Ottawa committee approves new process to deal with red light and photo radar camera ticket disputes

Ottawa motorists soon won't be able to fight photo radar and red light camera tickets in provincial court, as the city starts down the road to implement a new system to deal with ticket complaints.

The finance and corporate services committee approved a plan for the city to implement an administrative penalty system for adjudicating parking and camera-based offences, with municipally appointed screening and hearing officers adjudicating ticket disputes. Coun. Matthew Luloff was the only councillor to oppose the plan.

Under the administrative penalty system, drivers who receive a photo radar or red light camera ticket can either pay the penalty or request a review by a screening officer. Following the decision by the screening officer, the offender can request a review by a hearing officer, who will be appointed by council. The decision of a hearing officer is final.

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Currently, a ticket for a red light or photo radar camera infraction is certified by a Provincial Offence Officer, and the ticket is mailed to the defendant plate holder. If the offender decides to challenge the ticket, they fight the ticket in provincial court. 

Staff say the new administrative penalty system will see disputes heard within a few weeks or months, lower municipal costs by 35 per cent and increase the Provincial Offences Act courts capacity to focus on more serious offences.  The provincial offences court will still deal with all Provincial Offences Act tickets outside of the parking and camera-based tickets.

Coun. Shawn Menard applauded the city for looking for ways to free up space within the provincial court.

"We've needed the APS for a long time in Ottawa. It has been hard to enforce some of those bylaw issues because of the provincial model that has existed," Menard told the committee.

While Luloff said he supports speeding up the ticket dispute process, he is concerned about moving the process out of the courts.

"I really don't want to do this at the expense of fairness. I don't like the idea of removing a level of appeal to a justice of the peace; I don't think that there's any replacement of that ability to appeal before a provincial justice of the peace," Luloff told councillors.

Ottawa plans to appoint 10 hearing officers per year, starting in 2024, 2025 and 2026, with a total of 30 hearing officers available five to 10 days per month to deal with tickets.  Staff told councillors that a hearing officer would be someone with arbitration/mediation experience and a legal background.

The new administrative penalty system will be in place for parking tickets in the spring of 2025, while photo radar and red light camera tickets will be adjudicated under the new system in the winter of 2025.

The City of Ottawa forecasts more than one million tickets to be issued through the automated speed enforcement camera and red light camera programs this year, and 1.5 million tickets next year.

Toronto, Hamilton, Mississauga and Brampton have adopted an administrative penalty system for parking tickets.