Speed Cameras to Be Banned Across Ontario: Premier Ford

Ontario Premier Doug Ford says his government will be looking to ban traffic speed cameras across the province, a move opposed by chiefs of police in the province.

Ford made the announcement during a Sept. 25 press conference in Vaughan, saying his government will be introducing the related legislation this fall.

“Over the last few years, we’ve seen municipalities across the province use municipal speed cameras as nothing more than a cash grab,” he said. “People are fed up.”

The province will instead establish a new provincial fund to help affected municipalities implement alternative safety measures, including proactive traffic-calming initiatives like speed bumps, roundabouts, raised crosswalks and curb extensions, as well as public education and improved signage, to slow down drivers.

“Instead of punishing people retroactively with speeding tickets days or weeks after the fact, we’re supporting practical, proactive, traffic-calming measures that stop people from speeding in the first place,” Ford said. “That’s the best way to protect taxpayers and protect our streets and communities to help make the switch.”

The Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police (OACP) issued a statement this month saying they support the use of automated safety enforcement (ASE) cameras, and that they are effective in reducing speeding. They also said having the cameras installed frees up police resources for other public safety matters.

“Employing ASE tools has been proven to reduce speeding, change driver behaviour, and make our roads safer for everyone — drivers, cyclists, pedestrians, and especially children and other vulnerable road users,” said the statement.

“These tools are especially deployed in school zones and community safety zones, where slowing down saves lives and prevents serious injuries.”

A recently released study by the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto (SickKids) and Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) found that speed cameras reduced the number of speeding vehicles by 45 percent in school zones.

The study was published in the medical journal Injury Prevention in July. It evaluated the cameras in 250 school zones in Toronto between July 2020 and December 2022.

Ford said at the press conference that while he respects both the chiefs of police and SickKids, he said speed cameras aren’t working, calling it a “black and white” issue.

“Traffic calming measures slow people down. Speed cameras don’t slow people down,” Ford said.

He added that municipalities knew how to prevent drivers from speeding, but relied on the revenue from the speed cameras.

“It’s not that they don’t know how to do it. They don’t want to do it because it’s a cash grab right out of the taxpayers’ pockets,” he said.

Since 2019, over 700 municipal speed cameras have been installed in 40 municipalities across Ontario, the province said.

Ford said later this fall the province would be installing large new signs equipped with flashing lights in school zones to remind drivers to slow down. He also said the province was looking at other measures, including speed bumps, roundabouts, raised crosswalks, curb extensions and other types of enforcement.

If passed, the government said the legislation will prevent the use of municipal speed cameras in Ontario immediately upon royal assent.

It would also require municipalities to install the large new signs in school zones by mid-November this year, adding flashing lights by September 2026.

The Canadian Press contributed to this article.