How to price snow removal contracts: per push vs seasonal

Every fall, snow contractors make the same bet. Price the season too high and clients sign with the next truck down the street. Price it too low, get a record winter, and you plow February for free.

There is no magic number for your town. But there is a way to work out your number, so the bet is one you chose instead of one you guessed.

The short version

• Work out your real cost per push per property before you look at anyone else's prices.
• Per push puts the weather risk on the client. Seasonal puts it on you. A seasonal contract with a cap shares it.
• Price seasonal contracts on a heavy year, not an average one, or add a cap.
• Bill seasonal contracts in instalments, with the first one paid before the first snow.

The three ways to price

Per push (per visit). The client pays each time you clear. Simple, fair, and you never lose money on a big winter. The catch: clients cannot budget, light winters are lean, and some clients start asking you to skip "small" snowfalls.

Seasonal (flat rate). One price for the winter, however much it snows. Clients love it because they know the cost. You get predictable revenue and can sign the whole route in the fall. The catch: you carry all the weather risk.

Seasonal with a cap. A flat price that covers a set number of pushes (or centimetres), then a per-push rate after that. Clients still get a budget; you are protected from the record winter. For most residential routes, this is the fairest middle ground.

Commercial lots often add per-application salting and hourly rates for loader work on top of any of these.

Step 1: Find your real cost per push

Start with what one storm costs you to run a route. Here is an example for one truck on a residential route. Use your own numbers.

Do not skip the overhead line. Insurance is the cost that has hurt snow contractors most: Landscape Ontario members reported premium increases of 25% to 300% around 2019 and 2020, and its 2024 policy report says premiums and deductibles are still at "unsustainable levels" for many.

Step 2: Add your margin

Divide your cost by what is left after the margin you want. For a 30% margin:

$28 ÷ 0.70 = about $40 a push.

Now look at your market. HomeStars puts residential snow removal in Calgary at roughly $40 to $150 a visit and $300 to $1,800+ a season, depending on the driveway and the snowfall. If your number lands below the local range, you have room. If it lands above, look at route density before you cut the price: ten more driveways on the same streets lowers your cost per push more than any discount.

Step 3: Turn it into a seasonal price that survives a bad winter

Here is the trap. Say your town averages 15 pushes a winter.

• Seasonal price based on the average: 15 × $40 = $600
• A heavy winter of 25 pushes costs you 25 × $28 = $700 per driveway
• You lose $100 on every driveway, across the whole route, in the year you worked hardest

So do one of two things:

Price on a heavy year. Look back at the last five to ten winters and price on one of the heavier ones, not the average. In our example, pricing on 20 pushes gives $800. You make more in light winters, and still make money in heavy ones.

Or add a cap. Keep the price closer to the average, and protect yourself with a clause like:

Season price $650, covering up to 18 clearings. Clearings after 18 are $35 each.

Clients still get one price for a normal winter. You stop carrying an open-ended risk.

Step 4: Write it down so nobody argues in January

Most snow disputes are not about price. They are about what the price covers. Every quote should say:

• The trigger. "We clear at 5 cm or more," not "when it snows."
• The window. "Driveways cleared by 7 a.m. after an overnight snowfall," or "within X hours of the snow stopping."
• What is included. Driveway, walkway, steps, the windrow the city plow leaves at the end of the drive.
• What is extra. Salt or sand per application, ice control, snow hauling.
• Stakes and damage. Who stakes, and how damage to lawn edges or stakes is handled.
• The season dates. For example, November 15 to April 15.
• Payment. How much, when, and how.

Step 5: Get paid before the first snow

A seasonal contract is income you can plan on, as long as you actually collect it. Common ways to bill it:

• Instalments: for example, four or five equal payments from November to March, the first one on signing
• Paid in full in the fall, sometimes with a small discount for paying up front
• Per push, invoiced as you go, with automatic reminders

Whichever you choose, collect the first instalment before the stakes go in. A client who has paid is a client who does not cancel in a dry December.

How crewduo handles it

• Quote it in the fall. Build the season from your catalogue, with salting as an option the client can tick. The client accepts and signs online.
• Bill it on a schedule. A recurring contract invoices the season in fixed instalments (Crew plan), while per-push work is invoiced as it is done.
• Get paid. Every invoice has a pay link for card, plus your Interac e-Transfer details, and overdue invoices are chased automatically.
• Prove the work. A snow and ice service log on the phone records the time, photos and notes of every clearing. (More on why that matters in our post on proof of service.)

See crewduo for snow removal contractors, or check the pricing page.

Quick answers

Should I charge more for corner lots and long driveways? Yes. Price by size or time on site, not one flat rate for every house. A double driveway with a long walkway can take twice as long as a single.

What about a winter with almost no snow? That is the upside of seasonal pricing, and what pays for the heavy years. Keep the extra.

Per push or seasonal for commercial lots? Commercial clients often prefer seasonal for budgeting, with salting billed per application. Their liability exposure is also higher, so price the insurance into it.

Sources

• HomeStars, Snow removal in Calgary: residential price ranges per visit and per season.
• Landscape Ontario, Rising insurance rates rack snow and ice industry, and the Snow and Ice Management Group policy report (2024).