Parts of Ontario faced with a road salt shortage

CTV’s Jeff Pickel hears why snow removal contractors are having to source salt from outside country in order to fulfill orders.

The rough winter we’ve experienced is taking a toll on the supply of road salt in many communities.

Ryan Bossence salts the roads on Perth county and its townships and says this season has been especially difficult.

“So if I can’t deliver salt to their sheds, they can’t put it on the roads,” he said. “That impacts the ability for snow melting and ice melting greatly.”

Bossence said since the end of November his trucks along with many others have been waiting in long lines at the Goderich mine.

“Basically what happens is you show up and there’s a line up and, quite often the line up gets right up onto Highway 21 and down Highway 21, waiting, in line. So what that translates into is three to four hours wait time, to get a load of salt,” Bossence said.

Brian Tester from Salt Connection in Kitchener said salt supplies are running very low and they are struggling to meet demand from contractors.

He said since the mines in Goderich and Windsor have been unable to fulfil demand, they’ve had to source salt from overseas.

“Last week we had some salt, that was sitting on docks brought in from Egypt, and we had to bring it in.”

Tester says right now, it’s a seller’s market for salt.

Supply is low, demand is high. The price just continuously moves. It’s, probably well over 100 per cent more expensive than it was on December 1,” Tester said.

It’s a similar story at a consumer level.

At Bowman Home Hardware, a delivery of ice melter arrived Tuesday.

“We’ve had to use other outside suppliers just to keep up. And even then, it’s been tight,” said Todd Bowman, from Bowman’s Home Hardware in Cambridge.

Compass Minerals operates the Goderich mine and confirmed the shortage.

“With the significant impact of winter weather compared to recent seasons, the entire road salt supply chain continues to experience high demand for deicing salt.”

The company said it is doing its best.

“We are actively working to fulfill all current orders, prioritizing shipments for our municipal clients. We are focused on moving product as efficiently as possible, as well as maximizing daily output from our Goderich mine to ensure optimal, full-season inventory availability across our network,” said Compass Minerals.

The City of Kitchener told CTV News it has experienced lower than expected salt supply to date this winter, a challenge many other municipalities in Ontario are facing.

“To address this issue, our crews are following best practices to conserve salt. This includes providing salt management training for our roads team, weather monitoring, and substantial plowing efforts prior to salting or sanding,” said a spokesperson for the city.

Despite the shortage, the City of Kitchener said it has enough salt on hand to meet de-icing needs for upcoming weather events.

The City of Waterloo also said demand for salt has been higher this season than usual.

“While the City did experience some shipping delays, we currently have sufficient road salt on hand to manage winter conditions. Environmental concerns around salt use mean that crews are always mindful of using salt carefully and strategically to keep roads safe,” said a spokesperson for the City of Waterloo.