In 2019, the City of Waterloo issued 307 parking tickets for a total of around $9,600. On average, the City of Waterloo charged fines of $38.
Running that errand should take a quick ten minutes, but then you spend the whole time looking for a parking spot. When you find an open spot, there’s a fire hydrant right in front of it. Another open spot has a complicated sign, so you can’t really tell if you can park there or not.
A ten-minute errand has become a $40 Waterloo parking ticket without you even realizing it. So what happens now?
You have several options available to you – you can choose to pay it or dispute it. Keep on reading to find out how you can pay or dispute your Waterloo parking ticket.
Pay Parking Ticket - How to Deal with It?
Receiving a parking ticket can ruin your perfect day. It’s not just the expense of the ticket, but the hassle of paying it. We’re here to make it easy for you.
If you get a Waterloo parking ticket, you have two options:
- Pay the parking ticket
- Dispute the ticket
A Waterloo Parking Ticket cost varies depending on the type of violation. You could end up with a $38 parking ticket that can increase with additional administrative fees.
Common Waterloo Parking Violations
You can get a Waterloo parking ticket when you park or stop in a zone where you’re not supposed to park or stop.
You can have a parking violation in Waterloo if you stop or park on the LRT route. This is because the LRT route is reserved for light rail vehicles and construction vehicles.
Parking overnight without registering your car can also result in a $35 ticket. You have to register by 1:30 am. If you have an unregistered car and park from 2:30 am to 6 am, you will get a ticket as a Waterloo parking violation.
You can leave your car in a parking spot overnight 15 times per year as long as you register.
Some of the most common violations taken from the City of Waterloo website are:
- Within 3 meters of a point on the curb or edge of the roadway nearest a fire hydrant.
- Within 15 meters of the nearest rail of a level railway crossing.
- Within 9 meters of an intersecting roadway.
- Within 15 meters of an intersection controlled by traffic control signals or a roundabout.
- In front of or within 1.5 meters of the entrance to a driveway or so as to prevent ingress to or egress from such driveway
- In such a manner as to obstruct an entrance on the highway to or from a private road or lane.
- In such a manner as to obstruct a crosswalk or traffic flow.
- For a longer period of time than 3 consecutive hours.
- Between the hours of 2:30 a.m. and 6:00 a.m.
- For the purpose of repairing, washing, or maintenance of a vehicle, except when such use of the highway is unavoidable through emergency.
- Within 15 meters on either side of a bus stop.
- Within a reserved lane during the hours and days that the reserved lane is in effect.
How to Dispute A Ticket
The City of Waterloo went from a court system for the dispute to an “administrative monetary system” in 2019. This means that instead of wasting time and money in the court system, there’s a separate system for disputing your Waterloo parking ticket.
You have 30 days from receiving the ticket to dispute it. To dispute your Waterloo parking ticket, you need to request a Screening Review and book a screening review appointment online.
A Screening Review is completed by a Screening Officer. You can bring in documents or evidence to support your position. A Screening Officer can:
- Cancel the parking ticket so you don’t owe anything
- Confirm the ticket
- Reduce the amount you owe
- Extend the time for payment
If you are facing financial hardship, bring in evidence to support your claim. A Screening Officer can cancel, reduce or extend the time of payment if they are satisfied that the payment of the parking ticket is causing undue hardship. To show undue hardship, you can bring in documents like Old Age Security, Canada Pension Plan, and Disability Pension.
If you’re not happy with the decision of the Screening Officer, you can appeal the decision with the Hearing Review. You have 30 days from receiving the screening decision to appeal the decision.
Your hearing will be held by a Hearing Officer. If you don’t show up for the hearing, you’ll be charged a fine of $50. At the hearing, the city will present first. After that, you can present your evidence. The Hearing Officer’s decision is final.
You have 15 days from receiving the final Hearing Officer’s decision to pay your fine. If you don’t, you’ll have to pay additional administrative fees.
Lost Parking Ticket Waterloo
We’ve all lost paperwork all the time. If you lose your Waterloo Parking ticket, all is not lost. To get all the information to pay your ticket online or dispute it, you need to call the City at (519) 747-8785 or email municipalenforcement@waterloo.ca.
Waterloo Parking Enforcement
If you don’t schedule a Screening Review within 30 days, you’ll have to pay extra for a vehicle ownership search in addition to your parking ticket.
If you still haven’t scheduled a Screening Review after 60 days and haven’t paid your parking ticket, a late fee will be added to parking ticketing. You could end up paying much more than a simple $35 ticket.
At this point, the City of Waterloo will add a notice to your account, and you won’t be able to renew your license plate. Remember you could get another ticket for not renewing your license plate.
If you choose not to pay your penalty notice, you won’t be able to renew your license plate. In fact, you could even have your car towed or booted. This happens when you don’t renew your license plate.
Pay your Waterloo Parking Tickets - Your Options
You may get a parking ticket from an officer or through the mail. As soon as the ticket is issued, a clock starts to run.
ONLINE
You can pay your Waterloo parking ticket online after 7 days from the date of issue.
IN PERSON / DROP BOX
You can also pay your parking ticket in person at the municipal enforcement counter during business hours at City Hall. There’s an after hours drop-off box on William Street entrance to city hall. You can drop off a cheque payable to the City of Waterloo.
MAIL
You can also mail your cheque to:
Municipal Enforcement Services
City of Waterloo
100 Regina St. S.
PO Box 337, Station Waterloo
Waterloo, ON
N2J 4A8
FAQs
Yes, you need to register to leave your car in a designated lot between 2:30 am and 6 am. Designated lots include city streets and some uptown lots including Station Lot, Waterloo Town Square North and South Lot, and UpTown Parkade.
You have 30 days to dispute the ticket and book your Screening Review. You can get an extension for 30 days if there are extenuating circumstances. After the 60-day period, if you don’t book your screening review or pay your parking ticket, you won’t be able to renew your license plate.
After that expensive Waterloo parking ticket, you want to make sure to get the best rate on auto insurance to save some money. Check out Insurdinary to get a comparison of the best auto insurance rates on Waterloo Auto Insurance that's right for you.
Addressing your Waterloo Parking Tickets
Receiving a parking ticket can ruin your day. The responsible thing to do is take care of your parking ticket as soon as possible.
Another responsible act would be to make sure all your personal auto and home insurance needs are in place.
Insurdinary offers great tools for finding car insurance rates. Get your quotes today.
