Edmonton councillors recommend lowering seasonal parking ban fine, reinstating towing

Madeleine Cummings · CBC News

· Posted: Jun 16, 2025 9:06 PM EDT | Last Updated: 3 hours ago

Edmontonians who neglect to travel seasonal parking bans could look little summons fines successful the future, but tally the hazard of having their vehicles towed. 

Council's assemblage and nationalist services committee discussed a scope of enforcement options astatine a gathering connected Monday, yet favouring a middle-of-the-road attack that would bring backmost towing during wintertime parking bans but trim the parking prohibition usurpation good from $250 to $150. 

The metropolis hiked the good from $100 to $250 successful 2022 arsenic it besides accrued enforcement efforts, temporarily towing vehicles and hiring much staff. 

"I deliberation that was a small spot excessively much, excessively fast," Ward Anirniq Coun. Erin Rutherford said during the meeting. 

A caller metropolis study said enforcement officers handed retired astir 1,000 parking prohibition usurpation tickets last spring, aft not enforcing during the outpouring expanse for a decade.

Contracted officers issued astir 6,000 tickets this spring, the aforesaid study said.

WATCH | Council considers caller enforcement system:

Rutherford said seniors and refugees successful her ward person complained astir the fines, saying they weren't alert of the parking bans and their low-income households faced $500 successful fines.

City administration's caller scan of however different cities enforce parking bans revealed Edmonton's good is higher than those successful Calgary, Fort McMurray, Winnipeg, Montreal, Ottawa and Halifax but each of those cities person vehicles towed portion Edmonton doesn't.

"There are a batch of cities that person managed to bash this more, to let their crews to much readily wide the streets successful a much timely fashion," said Ward Nakota Isga Coun. Andrew Knack. 

Edmonton funded towing during the 2022-2023 season, removing 10 percent of ticketed vehicles, but the metropolis study said towing comes with challenges, including labour shortages and instrumentality failures.

The metropolis study recommended 4 options, ranging from spending nary much wealth to allocating betwixt $100,000 and $1.5 cardinal for much enforcement.

The study said each attack has benefits and drawbacks and that according to nationalist engagement connected the topic, residents want stricter enforcement alongside amended informing signs.

Knack said the enactment with the highest terms tag, which would support contracted enforcement officers moving and wage for towing, would beryllium ideal.

He said helium besides supports spending a smaller magnitude but determination is much enactment to bash successful the future.

Multiple councillors asked whether having steeper fines and much enforcement really works.

City officials said higher fines mostly deter people and less residents person been calling 311 astir parking prohibition tickets this spring. Compliance is hard to measure, however, due to the fact that enforcement officers can't screen the full city. 

Comparing numbers from twelvemonth to twelvemonth tin besides beryllium challenging due to the fact that of argumentation changes and differing amounts of snowfall from twelvemonth to year, the officials said.

Councillors besides heard that erstwhile Edmontonians wage tickets online, the metropolis keeps the afloat good magnitude and tin way the data, but erstwhile they quality tickets done court, the metropolis gets lone a information of good gross and doesn't larn however galore tickets get reduced oregon dismissed.

"I really fishy that adjacent though we're giving much tickets, our gross really isn't expanding that substantially," Rutherford told reporters connected Monday.

She and the 3 different councillors connected the committee, Ward Métis Coun. Ashley Salvador, Ward sipiwiyiniwak Coun. Sarah Hamilton and Ward O-day'min Coun. Anne Stevenson, voted unanimously to urge that assembly walk astir $100,000 connected towing.

If assembly pursues that plan, the parking prohibition during the outpouring expanse would not beryllium enforced.

Rutherford suggested amending the postulation bylaw to trim the summons good magnitude to $150 and connection residents a $100 enactment if they wage wrong a week. 

She said that magnitude strikes the close equilibrium betwixt encouraging compliance and not penalizing radical excessively much.

Her consequent question besides passed unanimously. 

Steve van Diest, who is moving with the Principled Accountable Coalition for Edmonton (PACE) enactment successful the adjacent municipal predetermination to regenerate Coun. Jo-Anne Wright successful Ward Sspomitapi, said reducing the good magnitude is tenable but helium would similar to spot amended connection from the metropolis astir upcoming bans. 

He said radical successful his neighbourhood were amazed and confused to person tickets and thought informing signs lone applied to 1 street, not a larger area. 

He said alerting residents by substance connection to registry for parking prohibition notifications could beryllium a amended mode of reaching much people.

"We person the technology," helium said.