The fines for drivers caught illegally parking on municipal and private property have increased today.
Those parking or leaving their vehicle on private property without consent will be fined $75, more than double the previous penalty amount of $30.
The same fine applies to vehicles illegally parked on city property.
City council approved the increase during its meeting in October. The new amount is now in line with the fine for parking violations within “Green P” car parks.
Last September, Coun. Paul Ainslie, who chairs the general government committee and sits on the board of directors at Exhibition Place, told CTV News Toronto parking costs $45 during special events like the Honda Indy and Caribbean Carnival. That would be cheaper than the fine.
“If you’re not paying for a $45 fee to go to an event, you should be appropriately penalized, which is why we raised it to $75,” Ainslie said.
City staff echoed the councillor’s sentiments in their report, saying that many drivers prefer taking their chances with incurring a parking violation notice or, if lucky, avoiding a parking violation notice altogether rather than paying.
“The reason why drivers risk being issued a parking violation notice is because most times the penalty amount is less than what they would be required to pay for parking,” staff said, adding that the increase was intended to encourage compliance.
The city reported that parking violations jumped by over 11,000 from 2021 to 2022, to a whopping 106,250 for illegal parking in city-run parking lots, while private parking lots saw an over 56,000 jump in violations to a total just shy of 377,300.
With files from CTV News Toronto's Alex Arsenych
