Municipal Speed Cameras

Automated Speed Enforcement is a road safety measure described under the Highway Traffic Act, which uses a camera and a speed measurement device to enforce speed limits and help make roads safer for all road users. The cameras are triggered by speed sensors that take photographs of the license plates of vehicles that are travelling over the posted speed limit. The images are reviewed by Provincial Offences Officers and then within 30 days, a ticket is issued to the owner of the vehicle.  

• With speed a factor in approximately one third of fatal collisions in Canada, speed cameras help to enforce speed limits.
• Speed cameras are an important reminder to drivers to slow down in areas where children and other vulnerable road users are.
• Drivers travelling at the posted limit are more likely able to stop in the case of a spontaneous event and a lower speed can also mean a less severe outcome.
• If you drive the speed limit through school zones, the speed camera will not affect you at all.
• Evidence shows that driver behaviour begins to change over time with a “halo” effect created. This means that drivers may begin to adhere to the speed limit in areas even where speed cameras are not present, resulting in safer and more peaceful communities for everyone. 

Provincial legislation allows municipalities to create by-laws that permit the use of speed cameras exclusively in school zones and community safety zones. Municipal Speed Camera Coming Soon signs are posted at the camera locations 90 days in advance of the cameras being activated. Municipal Speed Cameras In Use signs are posted once the cameras are activated. There are currently 16 speed camera sites across the Region with 4 rotating cameras.

The following 4 school zones currently have Municipal Speed Cameras installed and activated: 

• Franklin Public School, Franklin Street, Kitchener 
• Laurentian Public School, Westmount Road, Kitchener
• St. Gabriel Catholic School, Guelph Ave, Cambridge 
• Westheights Public School, Westheights Drive, Kitchener

The following 16 school zones are currently being assessed for feasibility and, if appropriate, will have Municipal Speed Cameras installed and activated for a target date of mid-November 2024:

• Holy Spirit Catholic Elementary School / Moffat Creek Public Elementary School, Gatehouse Drive / Myers Rd, Cambridge 
• Jacob Hespeler Public High School, Holiday Inn Dr, Cambridge 
• Clemens Mill Public School, Saginaw Pkwy, Cambridge 
• St. Peter Catholic Elementary School, Avenue Rd, Cambridge 
• Westmount Public School, Glasgow St, Kitchener 
• Courtland Avenue Public School, Courtland Ave E, Kitchener  
• Sunnyside Public School, Weber St E, Kitchener 
• St. Anne’s Catholic Elementary School, East Ave, Kitchener 
• Lackner Woods Public School, Zeller Drive, Kitchener 
• Bluevale Collegiate Institute, Bluevale St N, Waterloo 
• Holy Rosary Catholic Elementary School, Thorndale Drive, Waterloo 
• Macgregor Public School, Central St, Waterloo 
• South Heidelberg Parochial School, Kressler Road, Wellesley 
• Forest Glen Public School, Waterloo Street, New Hamburg  
• Balsam Grove Parochial School, Northfield Drive East 2, Elmira  
• King Alfred Academy, Lobsinger Line, Woolwich 

The following 12 school zones will have speed cameras installed and activated mid-December 2024 or early 2025:

• Cedar Creek Public School, Hilltop Drive, Township of North Dumfries 
• Foundation Christian School, Katherine Street, Township of Woolwich 
• Keatsway Public School, Keats Way, City of Waterloo 
• New Dundee Public School, Bridge Street, Township of Wilmot (Regional Road) 
• St. Clement Catholic Elementary School, Lobsinger Line, Township of Wellesley 
• Sandhills Public School, Victoria Street, City of Kitchener (Regional Road) 
• Sir Adam Beck Public School, Snyder's Road, Township of Wilmot (Regional Road) 
• Wellesley Public School, Queen's Bush Road, Township of Wellesley 
• Clearview Mennonite School, Three Bridges Road, Township of Woolwich 
• St. Brigid Catholic School, Broom Street, Township of North Dumfries 
• Elgin Street Public School, Elgin Street North, City of Cambridge 
• St. Nicholas Catholic School, Laurelwood Drive, City of Waterloo 

Observing the posted speed limits 24hrs per day and 7 days per week in school safety zones, will ensure that drivers are not issued a ticket under the Municipal Speed Camera program.

