Mississauga is hiking fines for parking tickets this April

A stock image of a parking ticket. (Credit Erik Mclean/pexels.com)

Mississauga is hiking parking ticket fines from April onwards, after city councillors approved the revised penalties on Wednesday.

In a corporate report from Jan. 17, the city staff said Mississauga’s parking fines were $25 lower on average than the neighbouring municipalities, which prompted the recommendation of a 38 per cent increase to all parking penalties.

Additionally, the city’s top parking offences will see a $10 increase and offenses that jeopardize public safety will see a $50 increment.

In a meeting on Wednesday, Mississauga Mayor Carolyn Parrish said enforcing these parking penalties will make people “stop and think.”

Parking fines that are set to increase

A total of 72 different parking ticket fines will increase starting April 1.

The largest increase, according to the new structure, will be $130 for parking in bike lanes, $75 more than the current fine.

Parking without a permit in an accessible space will cost $450, up from the current $400.

The common parking violations like parking for more than five hours will increase to $60 from the current $35.

Common parking violations, like parking in a spot for more than five hours, will nearly double from $35 to $60.

Parking violations that pose immediate or serious safety concerns, like parking on a sidewalk or too close to a fire hydrant, will soon incur a $70 fine.

Stopping in a school zone is set to cost $80, up from the current $65.

Mississauga enforcement director Georgios Fthenos told council the city could get an additional $7 million annually from the new parking fine structure.

City council has also approved increasing the number of parking enforcement officers in the budget for 2025, growing it to 71 full-time positions.

The council is considering removing the hiked parking fines in Mississauga’s waterfront areas after city staff recommended increasing the $100 zone fines to $150.

Ward 1 Coun. Stephen Dasko said raising penalties by $50 “might be a little excessive.”

Toronto’s parking fines

In April last year, the City of Toronto approved increased parking fines for 123 offences that included illegal parking, stopping and standing in designated areas.

The changes in new penalty amounts came into effect on Aug. 1, 2024.

Parking without paying at a meter increased from $30 to $50 and parking on a bike lane increased to $200 from the previous $60. The fine for stopping in an intersection increased to $200.

Here’s the full list of changes for Toronto.

With files from CP24’s Codi Wilson