Toronto hasn't ticketed a single driver for idling in the last 5 years. Here's why

Not a single ticket has been issued for idling in Toronto in the last five years. And it's unlikely drivers will receive the $130 fine anytime soon. 

The reason? 

There's no longer proactive enforcement of Toronto's anti-idling bylaw because of limited resources, according to a report that went before the city's infrastructure and environment committee last week.

"It's outrageous," said Coun. Dianne Saxe, a member of the committee.

"If we have bylaws — especially bylaws for public health — and then we don't do anything to enforce them, we make a mockery of the law and we undercut public trust in the government."

Toronto was the first Canadian municipality to implement an anti-idling bylaw in 1996 to reduce unnecessary greenhouse gas emissions and improve air quality.

In 2010, the bylaw was amended to shorten the maximum idling time from three minutes to one and remove several exemptions. Back then, council also wanted to improve enforcement and directed staff to come up with a plan with police for parking officers start enforcing the bylaw.

But parking officers never took on enforcement.

Instead, the city now relies entirely on a complaints-based system where it's up to the public to report idling vehicles to 311. Then staff send the registered owner a warning letter with information on the harms of idling and on potential fines.

"Municipalities have struggled and struggled to get police to play that enforcement role," said Gaby Kalapos, executive director of Clean Air Partnership, a non-profit that supports municipalities with climate actions, including anti-idling.

"They've gone to the complaints-based system just because that's the solution available to them based on the limited resources they have."

CBC Toronto asked the city for details on what happened with council's 2010 direction to develop a plan for police parking officers to start enforcing the bylaw, but the city said the question would be best addressed by police. 

In an email, a Toronto police spokesperson said the service doesn't have information on the 2010 decision, or if any discussions were had, but confirmed that parking enforcement officers have never issued bylaw tickets for idling.

Before 2011, the city ran idling enforcement blitzes in May and September each year, alongside its complaints-based system. The last proactive enforcement efforts were in 2019 when 29 tickets were issued, according to the report which responded to a council request from 2021 for details on how the city was enforcing the anti-idling bylaw.