City council approves new penalty system for parking and automated camera tickets

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Ottawa City Council gave the green light to a new penalty system for parking and automated camera tickets, marking a shift from the existing model.

Council approved the new Administrative Penalty System (APS) with only two councillors voting against the motion.

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The new system, run by the city, will replace the current provincial model for handling parking by-law infractions and automated camera-based offences, including offences caught by the city’s automated speed enforcement and red-light cameras.

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Ticket volumes for parking and camera programs surged by 45 per cent in 2023 and are projected to increase by 108 per cent in 2024 and 38 per cent in 2025.

Under the current model, anyone disputing a ticket has to wait for an appearance in Provincial Offences Court before a justice of the peace. That can mean a months-long wait, in some cases even leading to tickets being thrown out because of the delay.

While the current penalty system implies a quasi-criminal monetary penalty process, paid only after a person admits guilt or is found guilty by a court proceeding, the new system promises faster and more convenient service to residents, the a city report states.

The growth in the number of tickets issued implies there could be a corresponding increase in trial demands, with an estimated additional 15,000 trial requests expected in 2024 and 12,000 in 2025, the City of Ottawa’s report reads.

With the new city system, the person ticketed can instead request a review by a screening officer, a city employee who has the power to cancel the ticket if he or she believes the case wasn’t proven, or in cases of financial hardship, can reduce the fine or give the defendant more time to pay.

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Ottawa will join more than 15 municipalities across Ontario, including Toronto, Hamilton, Mississauga and Brampton, in adopting an Administrative Penalty System.

According to the City’s report, adopting the new penalty system is expected to reduce ticket processing costs by 35 per cent and free up provincial offences courts, thereby allowing provincial offences courts to prioritize more serious matters.

Despite a one-time startup cost of $1.57 million, the City estimates that the APS will be fully funded by ticket revenue.

However, not all councillors were in agreement with the decision. Orléans East-Cumberland Coun. Matthew Luloff and Orléans West-Innes Coun. Laura Dudas voted against the motion, raising concerns about the impartiality of city adjudicators who will be replacing justices of the peace once the by-law comes into force.

“Somebody who’s working for the City of Ottawa, who’s paid by the City of Ottawa, essentially deciding whether or not you owe money to the City of Ottawa … I think that’s a massive conflict of interest,” Luloff said.

Another concern, Luloff added, is that people won’t be able to appeal to an impartial higher power like the justices of the peace.

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“The right to appeal to a provincial justice of the peace is something that should be preserved,” he added.

According to Luloff, the overload on the court system should be handled by the province.

“If the province has an issue with not having enough justices of the peace then the province should hire more,” Luloff said. “This is just another example of an administrative download on the City of Ottawa.”

The Administrative Penalty System for parking tickets is set to come into force by the second quarter of 2025, and speeding and red light camera tickets by the end of 2025.

With files from Blair Crawford. 

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