The company that’s paid to clear highways in many parts of Ontario has been hit with two hefty fines for not properly doing its job last winter.

Carillion Canada is fined $500,000 for failing to clear the QEW during a snow and ice storm last November that resulted in dozens of collisions on the stretch between Burlington and Mississauga.

It’s also received a fine for $400,000 for not properly clearing the same stretch of highway during another storm last December.

Carillion is paid $87-million a year to maintain highways around Peel and Halton regions, Chatham, London, Simcoe, Huntsville, Thunder Bay, Bancroft and the Kingston area.

The provincial auditor general said in a special report last April that the government saved money on winter road maintenance over the last five years but at a cost that resulted in greater delays in clearing highways.

Before the contract changes in 2009, the most travelled Ontario highways were cleared about 2.1 hours following a storm, but the auditor says that more than doubled to an average of 4.7 hours by 2013-14.