The City of Toronto cracks down on illegal parking

2015 marked the beginning of Toronto’s zero-tolerance approach towards illegally parked vehicles during rush hour. It started in early January, when approximately 30 vehicles were towed in the a.m. rush hour.

Rather than being ticketed, the city is towing vehicles parked on busy roads during rush hour (morning and afternoon) at the owner’s expense. As a reminder, drivers are not permitted to park on most major streets from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. and from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. during the week.

Typically, drivers face fines of $150 per parking ticket, however, during this blitz, it may cost upwards of $230 to get back a vehicle. As for delivery trucks, charges may be as high as $1,000.

While the recently elected mayor, John Tory, hopes that no one will be towed, the new policy emphasized the impact of illegal parking on traffic congestion, “if you get your truck of your car towed a couple of times, maybe just once, I think that’s enough to change behavior.” This comes as the city continues to find new ways to improve gridlock. On the same day, it was tweeted by the Toronto police that 29 vehicles had been towed in the three-hour blitz.

Has your car been towed or is not where you left it? The Toronto police advise following these steps:

  1. Call the Toronto Police Service’s non-emergency line at 416-808-2222. When prompted, push 4 and then 2 to get in contact with the communications dispatcher.
  2. Provide the dispatcher with your licence plate number and the vehicle’s last known location.
  3. The dispatcher will tell you whether the car has been impounded, and provide the vehicle’s current location.
  4. If the car has been impounded, call the appropriate towing company and make arrangements to retrieve it.

It’s imperative that you pick up your car as soon as possible. Storage fees are based on the time a vehicle spends in the lot. In Toronto, that number typically ranges from $50 – $80 / day.