Illegal parking in the city just got a lot more expensive — 150 per cent more expensive, to be exact.
Last September, Transportation Services recommended to the city that the fees for illegal parking increase, in order to “encourage compliance” in buying tickets when parking on municipal or private property in Toronto.
“It’s no secret that the City of Toronto is looking to level out a lot of payments so that we can start to accrue more funds,” Lindsay Broadhead, head of communications for the city, said.
Starting today, Dec. 1, the penalty amount is rising to $75 from $30.
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While there is not an exact number of locations available, the City of Toronto did confirm to Global News that any parking lot that requires drivers to pay a fee to use will be impacted by this rise in cost.
Green P and the Toronto Parking Authority made the decision to boost their illegal parking fines to $75 back in 2021.
The city recorded revenues from parking tag fines, including any related fees and charges, of nearly $103 million in 2022, up from around $90 million in 2021.
“Yes, money becomes the output of it, but money is long associated with how to detract people from not following the rules,” Broadhead said.
This rise in fees comes after Toronto was ranked as the most expensive city in Canada for the second year in a row, according to Mercer’s Cost of Living Survey.
While Friday’s increase is specific to municipal lots and private property, Broadhead told Global News that hiking parking ticket costs for street parking isn’t out of the question.
Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow said she is in favour of street parking following the example set by municipal lots.
“It’s cheaper for you to get fined rather than pay, it makes no sense,” she said. “It was a city council decision that was long overdue.”
Mayor Chow also said more traffic wardens have been recently acquired by the city to help enforce traffic and parking guidelines.
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