape company that can provide all of these landscape services make them an easy “go-to” for all your exterior property needs.

Two workers working on a commercial garden bed

If you’re looking for a high-quality commercial grounds maintenance service provider, reach out today to speak with your customer service rep and find out why we’re your first choice.

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September 17, 2020

Industry Challenges for Snow & Ice Management 2020

MPS Team Commercial News

The provision of professional snow and ice management services has always been a challenging proposition. The past few years have thrown a few curveballs at us and made this even more difficult. There are four main areas that have become exceptionally demanding. These are insurance and related liability issues, vehicles and equipment, the supply of salt, and finally the available labour pool.

Insurance

In recent years, personal injury lawyers have found the snow industry to be a very lucrative, soft target. Their marketing is everywhere. The Homeowners and Occupiers Act requires that property owners and their hired contractors make reasonable efforts to keep properties safe. In actual fact, the standard is often perfection, and even when perfection is achieved (contracts followed perfectly, verifiable third-party documentation, GPS, trained staff and well-maintained equipment, etc), there will still be a payout settlement of some sort, even for frivolous claims. Insurance companies take a short-term stance on this and prefer to make a settlement rather than incur the costs of a trial and potentially larger loss. But in the long term, this behaviour is essentially being rewarded, and claims actually seem to be increasing at an accelerated pace. The end result is that our industry continues to be targeted, and insurance premiums and deductibles are rapidly increasing to cover the costs of claim payouts. Deductibles of $50,000 per claim are becoming standard. All contractors are experiencing a rapid rate and deductible hikes, and an increasing number can’t acquire coverage at all. This is a major crisis that will ultimately require legislation to control.

Salt supply

The past three years have seen major production shortfalls in domestic salt mines. This resulted in an emergency influx of foreign-produced salt (Egypt, Morocco, Chile, etc) to fill the void. While the quality was generally acceptable, the cost of shipping and storage led to wild price increases, doubling the cost in many cases. It appears the domestic mines are back on track this year which should lead to supply and price stability. It remains to be seen if there will be a decrease in pricing, or simply a plateauing.

Labour

Although highly mechanized, snow companies depend on reliable people to operate equipment and provide hand shoveling and de-icing services. Over the past few years, as our economy really grew, there was increasing competition for personnel in all industries. Snow is a tough industry-we require 24/7 availability, and the ability to work in challenging conditions sometimes on very short notice. With other options, people gravitated to more predictable, stable jobs. The snow industry has countered by dramatically increasing wages, and also providing standby pay. This is a new development and is driving up costs to provide service.

Vehicles and equipment

There have been many factory shutdowns and supply chain interruptions around the world over the past few months. With our global economy, faraway disruptions can have an impact close to home. Even production decisions made months ago, during the heat of the pandemic are still having an effect today. The end result is that wait times for trucks and equipment are much longer than normal. Contractors looking to add equipment, or replace aging gear need to act quickly to ensure preparedness for the first storm. At MPS, we placed orders and acquired new equipment as early as May. Early for a normal season, but based on information from colleagues who are now having trouble sourcing equipment, we’re sure glad we did!

October 3, 2016

Fall Commercial Newsletter

MPS Team Commercial News

ISO 9001 CERTIFICATION

MPS Property Services is very proud to announce that after a summer of hard work and implementation of many new processes, we have passed our internal and Stage 1 & 2 ISO audits; becoming only the second Canadian company in our industry to achieve ISO 9001 / SN 9001 Certification.
This internationally recognized Business Management credential identifies MPS as an organization that meets the procedures, policies and requirements of ISO Quality Management, with specific written standards related to the Snow & Ice Management industry.
This exciting certification is an important step in allowing MPS Property Services to continue to improve our customer satisfaction and overall quality of our operations.
We look forward to implementing our new systems and procedures this winter!

PURCHASING SNOW & ICE MANAGEMENT SERVICES

Hiring a professional, reliable and experienced Snow & Ice contractor is a very important step in protecting your business throughout the winter season. Your level of risk will increase greatly if you hire a service provider without adequate insurance, reliable equipment, skilled workers, accurate documentation or experience under the worst conditions that winter can throw at us.
A good Snow & Ice contractor will always be able to provide and sign a contract that carefully defines the desired level of service, engineered site maps, work logs, and be easily accessible throughout any winter snow event.
Some of the most important things to look for when selecting a winter service provider include:

Safety, liability and risk management
Estimating, planning and cost effectiveness
Timely execution and responsiveness of services
Quality and reliability of service
Detailed documentation, verified service and ease of communication
24/7 emergency response
Expertise and professionalism
Certifications (Certified Snow Professional, etc.), best practices and standards of education

It is reasonable for you to expect your winter service provider to be able to provide all of the items detailed above with reliability and in a professional manner.
MPS Property Services Ltd. is proud to be a long-time leader in the Snow & Ice Industry; with continual improvement, ongoing education and industry best practices at the forefront of our operations. Please feel free to contact us with any questions or concerns that you may have.

FALL CLEANUP CHECKLIST

Fall landscape cleanup tools in wheelbarrow

Aerate the lawn- as the temperatures start to decrease the grass will slow down, however moist soil encourages strong root development.
Fertilizer- high phosphorus mix around 12-25-12 will encourage root growth, meaning you’ll have a greener lawn in the early spring.
Final Mow- on the last cut of the season, trim down to 1 ¼ inches. Shorter grass in the fall prevents debris from getting caught and slows disease growth.
Collect leaves
Plant shrubs- planting shrubs in the fall gives them a head start.
Plant spring bulbs- such as tulips, daffodils…
Trim dead limbs
Cut back perennials
Mulch young plants- Mulch adds insulation and protection from frost damage.
Dry out irrigation drip system- put hose and other garden tools away.

