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What percentage of Ontario's traffic fine revenue comes from speed cameras?

Checked on November 14, 2025
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Executive summary

Available reporting does not provide a single provincial percentage figure for how much of Ontario’s total traffic fine (or municipal revenue) comes from speed cameras; instead, news outlets report city- and program-level collections — for example, Toronto’s automated speed cameras collected roughly $30.4 million from Jan. 1–Aug. 31, 2025 (City of Toronto data reported by The Globe and Mail) and the city says ASE revenues funded $31.2 million for crossing guards in 2024 (Toronto statements reported by CityNews and Beach Metro) [1] [2] [3]. Municipal collections motivated Ontario’s provincial ban and a $210-million replacement fund was announced to offset lost camera revenue [4] [5].

1. No single provincial percentage in current reporting — only city/program totals

There is no source among the provided results that calculates “what percentage of Ontario’s traffic fine revenue comes from speed cameras” for the whole province; available stories give program-level dollar figures (Toronto’s ASE receipts, Waterloo Region projections, and smaller municipalities’ returns), not an Ontario-wide share or percentage of total traffic fine revenue [1] [6] [7]. If you need a province-level percentage, the necessary data — total traffic fine revenue for Ontario and total ASE revenues across all municipalities for the same period — is not presented in these items (not found in current reporting).

2. Toronto: a large, well-documented example, but not representative by itself

The Globe and Mail reports that Toronto issued 550,997 ASE tickets and collected $30,375,059.90 from its 150 automated speed cameras from Jan. 1 to Aug. 31, 2025; other local reports and officials say gross ASE fine revenue for Toronto in 2024 was around $37–40 million [1] [3]. Those figures show ASE can generate significant funds in big cities, but they cannot be extrapolated to an Ontario-wide percentage without province-scale revenue data [1] [3].

3. Municipal variation: some programs are large, some revenue‑neutral

Reporting stresses wide variation: some municipalities saw “millions” from single cameras (one Toronto camera reportedly issued more than 65,000 tickets and took in nearly $7 million prior to 2025), while smaller programs recorded more modest returns (Sudbury ≈ $750,000 in 2024) or were considered revenue-neutral (Guelph) [4] [7] [8]. That spread means aggregate provincial shares depend heavily on which municipalities ran programs and for how long — data not compiled in these sources [7].

4. How municipalities used ASE revenue — claims and counterclaims

Multiple accounts note provincial guidelines or municipal claims that ASE revenues are earmarked for road safety, not general coffers: Ottawa and other cities say millions from ASE went to road-safety projects [9]. Toronto officials highlighted ASE funding for crossing guards ($31.2 million) and traffic-safety personnel ($3.9 million), arguing loss of that revenue threatens programs [2] [5]. The province framed cameras as a “cash grab” and cited concerns about revenue motives, prompting the ban [10] [5].

5. Political and policy context behind the numbers

Premier Doug Ford publicly criticized ASE as revenue-driven and advanced legislation to ban municipal speed cameras; the government then announced a $210-million Road Safety Initiatives Fund to replace ASE-funded measures [10] [4] [5]. Municipal leaders and police associations pushed back, arguing cameras are evidence‑based safety tools and noting reinvestment guidelines for ASE revenue [7]. These competing viewpoints influence how the same dollar figures are interpreted — safety investment vs. “cash grab” narratives [7] [10].

6. What would be needed to produce the percentage you asked for

To compute the percentage of Ontario’s traffic fine revenue coming from speed cameras you would need: (a) total ASE revenue across all Ontario municipalities for a defined period, and (b) total traffic fine revenue for Ontario (provincial and municipal totals or a clear definition of the denominator) for the same period. The sources provided give pieces (municipal ASE figures, provincial policy responses) but not the complete numerator+denominator dataset (not found in current reporting) [1] [6] [7].

7. Practical next steps and caveats if you want a provincially comparable figure

Recommend obtaining: municipal financial statements or consolidated ASE revenue reports, Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General/transportation aggregate offence revenue data, and a clear definition of “traffic fine revenue” (municipal only vs. municipal+provincial). Keep in mind municipal program length and scope vary — a simple statewide percentage could mask that variation and the policy debate about reinvestment and safety outcomes [7] [9].

Limitations: these conclusions rely only on the provided articles and statements; none of these items compute an Ontario-wide percentage or provide complete provincial revenue totals necessary for that calculation (not found in current reporting).

Want to dive deeper?
How much revenue do speed cameras generate annually in Ontario compared to other traffic enforcement methods?
Which Ontario municipalities use speed cameras and how is the revenue from fines allocated?
Have Ontario speed camera programs reduced speeding and collision rates since implementation?
What legal challenges or public controversies have arisen over speed camera fines in Ontario?
How do Ontario speed camera fine rates and revenue percentages compare to other Canadian provinces?