Burnaby averages about 45 cm of snow a season, which is why the honest answer to whether you need a snow blower Burnaby is often no. This page sets out what actually falls here, whose driveway is the exception, and what we would ship if yours is one of them.
What Burnaby really gets
Burnaby averages roughly 45 cm of snow a season. Burnaby takes a little more than Vancouver and keeps it longer, mostly because a good share of the city sits well above sea level on and around Burnaby Mountain.
Altitude within one municipality is what makes Burnaby unusual. The snowfall figure for the city as a whole is close to meaningless if you live near the top of it.
| City | Season snowfall | What we would fit |
|---|---|---|
| Burnaby | 45 cm | powered shovel or 21 inch single stage |
| Vancouver | 38 cm | Powered shovel |
| Toronto | 115 cm | Compact or mid size |
| Montreal | 210 cm | Two stage |
| St Johns | 335 cm | Two stage |
Snow is a December to February matter at the bottom of the city and a November to March one near the top.
Snow blower Burnaby: do you actually need one
In south Burnaby a shovel is still the right answer. Up the mountain a small self propelled machine is a genuinely sensible purchase, and the boundary between the two is a matter of a few hundred metres of elevation.
Contract clearing is scarce, so on the mountain the practical alternative to a machine is hiring somebody informally or doing it yourself.
The honest summary for Burnaby is that most households here are better served by a good shovel and a bag of ice melt than by anything with an engine. The exceptions are real, they are set out above, and if you are one of them we would rather sell you the right small machine than the biggest one.
| Burnaby | |
|---|---|
| Season snowfall | 45 cm |
| Events worth clearing | About 3 a winter |
| Driveway we size for | Sloped drive, about 500 sq ft |
| What we would fit, if anything | powered shovel or 21 inch single stage |
| Plow ridge | Rarely |
| Our honest recommendation | Shovel first, machine only if the case below fits you |
Why coastal snow is heavier than it looks
The weight of the snow is what surprises people who have moved here from central Canada. Falling close to zero, it lands wet, and a shovelful can be three or four times heavier than the same volume of Saskatchewan powder.
That weight is why clearing width is the wrong specification to shop on here. What matters is whether the auger has the torque to keep turning in dense snow, and whether the chute is wide enough that it does not pack solid on the second pass.
Burnaby takes a little more than Vancouver and keeps it longer, mostly because a good share of the city sits well above sea level on and around Burnaby Mountain.
Why your street matters more than the city average
Altitude within one municipality is what makes Burnaby unusual. The snowfall figure for the city as a whole is close to meaningless if you live near the top of it.
South Burnaby has a Vancouver winter and the mountain has something closer to an interior one, and the two are inside the same municipality.
Anyone comparing quotes for snow blower burnaby should work from the snow their own street gets rather than the figure published for the city, because on this coast those two numbers can differ by a factor of four inside a twenty minute drive.
What to buy instead
At the bottom of the hill a shovel is still the right answer. Near the top it stops being one somewhere around the two hundred metre mark.
Crews prioritise the hill routes for obvious reasons, so higher properties see plows more often, and with them the only meaningful plow ridge on the lower mainland.
If you do move up from a shovel, the sensible first step on this coast is a powered shovel or a compact single stage machine rather than anything with an auger housing you will spend ten years storing.
Who genuinely needs a snow blower Burnaby
Anyone on a sloped drive above roughly two hundred metres should be looking at a self propelled machine, because pushing a heavy blower back up a wet grade is the part people underestimate.
The mountain is the whole story. A flat lot in south Burnaby has a Vancouver winter, while a drive part way up toward the summit has something closer to an interior one, and both are inside the same city.
- Anyone clearing more than about 600 square feet, where hand clearing stops being a quick job
- Households where one person does all of it and that person should not be lifting wet snow
- Homes on the hillsides, where the snow that misses the waterfront lands in full
- Anyone who has to be out of the drive by a fixed time on a work morning
Sizing a snow blower Burnaby driveway
The case we size for on the hill is a sloped drive of about 40 by 14 feet with a real grade, where getting the machine back up is the part people forget.
South Burnaby has a Vancouver winter and the mountain has something closer to an interior one, and the two are inside the same municipality.
What we would ship to Burnaby
Here is the range as it stands, held in Canadian stock and priced in Canadian dollars. For a Burnaby driveway we would normally be pointing at the first two or three of these rather than the largest machines.
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Gas Snow Blowers
42″ Snow Blower, Stand-On, 420 cc, tracks, 12V electric start, LED light (Available August 18, 2026)
$5,999.00 to $6,249.00 Select options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page -
Gas Snow Blowers
32″ Motorized brush and 22″ snow blower , 2 in 1, 212 cc
$1,299.00 to $1,449.00 Select options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page -
Gas Snow Blowers
28″ Snow Blower, 252 cc, electric and recoil start, heated handles, LED light
$1,599.00 to $1,799.00 Select options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page -
Gas Snow Blowers
34″ Snow Blower, 375 cc, electric and recoil start, heated handles, LED light
$1,999.00 to $2,199.00 Select options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page -
Gas Snow Blowers
34″ Snow Blower, 420 cc, tracks, electric start, heated handles, LED light
$2,399.00 to $2,599.00 Select options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page -
Gas Snow Blowers
26″ Snow Blower, 252 cc, tracks, electric and recoil start, heated handles, LED light
$1,799.00 to $1,999.00 Select options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page -
Gas Snow Blowers
30″ Snow Blower, 302 cc, electric and recoil start, heated handles, LED light
$1,799.00 to $1,999.00 Select options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page -
Gas Snow Blowers
26″ Snow Blower, 212 cc, electric and recoil start, heated handles, LED light
$1,349.00 to $1,549.00 Select options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page
Ice, not snow, is the real hazard here
Because temperatures here hover either side of zero rather than sitting below it, the practical hazard is the refreeze rather than the snowfall. Water runs downhill through the day and sets into a sheet overnight.