The days are getting shorter and the kids have headed back to school, it can only mean that fall is upon us! The change in seasons always brings an air of excitement, new decor, recipes, and flowers in the garden.
Here in the office we have been busy hiring fall staff to replace the students who have left for school, as well as getting prepared for the winter season. To celebrate the summer employees, we held the first MPS BBQ. It was a great afternoon and allowed our employees to socialize with managers and office staff in a relaxed setting.

May 19, 2016

Spring Commercial News

MPS Team Commercial News

Spring Has Sprung!

Hello! We are excited to be sending our first MPS Property Services digital Newsletter. As part of our company’s growth we have recognized that digital outreach is an important way to keep in contact with our customers.
Our objective in these newsletters is to keep our customers up to date with our services and projects as well as to send out tips and pieces of advice to help with your own property maintenance.
In addition to our Newsletter we have also been working hard to get our new website up and running and joining the social media world.

President’s Corner

Over the years, we’ve often wondered about the best way to reach out to our customers, (and potential customers!), in order to share some timely information, discuss changes in the industry, or just talk about cool projects we’re working on. As a result, we’ve resurrected the “MPS News”, which we originally experimented with in paper version 15 years ago! We hope to be able to share information that you might find relevant, informative, and hopefully, interesting. If there’s anything you’d like to see covered, please feel free to let us know – we aim to please!
With the changeover from snow removal to landscaping season, there’s always the challenge of putting away and storing winter equipment, pulling out the mowers and excavators, and getting our staff re-oriented to provide our new seasonal services. This year was no different, although the lingering winter (plowing well into April??!!) added challenges to that (We took off plows and salters 3 times in anticipation of the arrival of spring!). We’ve made it through, and are now going full-steam building and maintaining beautiful landscapes.
This offseason, we’ve made a real commitment to improving our on-line presence. We’ve updated our website, and have made sure to make it mobile friendly. We have tons of photos and information on past projects, as well as staff profiles, a section for blogs where we’ll have various staff members posting timely and relevant articles on just about anything that might be occurring with MPS. We’ve also entered the world of social media, and you can now easily follow us on Instagram and Facebook, with an increased presence on other platforms to come. Please feel free to take a look around, and sign up to follow us – we’d love to get any feedback on what you like, or how to improve it!
Jim Monk
President of MPS Property Services

Spring-Cleaning and Safety Tips

With liability and compliance issues becoming more and more a focal point in today’s business climate, making simple repairs before potential hazards get out of control is always a prudent strategy.
For instance; heaved or sunken sections of interlock paving, often caused by our seasonal freeze-thaw cycle, can create a significant trip and fall hazard on your walkways and patio areas. A quick “lift & relay” repair of the affected section or area will not only improve the aesthetics of your property, but also make it much safer for pedestrian traffic.
Similarly, low hanging or dead tree branches near walkways or roadways can also be a risk to both pedestrians and moving vehicles. By raising the canopies of your existing trees, and cutting out dead or storm-damaged branches, the trees will be both healthier and less hazardous to passing vehicles and pedestrians. Greater visibility and security are also realized through this simple procedure.
A thorough site assessment to identify any such hazards is an essential first step in making your property as safe as possible for all staff and visitors. MPS is always available to assist in the restoration of your property to its safest possible state!
Springtime is always a great time to re-evaluate your property with an eye to identifying those pesky little problems and imperfections which can detract from your site’s “curb appeal”, and could possibly even lead to big health & safety complications down the road if left unresolved. A little “spring cleaning” can go a long way in helping make your property shine and look its best.
MPS is proud to offer many additional services that can be used to improve the look and feel of your property. These services include:

Power Sweeping / Washing – having your parking lot areas mechanically swept and washed is a great way to remove unwanted dirt & debris which can be both an eyesore and attract weed growth.
Annuals/Flower Planting – bright, colourful flowers can almost instantly beautify any property! Perennial plants, flowers & shrubs of all types can also be quickly installed by MPS crews to bring that “wow” factor to your site.
Line Painting – having clearly marked parking spots and directional arrows can optimize your property’s traffic flow and organization.
Top Dress & Seed – this process is a great way to promote a healthy lawn by reducing weed infestation and encouraging vigorous turf growth.
Irrigation System Service & Repair – you can make your existing irrigation system more efficient and save water by having your timer and spring heads updated regularly and/or having a rain sensor installed.
Vacant Lot Cutting – if you own or maintain a vacant lot that needs cutting just a few times per season let us know; we can easily take care of it for you!
Tree Work: maintaining optimal tree health by regular pruning, dead-cutting and deep root fertilization will maximize tree health and lifespan, and minimize potential health & safety hazards, especially with the ongoing infestation of Ash trees throughout the GTA.

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Mark Davidson

Sales & Operation Manager | Landscape Enhancement
Mark has been with MPS Property Services for over 10 years. He is an Operations Manager/Dispatcher during the winter months, and in the summer serves as Operations Manager, Construction and Enhancement, as well as producing commercial estimates and sales. Mark has worked in the landscape industry since he was a teenager and graduated from Humber College with a degree as a landscape technician in 2002 . After college, Mark worked in the landscape industry before starting his own painting and landscape venture. He joined MPS in 2006 after responding to a help wanted ad on Landscape Ontario’s website. Mark’s area of expertise is in Commercial and Residential enhancement. His organizational skills and vast knowledge of both commercial and residential property enhancement make him an asset to the MPS team. Mark is known by customers and employees for his friendly and easy going personality, making him a pleasure to deal with. Mark currently resides in old Markham with his wife, Alyshia and two small children, Jake and Alexis. Mark enjoys spending his free time golfing and playing with his kids.