Twenty mayors, along with a deputy mayor and a county warden from various municipalities in Ontario, have jointly penned a letter to Premier Doug Ford and the transportation minister. They are advocating for a compromise on the implementation of automated speed enforcement (ASE) measures in school zones instead of enforcing a province-wide ban.
In their letter, the 22 municipal leaders have requested that if a ban on ASE is enforced, the province should fully compensate all municipalities for the costs associated with canceling the ASE program. They emphasized that the reimbursement should cover expenses for enhancing local policing, staff severance, and public safety initiatives currently funded by revenues from speed cameras.
The mayors stressed the primary objective of installing cameras in school zones as safeguarding the most vulnerable residents, particularly children. They cautioned that a complete ban on ASE would undo years of safety progress in school zones, leading to heightened pressure on law enforcement, increased enforcement costs, and, most importantly, jeopardizing lives.
The leaders outlined several compromises they are willing to make to retain ASE measures in school zones. These include issuing warning tickets for first-time offenses, setting cameras at a reasonable speed threshold before ticket issuance, restricting camera operation to school and community hours, and implementing a blackout period for additional fines after the first ticket to allow drivers to adjust their behavior.
Furthermore, the municipal leaders proposed that revenue collected from speeding fines be directed towards traffic calming initiatives like speed signs and roundabouts, practices already in place in many municipalities.
Premier Ford recently expressed his intention to introduce legislation banning speed cameras, citing them as an ineffective “tax grab.” He plans to establish a provincial fund to assist municipalities in implementing alternative proactive traffic-calming measures, such as speed bumps, roundabouts, raised crosswalks, and curb extensions. Notably, it was Ford’s government that initially enabled municipalities to operate speed enforcement programs in 2019.
Despite Ford’s skepticism about the effectiveness of speed cameras, a study conducted in July 2025 by SickKids hospital and Toronto Metropolitan University revealed a substantial 45% decrease in speeding vehicles in 250 school zones with the presence of ASE cameras. The municipal leaders emphasized the tangible benefits of these findings in reducing injuries, fatalities, and enhancing community safety.
Moreover, a survey conducted by CAA South Central Ontario indicated that nearly three-quarters of Ontario drivers support ASE in targeted areas, particularly near schools and community centers. While some municipalities, such as Brampton and Toronto, have opted to continue their ASE programs despite potential provincial bans, others, like Vaughan, have chosen to discontinue municipal cameras in favor of prioritizing traffic-calming initiatives.
Vaughan, for instance, initiated its ASE program in April 2025 but paused it in June after an influx of over 30,000 tickets issued in a short period. Conversely, Toronto has faced challenges in maintaining its speed cameras, with reports of 47 cameras being vandalized within a year.