Licensed private companies can now issue parking tickets on city’s behalf
Posted January 16, 2015 5:45 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
After years of ambiguity, private companies can now issue parking tickets on the city’s behalf.
The city is shifting some of the burden of parking ticket enforcement to companies who can now apply for a licence to tag cars in private lots.
Those companies had been banned for about a decade and some slapped with dozens of bylaw-infraction charges.
“We want people to follow the rules. We want to set clearly what they are,” said Rose Burrows, a bylaw enforcement manager with the city.
“We’re ensuring consumer protection so people aren’t getting $300 tickets.”
Purple Heart Security used to issue toothless warnings, but is now one of 14 companies licensed to hand out City of Toronto parking tickets on private property.
“We’re representing the Toronto police, so we take it very seriously,” said president Mark Seenarine.
“We don’t get any money. It’s an added service to sell to our clients.”
Municipal lawyer John Mascarin said Mayor John Tory’s push to enforce rush-hour street parking has kept the city’s parking authority busy, and allowing private companies to ticket makes sense.
“It’s incredibly stretched thin,” he said.
“Regulate all its other parking lots and parking on streets — and then also go in and regulate private lots? It’s just undoable.”
Employees at companies licensed to issue tickets must go through training approved by the Toronto Police Service and will be monitored by the city’s bylaw-enforcement officers.
