The city of St. John’s says the entire province is grappling with a shortage of road salt.
With continued cold temperatures, spring is off to a slow start this year, and the once massive salt pile in downtown St. John’s is nearly depleted.
Harvey’s supplies the capital city and other comunities with road salt for the season.
The city tells VOCM News it is aware of challenges getting salt, and that suppliers currently have “limited, or no additional inventory available.”
A depression where the road salt pile usually sits at Harvey’s in St. John’s. April 13, 2026 (VOCM News)
The city says salt use has been “significantly higher than normal” this winter, and while it planned ahead by increasing its order by 16 per cent over last year, “demand has exceeded expectations.”
The city remains optimistic. It says based on the long-range forecast and remaining supply, there should be enough salt for city use for the rest of the season.
Road salt stored in a provincial transportation depot in Foxtrap in November of 2025 (VOCM News)
Transportation Minister says they’re cutting into salt stockpiles
Transportation Minister Barry Petten acknowledges that there is pressure on the system right now.
He says government has stockpiles of salt to act as a buffer from one year to the next, and they are in to that supply now but they have not run out.
Petten says about halfway through the season the province picked up an extra 21,000 tonnes of salt as a precaution, which is looking like a good decision. He says the provincial fleet is doing well as of now and they are dealing with the issues on a day-to-day basis.
