SnowBuddy YYC

Calgary, Alberta · Treaty 7 territory

No neighbour left snowed in.

Calgary gives every home 24 hours after the snow stops to clear its sidewalk. For seniors and neighbours with mobility challenges, that shovel is a fall risk. SnowBuddy matches them with volunteers on their block, so every walk gets cleared, safely.

Open requests
0
Being shovelled
0
Cleared this week
0

Live board

Who needs a hand right now

Pins are approximate: each one sits somewhere within a few hundred metres of the home. A volunteer only sees the exact address after they claim the request.

    Impact

    What neighbours have cleared together

    Every number updates the moment a volunteer marks a walk as cleared. This board shows seeded demo data for WarriorHacks 2.0.

    0

    sidewalks cleared

    0 m

    of sidewalk made safe

    0

    neighbours helped

    0 h

    volunteered

    Sidewalks cleared, last 7 days

    Inside the 24 h window

    0%

    cleared within a day

    Median wait for a volunteer: -

    Busiest communities

      Top Snow Buddies

      this season

        How it works

        Three steps, about two minutes

        1. 1

          Ask

          A neighbour, or the family member caring for them, posts a first name, their community and what needs clearing. No account, no public address.

        2. 2

          Match

          Volunteers see approximate pins sorted by distance and urgency. The live bylaw clock, driven by real snowfall data, shows how much of the 24 hours is left.

        3. 3

          Clear

          The volunteer claims the request, gets the private details, shovels and marks it cleared. The neighbour stays safe and on the right side of the bylaw.

        Privacy first

        Locations are fuzzed by 150–450 m around the community centre. The address and private notes are only shown after a volunteer claims the request.

        Built for older users

        Large tap targets, a one-tap larger-text mode, plain language, full keyboard support and screen-reader labels. Works on any phone, no app store.

        Weather-aware

        Live Calgary snowfall from Open-Meteo starts the 24-hour clock the moment the snow stops, so effort goes where the deadline is closest.

        Safe by design

        Volunteers agree to a pledge: outside work only, never enter a home, salt the icy spots, and skip anything that feels unsafe.

        Why this, why now. The City's Snow Angels program thanks people who shovel for a neighbour, but its own FAQ says: Can The City match me with a Snow Angel? No, The City does not maintain a list of Snow Angels. SnowBuddy is that missing match.