About parking in Canadian cities

Hello, dear friends, today I want to answer a question about parking. People ask me, is it true that there are paid parking lots everywhere in Canada? How easy is it to find a free one? Is it difficult or not difficult? And what is the cost of the pleasure of parking?

Payback is imminent

Let's start with the big and important thing. I can say that it is true that Canada has a very developed system of paid parking. And in those places where it is developed, where it is present, specifically in those cities where it is present, there are excellent services that are responsible for controlling the enforcement of parking, let's say. That is, that all those people who park in places that need to be paid for, pay for these places.

Accordingly, if the seats are not paid, then depending on which city, in which municipality, in which district you are standing, you will be issued a fine. Let's say the minimum fine in Montreal is $25 CAD. If you're parked somewhere very, very posh, somewhere in an expensive neighborhood where it's either illegal to park or parking is very expensive, you might get a $80 CAD fine.

My personal record is that because I parked in the Mont-Royal district in the wrong, shall we say, place, that is, I parked after the sign stating that you can park here, I got a fine of $86 CAD, if memory serves. So much for that simple pleasure.

Looking for free parking

How ubiquitous is this topic? I can say that in cities with a population of, say, more than 20,000-30,000, there are paid seats everywhere. That is, not everywhere, but they do exist. If we're talking about million-dollar cities, I know for a fact about Montreal and Toronto that all that belongs to downtown, all that belongs to the bedroom communities are paid parking zones, especially downtown, especially downtown. I've never seen any free spaces there. But it's good that there's all sorts of underground parking, which, in principle, helps.

But if you come to a place in Downtown where there is no underground parking and you need to stop, you will have problems, first of all, with finding a free space. And secondly, if you don't find one and put your car wherever you want, you'll get a fine.

Again. If it's Downtown, and if it's a city of several tens of thousands of people, then the entire downtown will 100% be toll-free. So you won't be able to park for nothing. And if it's a small town, or if it's a bedroom community of some kind, there probably won't be any paid parking.

But, my friends, when you're here already, pay attention to the signs. The thing is, if we're talking about residential neighborhoods, very often the spaces by the houses, even though there's no sign that says it's paid parking, belong to the residents of that house. And if you stand in someone else's spot, then, again, there will be a kind municipal employee walking around who will fine you for standing in someone else's spot. There are usually 2-4 guest spots in these places, and so, again, watch the signs carefully so you don't end up, as I did, as I said, in $86 CAD.

It's cheaper to pay

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Now about the cost of the issue. What I've encountered is that the parking meters in parking lots are usually tied to a twenty-five-cent coin. Twenty-five cents is usually seven minutes of parking. Accordingly, if you park for a long time, there's a discounted rate starting at an hour or two. And I remember paying $3 CAD for an hour of parking in Downtown Montreal. So I can't tell you what the step there is, how much exactly you have to pay. Or did I pay $3 CAD for several hours? I'm not going to lie, really. That 25 cents for 7 minutes is accurate, because I often pay those 25 cents to a parking meter. And as for the longer waiting periods, like I said, there's definitely some sort of discount scale there. And it will cost you cheaper than if you were to pay those same 25 cents for 7 minutes.

Plus, very often in Downtown on Saturday and Sunday, starting on Friday after 6 p.m., you can get into the normally paid seats for free. But then again, some neighborhoods, I've seen, have it, some don't.

So, in any case, when you park your car downtown and you see parking meters that are designed to pay for a space, be sure to go to that parking meter, even if it's a weekend, and make sure that that particular space is free today. That is, you can park there and leave without worrying about being towed.

What is remorkash

By the way, there is no evacuation system as such. To evacuate a car, you really have to put it in a place where you can't park it. That is, if you put your car in a place where you have to pay, and you don't pay, you get a fine.

But, again, if you put your car in a place where you can't park at all, there will be a special sign and it will say "Remorkash a wo fret", that is, "Transportation at your expense". This means that a car will come, which will load your car on itself and take it away. And not only will you pay a fine for improper parking, you'll also pay a fee for the remorkash. My acquaintances told me that this kind of pleasure cost them $150 CAD. This was in Montreal. They parked the car in the Plaza Desa area, didn't notice that there was such a badge. A tow truck came and took them away. It was very sad, unpleasant, but c'est la vie.

Reducing the fine

If you do not agree with the fact that you have been issued some fine, the fine receipt comes with an envelope that says: "In case you do not agree, please fill out this form and send it to this address. This is usually the address of the municipal court, which receives your paperwork and sets you a hearing date. According to people I know, if you go to court, and you file, you usually get at least a 50% write-off. That's the funny thing.

If you are not ready to sue, spend time going to court, etc., then you just pay the fine. You can pay the fine through the bank or come directly to the city hall. There is a special window there for receiving fines. Or you can pay remotely through the city hall website. So everything in this respect is simple and good.

In short, that's how it is. I hope you found this information useful and interesting. I wish you all the best! And goodbye!