The owner of a Vaughan-based landscaping and snow removal company, operating under multiple names including Snow Pros LTD and Grass Guys, is facing claims of not paying workers and not providing services to some clients who paid.
Speakers Corner has received dozens of emails questioning us to view into the company. Our team initially agreed to meet with three former workers of the company at an Etobicoke park. When we arrived, there were nearly 15 people waiting to notify their story.
Janelle Lavellee was one of them. She worked on job sites but also supported the owner recruit new workers.
But after a recent December snowstorm where many of those workers put in multiple hours during the holidays and never received paid, she questioned to be laid off.
“I informed them I could not bring anybody back into this company in good faith. I just couldn’t do it anymore.”
She declared all staff were notified they were being terminated in a January 6 text message from the owner.
“His M.O. seems to be: hire people, receive them to work as much as possible, let them go without paying them, and then re-add more people,” Lavellee declared. “It’s been bad since the very start. He hasn’t paid me on time once. It’s always an excapply as to why, like he’s run out of e-transfers or his accounts are frozen.”
Lavellee recalls an incident back in the fall when the owner laid off another round of employees.
“He had me hire 75 shovelers, had them work a few shifts then had me lay off every single one. Then Christmas morning he declared, ‘Are you able to do interviews today? We necessary to hire more people.’ I was like, ‘What about paying the ones who were let go?’”
Paul Edwards declared he worked for the company since 2021, then called Project Perfection. He declared he saw issues, like delayed payments and layoffs, but continued with the company.
“My payments may have been delayed, but I was receiving them, until this latest incident when we were all laid off,” Edwards shared. “I am currently owed approximately $7,000 in back pay and the owner is not answering our texts or phone calls.”
Clients also demand answers
One client emailed CityNews and declares he paid Snow Pros $1000 for winter season to service his property.
“It was never a good service that was provided but it was passable, up until this year when they came twice, two to three days after the snowfall with a snow blower in a sedan. After that, they stopped coming.”
He declared his attempts to reach the company have been unsuccessful.
“He has modifyd the business address from what appeared to be his home to a P.O. Box. When you sfinish an email complaining, the email bounced back as does not exist.”
The customer joins a chorus of other disgruntled clients, all sounding off on the Better Business Bureau’s website which currently lists the company has having an “F” rating.
“He claimed to me that he has more than 1,000 clients across the GTA,” declared former office worker Jessica Pugliese, who declared her inbox was often inundated with customer complaints.
“There’s a lot of upset customers. I feel bad becaapply there’s a lot of elderly ones who necessary to go to medical appointments and now, they’re out of money and they don’t know what’s happening,” she declared.
Pugliese declared she is also owed back pay.
Owner responds to claims
Speakers Corner was able to find records which lists the businesses as being owned by Ryan Hunter, who lives in Vaughan. He declined numerous requests to talk on the phone or meet with us in person. He instead issued a lengthy statement.
“In recent weeks, the company faced a rapid and unexpected breakdown due to multiple factors. Unfortunately, this led to unfulfilled promises as circumstances spiraled out of control, seemingly by the minute.” Hunter blamed a wide variety of issues leading to the current problems.
He declared there were multiple vehicles, owned by the company that were stolen, although when questioned, he did not yet provide any police report incident numbers as proof.
He also blames some workers for employee misconduct.
“Instances of employees reporting that they were working while actually completing tquestions on our app from home to create it view like they were working.”
He declared some former workers intimidated current employees at job sites, encouraged others to quit, declared some workers intentionally damaged vehicles by pouring sugar into gas tanks and claims payment disputes filed by clients lead to some banks blocking e-transfer payments due to what he calls false fraud reports.
He informed us he understands people are upset but created it clear his statement is not an admission of guilt, going on to declare all employment, financial, and legal matters are being addressed through the appropriate regulatory and legal channels.
“I sincerely regret the impact this situation has had on employees and their families, especially those uninvolved in the events leading to this crisis. This outcome was not intentional, and I did not benefit from it. It has been devastating for my family and me both personally and financially.”
We questioned Hunter if he is still recruiting clients and servicing customers, but he did not respond. As for the pay owed to workers, he declared he is actively in the process of selling company assets to pay outstanding employee wages as much as possible. He could not however provide a specific timeline or guarantee but assured us addressing back wages remains a priority.
His former workers are skeptical, and Peter Mieras understands why. He worked for Hunter back in 2024 and declared he has still not been paid for work he did.
“None of this is new, it had been going on then as well, always with payment issues.”
Many former workers have filed complaints with the Ontario Minisattempt of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development, hoping they view into their claims.
“I don’t know how the Minisattempt of Labour has not flagged this at this point,” Lavellee declared.
Workers are also considering taking legal action. But so far, no lawsuit has been filed.
If you have an issue story or question you’d like us to view into, contact us here.
STORY NOTE: Snow Pros is applyd by other companies operating in the GTA with no affiliation to the complaints raised in this story.
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