With speed cameras gone, here’s the $11.2M plan to keep school zones safe in Mississauga

Roadside warning and speed display signs, flashing beacons and pavement markings are part of a proposed plan to slow down fast-moving cars in school zones across Mississauga.

City councillors will discuss the recommendations from senior City of Mississauga staff at Wednesday morning’s general committee meeting.

The proposal is being tabled as an alternative to automated speed enforcement cameras, which were banned across Ontario by the provincial government last November.

In a report to be tabled on Wednesday, Sam Rogers, the city’s transportation and works commissioner, said if the plan is approved, the city will be reimbursed the $8 million cost by the province.

After outlawing the speed cameras last fall, the Ontario government introduced a Road Safety Initiatives Fund that will divvy up $210 million among municipalities over the next two years as a replacement for the cameras. Mississauga’s cut of that amount is roughly $11.2 million.

The provincial fund is intended to battle speeding — particularly in school and other community safety zones — by having towns and cities implement various traffic calming measures in place of the banned automated speed enforcement cameras, which were viewed by Ontario Premier Doug Ford and his government as a “cash grab.”

Mississauga’s initial $2.2 million from the provincial government is being used to install speed humps and other physical traffic calming measures in school zones.

Of the remaining nearly $9 million earmarked for Mississauga by the Ontario government, $8 million has been identified by city staff as the amount needed to fund the proposed plan.

The money would pay for:

• School zone warning signs with flashing beacons — the warning signs are a standard requirement at all school zones, the city says, adding the flashing beacons operate during school hours and further emphasize to motorists the need to slow down within the school zone.
• Speed display signs — these LED-based signs use radar to measure and display a vehicle’s speed in real time, the city notes, aiming to increase awareness and reduce speeds in high-risk zones by having drivers self-correct.
• Enhanced school zone pavement markings — these are specialized road markings designed to increase safety near schools by forcing drivers to slow down and stay alert, the city says.

The Ontario-wide ban on ASE cameras took effect last Nov. 14 under new provincial legislation and meant more than 700 of the roadside devices that had been set up since 2019 in 40 municipalities were taken out of service.

Of those ASE cameras, 22 were in Mississauga. The devices were rotated between numerous Mississauga school zone locations between 2021 and early November 2025 in attempts to slow down speedy drivers.

Prior to the ban, Mississauga’s mayor and city officials had repeatedly pointed 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).

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 last August.