That changed after the turn of the century, when the city took charge. In the early 1900s, labourers were hired to shovel snow for 25 cents an hour. It was taken away in horse-drawn carts. The first snowblower to clear the streets was purchased by the City of Montreal nearly 100 years ago, in 1928.

As Montreal continues its snow clearing operations – things are progressing slower than expected – even if the city said residents should expect it to take at least eight days, if not more to get everything that fell from back-to-back snowstorms cleared.

Four days after storms dropped more than 70 centimetres of snow on the city, Montreal has managed to remove 25 per cent of the total inundating streets and sidewalks, officials said Thursday. At the same time,