Drivers owe Ottawa millions of dollars in unpaid traffic camera fines

Ottawa – Arab Canada News

Official data from the city of Ottawa revealed that drivers owe the city millions of dollars in unpaid fines resulting from violations such as speeding and running red lights, captured by surveillance cameras (“Photo Radar” and “Red Light Cameras”). 

According to one report, there are 49,183 accumulated violations due to speed cameras, representing approximately 8.8 million Canadian dollars.  
Another report stated that the total overdue fines are estimated at more than 16 million Canadian dollars from violations recorded by cameras and red light cameras over the past years.  

Challenges and Solutions Under Study

The city faces multiple difficulties in recovering these amounts, including:

Drivers failing to pay fines or moving out of the city or transferring vehicle ownership.
Delays in legal procedures and the absence of an effective system to enforce penalties on late violators.

Ottawa is studying several options to improve collection, including using license plate or driver’s license holds as an intervention to collect old fines, and facilitating procedures to reduce delays.