City of Ottawa wipes out $2.6 million in unpaid parking fines issued 30 years ago

A parking ticket is seen on the windshield of a car in Ottawa, Ont. (CTV News Ottawa)

The City of Ottawa is forgiving $2.6 million in unpaid fines for parking tickets issued more than 30 years ago after exhausting all efforts to track down the drivers.

There are 71,835 outstanding parking tickets issued between 1989 and 1995, prior to the amalgamation of the City of Ottawa.

Parking infractions are enforced under the Provincial Offences Act, and all unpaid tickets are put into default with the Ministry of Transportation.  Ontario plated vehicle owners are denied renewal of their licence plates until they pay all infractions tied to the licence plate, including parking tickets.

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However, a report for the finance and corporate services committee says the 71,835 outstanding parking tickets are "not part of the current parking infraction regime."

"Staff have exhausted all collection options, and the Deputy Treasurer, Revenue has determined these to be uncollectible and ceased all collections activities," the report says.

The tickets were issued by the former municipalities of Cumberland, Osgoode, Gloucester, Vanier, Nepean, Ottawa, Goulburn, Kanata and the Region of Ottawa-Carleton.

The report says the city recorded $25.2 million in parking revenue in 2023, and the total Provincial Offences Act receivables as of December 2023 were $54 million.

Staff say the city also ceased collection activities on 555 Provincial Offence Act infractions that were issued prior to 1998.

The report outlining the city forgiving 71,835 outstanding parking tickets comes just months after thousands of people saw a dip in their credit score because of old tickets and fines issued in Ottawa dating back to 2003.

The city contracted a new private collections agency to collect 103,000 unpaid Provincial Offences Act fines.  The collection agency told CTV News Ottawa in March that once someone pays off the balance on the account, all credit scores will be updated.