Thousands of drivers have been caught not paying for parking in the Westboro, Wellington West and Hintonburg areas since the introduction of paid on-street parking last summer. Last September, the city implemented paid on-street parking for approximately 700 spaces on Wellington Street West, Richmond Road, Churchill Avenue and adjacent side streets to encourage vehicle turnover in the parking spots on the busy streets. The parking rate is $3 an hour, with the maximum stay of two hours. On-street parking had been free in the Hintonburg, Wellington West and Westboro areas for years. Bylaw Services tells CTV News Ottawa officers issued 14,525 parking tickets for violations in the areas of Richmond Road and Wellington Street West between Sept. 9, 2025, and June 30. “These changes were implemented to encourage parking turnover and better support local businesses by improving parking availability during peak periods,” Jake Gravelle, Chief of Bylaw and Regulatory Services, said in an email. “During this same period, there have been 482,139 paid on-street parking transactions in Westboro and Wellington West, which indicates a high level of compliance in these areas.” The fine for parking in excess of the posted time limits is $70, with an early payment option of $50. The city says pay and display machines are installed in on-street parking areas in the neighbourhoods for drivers to purchase parking. Kitchissippi Coun. Jeff Leiper says he doesn’t believe the 14,500 parking tickets in 10 months is an “unreasonable” number. “The numbers in Wellington West are very comparable to what we’re seeing in Centretown. It is less than the Glebe,” Leiper told CTV News Ottawa. “All those areas are far less than the ByWard Market. So, I don’t think the number that has been handed out seems very unreasonable.” Staff at Fil’s Diner say there have been fewer customers since the introduction of paid on-street parking. “Some of them wait until Sunday when it’s free parking to come in,” said John Nagle, the head chef at Fil’s Diner. “So that’s basically our one of our busiest days, when we would usually have a lot more business.” Paid on-street parking is in effect Monday to Saturday until 5:30 p.m. in the Churchill, Wellington Village and Hintonburg areas, Monday to Friday until 5:30 p.m. in Richmond East, and Monday to Friday until 7:30 p.m. and on Saturday until 5:30 p.m. in Richmond West. There were 1,325 parking tickets issued in the Westboro, Wellington West and Hintonburg areas during the first month of the paid parking rules last September. Paid parking is in effect in the following areas: With files from CTV News Ottawa’s Natalie van Rooy
