Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow says the city may be forced to lay off up to 1,000 workers after the Ontario government pushed forward with its province-wide ban on municipal speed cameras — a decision already reshaping jobs, budgets, and road safety plans across the GTA.

Speaking to reporters Friday, Chow said the speed-camera revenue Toronto relied on to fund key safety positions has vanished overnight.

That revenue — more than $30.3 million from Jan. 1 to Aug. 31 alone — helped pay for:

• 911 crossing guards (cost: $31.2M)

• 18 traffic safety police officers (cost: $3.9M)

• 100 staff who operated the speed camera program

“That funding is now gone as of today,” Chow said.
“Install the cameras, get rid of the cameras. Hire the staff, fire the staff. A thousand people may lose their jobs.”

Toronto had 150 speed cameras — 24 permanent and 126 mobile — which will now be removed to comply with the new provincial legislation.

Chow Pushes Back — And Wants the Province to Pay Up

Toronto city council voted unanimously Thursday to demand that Queen’s Park reimburse the city for the safety programs that speed cameras paid for.

The ask totals $210 million, covering:

• $95.8M in community safety improvements

• $13.92M in traffic calming

• $40.6M for traffic lights and other safety upgrades

Chow says the Ford government’s newly announced $210M Road Safety Initiatives Fund — aimed at helping municipalities shift to speed bumps, raised crosswalks, roundabouts, and police enforcement — isn’t nearly enough to fill the financial hole left behind.

“We hope we can get a portion of it. Is it enough? Nowhere near enough,” Chow said.
She estimates Toronto will lose $40–50 million annually without camera revenue.

Ford Government Fires Back: “Creative Accounting”

Ontario Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria pushed back hard on Chow’s comments, saying Toronto once claimed the program was revenue-neutral.

“Today, they’re showing it’s not. I think there’s a lot of creative accounting going on,” Sarkaria said.

The minister said the province has given Toronto over $4 billion since 2018, adding that crossing guards were funded long before speed cameras existed.

Mississauga & Brampton Mayors Say the Ban Makes Streets Less Safe

Toronto isn’t alone in its frustration.
Mayors across the GTA say speed cameras worked — and removing them puts kids at risk.

Mississauga Mayor Carolyn Parrish

“They were working very well. I’m worried people will feel relieved and speed again.”

She says Mississauga is receiving $2.2 million from the province but needs more.

Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown

“It changed behaviour. Speeding dropped almost 50% in school zones.”

Brampton now plans to repurpose its cameras as:

• Red-light cameras

• Noise enforcement devices (for modified mufflers)

• Investigation tools for Peel police

What’s Next for Toronto?

Toronto’s speed cameras will be removed in the coming weeks. School-zone signage will remain, but automated enforcement will disappear unless the province reverses course — something Ford has repeatedly said he won’t do.

Chow says the city will keep pushing for provincial reimbursement while continuing efforts to prevent serious injuries and deaths on Toronto roads.

For now, Toronto is bracing for:

• Job losses

• A major budget gap

• A new era of road safety without automated enforcement

And the debate over whether speed cameras were a safety tool or a “cash grab” is only getting louder across the GTA.