St. Catharines is hiking its parking fines after discovering the city has been charging about 40 per cent less than other municipalities and is missing out on money for operations and extra revenue.

And it is doubling the special event parking fee to $10 for garages and municipal lots and raising it to $15 at the David S. Howes lot to help with the cost of staffing those higher traffic events.

The changes, approved by council this week, come into effect Jan. 1. They do not impact daily parking rates.

Parking supervisor Lisa Reid told council the last time the city increased its parking fines was Jan. 1, 2016.

“Since that time, no further adjustments have been made despite increases in operating costs and changes in enforcement practices,” she said.

City staff reviewed fines across Nia

See Full Page