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Audit of the City’s Administrative Penalty System for Parking and Red Light Camera Violations

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Photograph of a waiting area inside Toronto APS Screening Office for parking violation disputes, showing rows of black chairs and a public service counter. A large sign displays office hours and online access information.

WHY THIS AUDIT MATTERS

The Administrative Penalty System (APS) is the City’s process to resolve disputes and collect payments for administrative penalties, which are imposed for various traffic by-law and statute violations.

The City implemented its APS to resolve by-law disputes more efficiently than it had through the provincial court.

Timely dispute resolution and collections processes apply timely consequences for traffic by-law and statute violations, deterring re-offence.

BACKGROUND

This audit assessed whether the APS achieves its intended benefits in supporting dispute resolution and payment collection in accordance with City by-laws and regulations.

BY THE NUMBERS

  • Approximately 2.2 million parking and red light camera penalties processed in 2025.
  • 252 days – average time-to-screening for parking penalties in 2025.
  • Over 247,000 parking penalty disputes in backlog.
  • 48 days – average time-to-screening for red light camera penalties in 2025.
  • Over $215 million remained outstanding for parking penalties ($128.8 million in penalty amounts, $87 million in fees) on December 31, 2025.
  •  Over 1 million repeat offenders for parking penalties since 2022 totalling more than $409 million; $114 million uncollected as of January 2026.

WHAT WE FOUND

A. Improve Timeliness of Screening Reviews

  • Timeliness of screening reviews needs improvement, particularly for parking penalties, with an average time-to-screening of over eight months (252 days).
  • The number of screening requests for parking penalties outpaced screening decisions every year since 2022. Figure 1 below shows that the total backlog grew by approximately 247,000 over this period.
  • There is no established time-to-screening target in place to compare actual results against.

line graph displaying the annual change in screening backlog for parking penalties from 2022-2025

B. Improve Collection of Penalty Amounts and Fees Due

  • Out of $659.5 million in penalties and fees collectable on penalties issued between 2022 and 2025, $215.8 million remained outstanding as of December 31, 2025.
  • The APS did not always use its available tools as soon as possible to encourage timely payment and penalize delinquency.
  • Half of the undisputed parking penalties were paid late by an average of 109 days past their due date, and about a quarter of disputed penalties were paid late by an average of 249 days (or eight months) past their due date.
  • About 5.9 per cent of parking penalties that qualified for a late fee between 2022 and 2025 did not have a late fee added. This would have amounted to an estimated $4.9 million in additional fees.
  • 1.14 million repeat offenders collectively accumulated about 6.68 million parking penalties worth more than $409 million between 2022 and 2025. From that, about 1.62 million penalties worth over $114 million were not collected as of January 2026.

C. Improve Performance Monitoring and Reporting

  • The APS program has not established a performance framework to set targets, measure progress, and assess overall performance.
  • APS staff intend to transfer parking information from a legacy system to a new Case Management System in early 2027 to enable improved operations, performance monitoring and reporting.

HOW RECOMMENDATIONS WILL BENEFIT THE CITY

Implementing the five recommendations in the report will strengthen the effectiveness, efficiency, and oversight of the Administrative Penalty System, helping to ensure timely dispute resolution and collections processes, and apply timely consequences for traffic by-law and statute violations.