Speeding has climbed sharply in Toronto since automated speed enforcement cameras stopped operating, with a new city report showing a 380 per cent increase in drivers travelling at least 16 km/h over the posted limit.
The report, before city council today, reviewed vehicle speed data and fatal collisions after the Nov. 14, 2025 end of automated speed enforcement, known as ASE. Across 104 locations with comparable data, city staff found operating speeds rose at 101 sites after the cameras were removed.
“We’re talking about school zones, we’re talking about community zones, where the seniors and kids go to school every day,” Mayor Olivia Chow said at a press conference on Wednesday morning. “That’s just horrifying, and we knew the speed camera works. Now that it’s taken out, we notice that this dramatic increase of speed.”
Toronto launched automated speed enforcement in January 2020 with 50 mobile cameras in community safety zones. More than 90 per cent were placed near schools. The program later grew to 75 cameras, then 150 cameras by early 2025, including 24 permanent sites.
City staff found the number of drivers travelling 11 km/h to 15 km/h above the limit rose by 270 per cent after camera operations ended. Drivers travelling less than 10 km/h above the posted limit increased by 94 per cent.
“People are driving like it’s a highway, it’s a school zone, for God’s sake,” Chow said. “So bring back those speed cameras, because this is just inexcusable.”
The report says 25 fatal collisions occurred on Toronto roads between Dec. 1, 2025 and May 31, 2026. During comparable periods while speed cameras were active, Toronto recorded 20 fatalities from December 2024 to May 2025, 21 from December 2023 to May 2024, and 16 from December 2022 to May 2023.
Two of the deaths after the ASE program ended happened within 100 metres of former camera sites. They included a fatal motorcycle collision on Nugget Avenue near Markham Road and a fatal pedestrian collision at Parliament Street and Gerrard Street East.
Premier Doug Ford has previously described speed cameras as a “cash grab” and argued traffic-calming tools such as speed bumps work better. The province has committed $210 million to municipalities for traffic-calming infrastructure.
“Our position has always been that if we want to reduce speeding on, whether it is Parkside (Drive) or other roads where safety if a concern, we need to install infrastructure like speed bumps. One hundred per cent of the time if you have a speed bump there, you will not be able to speed and you will not be able to get at a higher speed,” Ontario Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria said Wednesday.
The report found drivers going more than 11 km/h over the limit rose from two per cent to 8.1 per cent, with the increase more pronounced on 30 km/h streets.
Chow said the loss of fine revenue has also strained Toronto’s ability to fund crossing guards.
“We have trouble paying for the crossing guards, because I think it’s like $60–70 million,” she said. “That money to pay crossing guards came from the fines for people speeding. That’s now gone.”
Council’s review will shape Toronto’s next steps as the city weighs road safety measures after the end of automated speed enforcement.
