I went to Montreal for a vacation over the weekend.
I’m from Ontario.
Anyway on the last day, I parked at a spot that I thought was ok at about 1pm in the afternoon.
But I received a parking ticket. Oddly, the car behind me with a Quebec plate didn’t get a ticket although it was parked before I was there.
I got a ticket for parking in a residential spot.
Anyway, the ticket is really odd looking. It’s not like an Ontario parking ticket at all.
It is a letter sized paper with 2 carbon sheets and 1 sheet of explanations.
Half of the ticket is the offense with my car info and the other half is a space to write for explaining the situation if I want to fight it.
The ticket amount is $42 CDN which is more than double a regular Ontario parking ticket that is minor, not like parking in a handicap zone.
I’m not sure if I should pay this ticket for 2 reasons.
It looks fake.
I feel that it’s way too expensive for a simple parking ticket and they are trying to take advantage that I’m from Ontario.
The mailing address is:
Poursuivante
Ville de Montreal
Secteur C. CP 11045 Succ. Centre Ville
montreal, H3C 4Y1
FWIW, this happened to me the last time I was in Montreal with my family. We ignored the ticket and if anything ever happened as a result I never heard about it. However, it should be noted that we’re from out of the country, so it’s possible that the ticket was official and it just wasn’t considered worth the hassle to go after us.
Sounds genuine to me, I’ve paid a few $42 parking tickets here in Montreal, and the address is the same.
It’s likely the car behind you had a sticker in the car window authorizing residential-zone parking. How this works is that a good portion of residential streets are reserved for parking for local residents between set hours (say 3-9 P.M.) The city’s downtown is carved up into numbered residential zones, and residents can purchase a permit and window sticker for their zone by providing proof of residence. They place the number sticker in their car window and then can use the reserved spots, giving them a much better chance of finding a parking space close to home when they return from work.
I’m not a lawyer or cop, but I’d say don’t pay it. The Ministry of Transportation is a provincial ministry (in your case Ontario), so when you get your license renewed, it’s not likely the ticket will show up as outstanding.
Suffice it to say I’ve heard more than a few stories of Ontario plates getting ticketed/pulled over in “la belle province” for offenses that would be considered ‘marginal’ at best.
Note, however, that if you return to Montreal and an officer has cause to run your plates, I do believe you can be charged with avoiding the fine. I simply wouldn’t take a chance, but then I travel back and forth between the two provinces a lot.
42$ is about right for parking tickets in Montreal. Parking spaces are a rarity on the island, and so fines are higher for people who don’t follow the rules.
This is a municipal ticket, but provinces DO have arrangements with each other when it comes to enforcement of tickets and fines and licenses.
I don’t know what to do.
Most likely I’ll pay it.
It’s not the money thing, but I thought it might be some scam to catch vacationers.
All I can say is that ticket ruined the whole weekend trip to Montreal… especially since my wife and I stopped at a local cafe to grab a lunch and head out back to Toronto just before we got that ticket…