Nothing with an auger or a paddle will remove that sheet afterwards. The only workable strategy is to clear to bare surface while the snow is still soft, and to treat the drive before the temperature drops back through zero.
Contract clearing is scarce, so on the mountain the practical alternative to a machine is hiring somebody informally or doing it yourself.
Storing a machine that hardly runs
On a steep Burnaby drive the risk is ice rather than snow, and a machine that clears down to the surface early is worth more than one that clears a wider path late.
Coastal parts stock is thin, and a machine used on a grade wears belts faster, which makes held spares more relevant here than the low snowfall suggests.
- Stabilised fuel or an empty tank, decided in April rather than remembered in December
- An autumn test run, which is the only reliable way to find a problem while there is time to fix it
- Somewhere dry to live, since salt air and a damp garage corrode an unused machine quietly
- A spare shear pin and a spare belt kept with the machine, not ordered after a failure
What it costs, honestly
At 45 cm a season, Burnaby gives you about 3 events a winter that genuinely need clearing. That is the number to divide the purchase price by, and it is why we would rather sell you a powered shovel you use than a two stage machine you resent.
| Option | Cost | Suits |
|---|---|---|
| Shovel and ice melt | Under $120 a winter | The default answer here |
| Powered shovel | $139 to $350 | Paths, steps and a short drive |
| Compact single stage | $500 to $900 | A double drive cleared quickly |
| Self propelled two stage | $900 and up | Hillside and hill top properties |
Contract clearing in Burnaby is a subscription. Buying is a purchase. Over any period longer than about three winters, the purchase wins on cost even after you allow for a service part or two.
Delivery to Burnaby
We sell online rather than from storefronts, so buying here does not involve driving across Burnaby to find the model you wanted has already gone.
- $999 is the free shipping threshold, which most machines clear on their own.
- Large machines are palletised and delivered by a truck with a lift, with a call ahead to arrange the window.
- Canadian inventory throughout, so there is no exchange rate surprise and no customs charge waiting.
- Assembly is a short job, well under an hour on the biggest machines and minutes on the smallest.
Delivery is straightforward across Burnaby, though a steep drive is better served by a drop at the top than at the bottom.
Other cities we ship to
We ship nationally, and the sizing logic travels with us. These nearby cities have pages of their own with local figures.
- Snow blowers in Vancouver, 38 cm a season
- Snow blowers in Surrey, 41 cm a season
- Snow blowers in Nanaimo, 45 cm a season
- Snow blowers in Victoria, 25 cm a season
Start from the city index if you want to compare. For anywhere not listed, send us a postcode and we will confirm what delivery looks like.
Guides worth reading
Background reading, none of it borrowed from American buying guides.
- The Canadian buying guide
- Snow blower size calculator
- Single stage against two stage
- Snow blower sizes compared
- The maintenance checklist
- How to start a snow blower
- How to operate one safely
Every snowfall figure quoted here is taken from the climate normals that Environment and Climate Change Canada publishes for the nearest reporting station, not from a single memorable winter. If you are weighing clearing snow by hand against buying a machine, the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety is worth reading first.
Common questions
Do I need a snow blower in Burnaby?
Usually not. Burnaby takes about 45 cm a season across roughly 3 events worth clearing, and a good shovel handles that on most properties. Anyone on a sloped drive above roughly two hundred metres should be looking at a self propelled machine, because pushing a heavy blower back up a wet grade is the part people underestimate.
How much snow does Burnaby get?
About 45 cm in an average season, measured against the Environment and Climate Change Canada normals. Burnaby takes a little more than Vancouver and keeps it longer, mostly because a good share of the city sits well above sea level on and around Burnaby Mountain.
What size snow blower is right for Burnaby?
If you decide you need one, powered shovel or 21 inch single stage is the sensible class here. The case we size for on the hill is a sloped drive of about 40 by 14 feet with a real grade, where getting the machine back up is the part people forget.
Is a powered shovel enough in Burnaby?
For most Burnaby properties, yes. At the bottom of the hill a shovel is still the right answer. Near the top it stops being one somewhere around the two hundred metre mark.
Do you deliver a snow blower to Burnaby?
Yes, from Canadian stock, free above $999 and at standard courier rates below that. Delivery is straightforward across Burnaby, though a steep drive is better served by a drop at the top than at the bottom.
Why is my street snowier than the Burnaby average?
Altitude within one municipality is what makes Burnaby unusual. The snowfall figure for the city as a whole is close to meaningless if you live near the top of it.
Will a snow blower just sit unused in Burnaby?
It may well, and that is worth thinking about before you buy. On a steep Burnaby drive the risk is ice rather than snow, and a machine that clears down to the surface early is worth more than one that clears a wider path late.