‘I don’t apologize for that at all:’ Olivia Chow defends steeper Toronto parking fines that take effect today

Some parking fines in Toronto will more than triple as of today in a move Mayor Olivia Chow says is necessary and not something she is willing to apologize for.

Chow made the comment to reporters at an unrelated news conference on Thursday morning as she discussed increases in parking ticket costs for 123 different offences.

Toronto City Council approved the new fine structure in April following a review by city staff.

For some offences, the fines are only going up moderately but in other cases, there are big increases taking effect.

For example, fines for parking a prohibited vehicle on a bicycle path will go from $60 to $200.

“The law is made to be obeyed. If you break the law you pay. In the past, some of the parking fines was about the same, sometimes even lower, than if you actually (paid to) park in a parking lot. It makes no sense,” Chow said. “When you are parking illegally and it may even cost a life or cause serious injury you need to be fined and if it is $200 rather than $60 I don’t apologize for that at all.”

City staff have previously said that the increased fines could result in an additional $40 to $50 million in annual revenue for the municipality.

However, Chow insisted on Thursday that the increased fines are not a cash grab and are instead geared towards reducing gridlock and improving road safety.

She said that the change to the fine for parking a prohibited vehicle in a bike lane is particularly pertinent in the wake of a collision that killed a 24-year-old cyclist on Bloor Street West near Avenue Road last week.

Police have previously said that the cyclist was struck by a dump truck shortly after exiting a separated bike lane. Images from the scene showed a construction bin blocking the bike lane in the area where the cyclist was killed.

“It is about saving lives,” Chow said. “If you park in a bike lane and some kid or young person, there is a car in front of them or dump truck and then they have to cut out they could get killed. In fact one did.”

The city issued more than 2.25 million parking tickets in 2023.

Staff have previously said that in deciding which fines to hike they focused on offences that “pose safety concerns” and those where the number of offences is “trending upward.”

For a full list of the new parking fine structure follow this link.