The owners of the motor vehicle are liable for the speeding ticket. When the ticket is settled, vehicle owners will not be subject to demerit points. 

Vehicle owners have the following options:

• Pay the ticket. There are several options available to pay tickets including: online payment, In-person payment, payment by mail. Please see the Region’s Provincial Offences Court and Traffic Tickets web page for more information or pay direct online at Paytickets.ca - Pay a ticket.
• Ask for a resolution (settlement) meeting with a prosecutor
• Request a trial before a Justice of the Peace. 

Effective November 15, 2024, speeding tickets will be administered under an Administrative Penalties Program and will no longer be processed through the Provincial Offences court office. All tickets issued after November 15, 2024 will be processed through a regional processing centre. Payment options will be outlined on the ticket (called a penalty order) and will include options to pay online, by phone, by mail, or in person.

Similar to red-light camera tickets, a photograph of the vehicle that was speeding will be on the offence notice along with an enlargement of the vehicle’s license plate. The location of where and when the speeding offence occurred, as well as the speed of the vehicle and the posted speed limit will also be on the ticket.

• Municipal Speed Cameras at fixed locations that operate 24/7 provide a long-term approach to consistently alter drivers’ behaviour in critical locations used frequently by vulnerable road users, such as children.
• Municipal Speed Cameras are an additional tool to improve driver compliance with posted speed limits and allow police to concentrate on more time-sensitive issues. 

How accurate is a speed camera at detecting speed?

• Speed cameras are as accurate as traditional police radar guns. 

Signs are posted to ensure the public knows where Municipal Speed Cameras are located. These visual cues serve as timely reminders to motorists to exercise caution and comply with the prescribed safety measures. 

How are the locations for speed cameras selected?

• Municipal Speed Camera sites are identified using a two-step selection process. The first step is to allocate the number of new municipal speed camera sites to each area municipality within the Region, based on the number of schools within each municipality. The second step, completed in collaboration with staff from the area municipalities, is to identify the candidate schools in each municipality.  

• Currently, the Highway Traffic Act only allows for Municipal Speed Cameras to be installed in school zones and community safety zones.  

• The Region will be expanding the implementation of Municipal Speed Cameras to 175 critical community hubs centered around eligible school locations by the end of 2028. 

• Each year, approximately 36 Municipal Speed Cameras will be added after being assessed through a site selection model that evaluates a series of safety risk factors and determines if there are clear sightlines for the camera equipment to function properly. 

• If a vehicle exceeds the posted speed limit in a school zone operating with a municipal speed camera, the camera captures an image that is stored and reviewed by a provincial offences officer. 

• The information captured includes the posted speed limit, the speed of the vehicle, the location, the time of day, and the license plate of the vehicle.
• The camera does not capture an image of the driver, only the vehicle. There is no video captured by the camera. Only still images are captured that focus on the placement of the vehicle, type of vehicle and the license plate.

• The data collected by the speed camera is encrypted and transferred through an automated cloud-based data transfer to the Region’s software. Only a designated provincial offences officer has access to the system. 

Municipal Speed Cameras are operated for the purpose of lowering vehicle travel speeds and, in turn, improving road user safety at critical locations around the Region. Any surplus revenue generated from municipal speed cameras (over and above all operating and capital costs)will be deposited into the Road User Safety Reserve. The reserve will be used for initiatives designed at improving safety for all road users in the Region.  

• There are 175 locations at critical community hubs that are eligible for Municipal Speed Cameras (subject to ongoing technical review). The expansion of 16 additional speed camera locations will start in November 2024 and full implementation to all 175 locations will be completed in 2028.  

• Expansion of the Municipal Speed Camera program requires additional ticket processing capacity, as the tickets are currently processed for the Region by the City of Toronto’s Joint Processing Centre. Waterloo Region will be establishing its own processing centre in fall 2024 for camera-based offences. 

• The Region is engaging in awareness campaigns about the expansion of Municipal Speed Cameras and creating educational resources to increase road safety for all users.