Calgary is the first municipality in Canada to give names to our fleet of snow plows, thanks to your help! Students from the Calgary School Board, the Calgary Catholic School District, private and home schools took part in the naming. Thanks to the overwhelming response from area school children we received almost 1,700 submissions through November 2021. We’ve selected some of the most creative and popular names submitted and you should see them plowing a street near you soon.

We had many wonderful submissions, and they varied in so many ways. We saw names of favorite relatives or pets, celebrities, characters and sayings from favourite TV shows and movies such as Pokémon, Harry Potter or Star Wars. The most popular submissions were Plowy McPlowface, Mr. Plow and Frosty the Snowplow. We also had Indigenous names for Chinook and snow, and French and German names, too. We even had some Calgary-centric names like Marda Scoop and Calgary Plower.

After such overwhelming input, 78 names were selected. Winning names will be displayed on the sides of equipment using magnetic decals, and they will also be visible on our live snow plow map at maps.calgary.ca/RoadConditions.

We encourage you to keep the winter fun going. When it is safe to do so, try taking a photo of the names you see out on the Road and tagging the photos #yycplow in your social media posts. See how many you can spot.

The full list of winning names can be found below:

Calgary is a winter city, and snow is a big part of what makes our city so special!

Did you know your local government employs hundreds of hardworking men and women dedicated to keeping our streets and sidewalks clear of snow?

Did you know that The City has over 100 pieces of heavy equipment working day and night during winter to keep things moving? Have you ever seen one of our plows pushing snow to the side of the road or spreading our pickle mix?

We need your help … we realized our snow plows need names if they’re going to help us keep the streets safe – and that’s where you come in! We’re inviting you and your classmates to come up with new names for our snow plows. These names will be featured on our online snow plow map, and some of them will be displayed on the side of the actual plow!

Thank you to everyone who submitted entries. We'll keep you updated as to the winning names! Great job, everyone!

About The City’s snow plows

During every winter storm The City has over 50 sanders out tackling the snow. These sanders are large trucks fitted with a special insert that stores our sand/salt (pickle) mix. The plow driver can then decide when it is best to spread this material out. The sanders are also equipped with a plow on its underbelly and can push snow to the side of the road as it moves along. They’re very strong machines!

Every year The City puts out a combination of road salt and sanding chips to keep our roadways safe. The salt helps the snow melt, and the sanding chips help create traction on the roadway.

For parents / educators

The City of Calgary’s snow fleet is an important part of our snow response. During our Council approved 7-day snow plan, our plows work around the clock to help keep our roads clear. Our plows work on a priority system – that means they focus on the busiest roads first.

Our goal for this contest is to create a conversation about safety in the wintertime, especially on those cold, snowy days.

How to participate

You can tell us about your favourite winter activity in the Conversation Corner or post a photo of a snow plow in the Snow Plow Gallery or submit a snow plow name to be entered into Name a Snow Plow contest.

Contest closes November 30, 2021. Stay tuned for further details.