Drivers owe the City of Ottawa nearly $17 million in unpaid fines for photo radar and red-light camera violations, with motorists from all 10 Canadian provinces having outstanding tickets.
The city’s automated speed enforcement camera program has resulted in 828,545 speeding tickets issued to drivers since the program launched in July 2020, while the red-light program has resulted in 313,261 tickets issued to drivers for running red lights since January 1, 2018.
Statistics provided to CTV News Ottawa show there were 55,227 unpaid and defaulted tickets for photo radar violations, totalling $9.327 million in outstanding fines, and 23,744 unpaid and defaulted fines for red light camera violations, totalling $7.614 million.
A ticket is considered past due 91 days from the day the ticket is issued for a photo radar or red-light camera violation.
Motorists with Ontario licence plates have the highest number of unpaid tickets owed to the City of Ottawa, with 45,754 unpaid photo radar camera fines and 16,516 outstanding red light camera fines. Unpaid fines for Ottawa motorists account for $12.6 million of the $16.941 million in unpaid fines.
Quebec motorists owe the city more than $4.2 million in unpaid fines, with 9,474 outstanding photo radar tickets and 7,221 unpaid tickets for running red lights.
Tickets issued through the automated speed enforcement camera and red-light camera programs are issued to the registered owner of the vehicle.
The City of Ottawa has “reciprocal agreements” with other provinces to collect the fines for unpaid tickets from drivers outside of Ontario. Staff have said the city can refer tickets to a private collection agency for enhanced collection.
Here is a breakdown of unpaid fines for photo radar and red-light camera tickets by province
Photo radar camera tickets
Ontario: 45,754 ($7.646,169)
Quebec: 9,474 ($1,671,175)
Alberta: 15 ($3,419)
New Brunswick: 13 ($2,580)
British Columbia: 9: ($1,740)
Nova Scotia: 7 ($1,167.20)
Manitoba: 4 ($699.60)
Saskatchewan: 1 ($337.41)
Red light camera tickets
Ontario: 16,516 ($5,027,009)
Quebec: 7,221 ($2,575,601)
British Columbia: 9 ($3,137
Nova Scotia: 9 ($2,694)
Alberta: 7 ($2,015)
New Brunswick: 7 ($2,251)
Newfoundland and Labrador: 3 ($1,070)
Prince Edward Island: 1 ($370)
Saskatchewan: 1 ($370)
