22 speed cameras will stay on roads for another week in Mississauga

The province’s decision to do away with speed cameras in municipalities across Ontario eliminates a program that saves lives and it puts “added pressure” on existing road safety initiatives in Mississauga, the city says.

New provincial legislation that includes an Ontario-wide ban on automated speed enforcement cameras as of Nov. 14 means more than 700 of the roadside devices set up since 2019 in 40 municipalities will be removed in less than a week.

Mississauga’s 22 roadside cameras will continue to operate and dish out tickets to speeders in school zones until end of the day next Thursday (Nov. 13), City of Mississauga officials said on Friday.

The devices will then be decommissioned in accordance with the provincial government’s Bill 56, also known as the Building a More Competitive Economy Act, which passed on Oct. 30.

“The loss of speed cameras will have a significant impact and place added pressure on our existing road safety initiatives,” Sam Rogers, Mississauga’s commissioner of transportation and works, said in a news release on Friday. “As the city navigates this transition, we urge all drivers to follow the posted speed limits. The removal of speed cameras does not mean the removal of responsibility. We remind drivers to respect the rules to help protect our community.

Road safety remains a “top priority,” city says

“Road safety remains a top priority for the city and we must work together to keep our streets safe for pedestrians, cyclists, transit users and drivers.”

City officials say drivers should take note that:

• Speed camera tickets will continue to be issued until the end of day on Nov. 13. All existing tickets are valid and must be paid or appealed by their due date.
• The city will coordinate the removal of all speed cameras and speed camera signage on municipal roads. Some cameras and speed camera signage may remain past Nov. 13, but will not be operational.
• The city’s 201 Community Safety Zones (including all school zones) will remain, which allows for enhanced police enforcement by doubling certain fines like speeding.
• Removing speed cameras doesn’t mean drivers are now allowed to go above a certain speed limit. The city continues to encourage all drivers to drive the posted speed limits, especially in school zones and community safety zones.

Mayor Carolyn Parrish told Mississauga MPPs in a letter that automated speed enforcement cameras have saved lives in the city.

Pointing out that speed cameras have saved lives in Mississauga since the city launched its ASE camera program in 2021 (the strategy reduced school zone speeds an average of 9 km/h, according to the city), Mayor Carolyn Parrish, council and senior city staff have pushed Ontario Premier Doug Ford for weeks to ease up on his call for a complete ban and allow the cameras in school zones.

However, the repeated pleas to the Premier — and Mississauga MPPs via a letter from the mayor — fell on deaf ears, with Ford staying the course since he first lashed out at the program a couple of months ago when he called the speed cameras nothing but a “cash grab.”

In her letter to Mississauga MPPs a week ago, Parrish insisted Mississauga’s ASE camera program is not a “cash grab,” but instead “an important tool that keeps speeds down in school zones, protects vulnerable people like children and older adults, and makes our communities safer. I think these are goals we can all agree are important. Mississauga has been the gold standard for the implementation of ASE cameras.”

City officials added on Friday that despite the province’s decision, Mississauga remains committed to road safety.

“The city will continue to rely on existing road safety programs to help reduce speeding including traffic calming measures like speed humps or raised crosswalks, designating Community Safety Zones, installing Slow Streets bollards and continuing the school crossing guard program.”

Mississauga officials noted earlier that 169,109 fines were dished out in the city under the speed camera initiative between its launch in June 2021 and this past August.

(Cover photo: City of Mississauga)