The Snow Mole Campaign is an Age-Friendly winter project of the Pedestrian Safety & Walkability (PS&W) Sub-committee of the Ottawa Seniors Transportation Committee (OSTC) of the Council on Aging of Ottawa (COA).
The PS&W Sub-committee collaborates with the City of Ottawa and neighbourhood volunteers (mostly older adults) across the city to organize a unique annual winter walking project. The Snow Mole Campaign is the only annual winter-walking audit project in Canada – and possibly in the world!
The Snow Mole Campaign now in its fifth year, continues to ask pedestrians to answer the question: How safe and walkable is Ottawa in the winter?
The answers come from volunteer pedestrian Snow Moles in rural, suburban, and central neighbourhoods during the January to March campaign. Their answers to a short online questionnaire give a clear description of winter walkability in Ottawa and raise awareness of pedestrian safety issues. The analysis of audit answers leads to recommendations for positive improvements to city infrastructure and changes to city operations and policies.
The Snow Mole Report 2022: How Safe is Winter Walking in Ottawa? gives an update to previous reports with data analysis, trends, findings, and photos; adds prioritized recommendations for public safety as well as improvements to snow and ice clearing policies and practices; and predicts some new challenges for the 2023 Campaign.
