Whereas Automated Speed Enforcement (A.S.E.) systems and the immediate impact on reducing vehicle speeds and improving community safety has been, and continues to be proven as efficient, effective and successful tool for municipalities to enforce the maximum posted rate of speed resulting in the reduction of vehicle speeds and improvement in overall community safety;
Whereas a July 2025 evaluation by SickKids and Toronto Metropolitan University studied A.S.E. in the City of Toronto, and identified that the implementation of A.S.E. lead to a 45% reduction of speeding vehicles across 250 school zones as well as an 87% reduction in vehicles exceeding the posted speed limit by more than 20 km/h;
Whereas on September 18, 2025, the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police issued a statement in support of the continued use of A.S.E., citing the proven ability of this additional enforcement tool to effectively change driver behaviour as a complement to traditional police enforcement, freeing up valuable policing resources to focus on elevated public safety priorities.
Whereas on September 25, 2025, in the face of proven effectiveness and benefit to community safety, the Provincial government announced their intention to table legislation in the Fall sitting of Provincial Parliament, beginning October 20, 2025, to ban the ability for municipalities to use A.S.E. as a community safety tool, under the broad pretense that A.S.E. is ineffective and a “cash grab”.
Whereas contrary to the Provincial government’s announcement, as highlighted above and further detailed in Report SF-24-25 “Automated Speed Enforcement Investigation and Proposed Program”:
- A.S.E. cameras are an extremely effective community safety tool to compliment traditional speed enforcement;
- Law abiding taxpayers do not fund the program, those who choose to speed in high-risk Community Safety Zones do;
- A.S.E. penalties include a Victims' Justice Fund amount, a mandatory fee applied by and remitted to the Ministry of the Attorney General to provide support and fund services to victims of crime;
- The intention of the A.S.E. is to increase compliance with maximum posted rates of speed resulting in improved community safety - penalty revenue is used to recover the cost of the A.S.E. program, with surplus revenues being dedicated to re-invest in community safety measures, including community safety infrastructure.
Whereas ensuring the safety of all road users is a common priority for all municipalities across Ontario;
Whereas the City of Oshawa (“City”) is committed to ensuring the safety of all road users, codified in the Oshawa Strategic Plan (O.S.P.), operationalized by the Neighbourhood Traffic Management Guide (N.T.M.G.) and affirmed by the City’s Council-approved forthcoming Automated Speed Enforcement (A.S.E.) program, with direction received through Report SF-24-25 “Automated Speed Enforcement Investigation and Proposed Program”; and,
Whereas the Council of the City of Oshawa stands committed to using all available community safety tools to ensure the health and safety of its residents and road users;
Therefore be is resolved that pursuant to this Item, dated October 20, 2025:
- That the Council of the City of Oshawa re-affirm its commitment to implementing A.S.E. on City roads through direction received through Report SF-24-25 “Automated Speed Enforcement Investigation and Proposed Program”;
- That the Council of the City of Oshawa opposes the Provincial government’s intention to ban the use of municipal A.S.E. cameras and rejects the broad claims of its ineffectiveness and being an additional tax on law abiding residents; and
- That the Council of the City of Oshawa request the Premier of Ontario and the Minister of Transportation collaborate with municipal leaders, the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (A.M.O.) and the Ontario Traffic Council (O.T.C.) to enhance provincial legislation to satisfy the Provincial government’s legitimate concerns related the fairness, transparency and consistency of A.S.E. throughout Ontario while maintaining a municipality’s ability to use A.S.E. as an additional community safety tool to compliment traditional speed enforcement.
- That a copy of this Item be distributed be distributed to the following:
- the Honourable Doug Downey, Attorney General;
- the Honourable Michael S. Kerzner, Solicitor General;
- the Honourable Todd J. McCarthy, Minister of Environment, Conservation and Parks, M.P.P., Durham;
- Jennifer K. French, M.P.P., Oshawa;
- the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (A.M.O);
- the Ontario Traffic Council (O.T.C.); and,
- the Region of Durham and all Durham area municipalities.