Toronto's photo speed cameras will automatically ticket drivers starting next week

TORONTO -- Starting July 6, speed cameras across the city will start issuing tickets to drivers who are going too fast near schools.

The city says 50 cameras have been installed on local, collector and arterial roads in Community Safety Zones near schools, with at least two in each ward.

Signs in the area have been posted to alert drivers to the presence of the cameras and tickets will automatically be issued to the owner of any vehicle detected speeding in those zones, regardless of who is driving.

The tickets will be for fines ranging from $5 per KPH for those going 1-19 KPH over the speed limit; $7.50 per KPH for those going 20-29 KPH over the speed limit; and $12 per KPH for those going 30-49 KPH over the speed limit.

That means that someone going 49 kilometres per hour over the speed limit would be automatically sent a ticket for $588 plus another $130 for a victim surcharge and court costs. 

The owner of any vehicle caught travelling 50 kilometres or more over the speed limit in the zones will be issued a summons to appear before a Justice of the Peace.

The tickets will not include demerit points.

The camera locations have been chosen based on data indicating where there have been speeding problems in the past, the city said.

The province gave municipalities the authority to start operating speed cameras back in December 2019. The city installed the cameras shortly after that, but was only issuing warnings during the first 90 days.

According to the city, 25,000 warning letters were sent out in February and March alone.

Ticketing was supposed to start in April, but was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

While automatic ticketing will only start on Monday, July 6, the city has continued to record data from the cameras and has logged more than 142,000 speeding incidents at just nine sites between January 27 and June 18.

Those include 37,437 incidents alone outside FH Miller Junior Public School on Caledonia Road. The most egregious speeding incident was logged outside Parkdale Collegiate Institute, where a camera clocked one vehicle going at 163 KPH in a 40 KPH zone.