Toronto Mayor John Tory is targeting out-of-province parking offenders, closing a loophole in the city's parking ticket tracking system.
On Monday, Tory expanded the zero-tolerance towing policy to include vehicles from other provinces and states that are repeatedly written up for parking illegally.
At a news conference, Tory said that the city issues approximately 100,000 tickets to out-of-province vehicles each year, but the majority of those tickets go unpaid.
The city has no resources to follow up on outstanding tickets, and many drivers are never held accountable. Currently, vehicles with out-of-province plates are tracked, but the information isn't uploaded to a central database.
Under Tory's new policy, police will be able to instantly access parking ticket records, and those with three or more outstanding Toronto tickets will be immediately towed.
The zero tolerance policy covers those from Ontario and other areas. Drivers will be subject to towing fees of approximately $200, and a storage fee of up to $80 per day.
"There will be no more thumbing of the nose at the laws by people with out of province plates because a tow truck will await them if they keep parking where they shouldn't, just like everybody else," Tory said.
The new parking policy will come into effect at the beginning of February.
