It’s been one year since a controversial Ford government decision to ban speed cameras from Ontario roads and Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow says the streets are “significantly” more dangerous.
The city began employing Automated Speed Enforcement cameras in 2020 to reduce speeding and improve road safety, and in 2025, a study showed it had a measurable effect on driving habits. By the end of that year, the city saw its fewest fatalities and serious injuries since the beginning of the Vision Zero program.
However, Premier Doug Ford called the data “a bunch of hogwash,” adding that the program was simply a cash grab before moving to ban the cameras in October 2025.
Back in June, Chow called for a return of speed cameras in school and community safety zones after a report found a significant spike in speeding in those areas since the province banned the devices.
“Look at the data. Four hundred per cent increase in speeds,” Chow tells CityNews. “VisionZero is telling us that this year, the fatalities have gone up, and 40 lives so far.”
After the removal of speed cameras, Toronto’s VisionZero teams says they’ve tried to implement other tools to curb speeding across the city, building more than 20 protected crossings so far this year and upgrading 75 traffic lights with pedestrian head start signals. But Chow maintains that speed cameras are the best tool that Toronto had, especially on main roads.
“How about we start bringing them back in on big arterial roads. We just literally cannot put speed bumps on those. The fire trucks won’t survive, going at that speed, not a chance. And if you have a fire, you do want your firefighters arriving as quickly as possible,” she said. “Same with paramedics, if you have medical emergency you want your ambulance arriving pronto. So having speed bumps on those arterial roads just won’t work.”
Chow adds that the province has yet to provide the city with funds that they promised to go and hire additional crossing guards, which used to be paid for through the revenue generated by speed cameras.
Parkside Drive was the home of Toronto’s most notorious speed camera, issuing more than 70,000 tickets and $7.5 million in fines while getting cut down by vandals on multiple occasions. Advocates say since that camera was decommissioned, drivers travelling 20 km or more over the posted 40 km speed limit have gone up 500 per cent.
Graph from Safe Parkside showing the increase in the number of vehicles that have gone 60 km or more on Parkside Drive after speed cameras were removed. SAFE PARKSIDE/HO
“It’s very concerning, especially on Parkside that has a history of speeding, a history of death and destruction,” said Faraz Gholizadeh, the co-chair of Safe Parkside. “You have a sidewalk that doesn’t even meet the city’s minimum width, so when you’re walking on it with your family, with your kids, you’re holding your breath as cars zoom by left and right, up and down the street. It’s really unacceptable that these conditions are persisting, and that we’re here talking about this still today.”
A recent poll found that two-thirds of Torontonians and six in 10 GTA residents agree there should be more photo radar cameras on the roads.
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