Speed cameras
Barrie ran automated speed enforcement for just under two years. Council voted 9–2 in September 2025 to wind the program down by year-end; before that end date arrived, the Province banned speed cameras outright, and Barrie's came down with the ban on November 14, 2025. The program is over, and what remains is an election-season argument about what it was for and what replaces it.
The arc
- June 20, 2022: Council approves an ASE program for school zones and community safety zones (motion 22-G-131).
- December 1, 2023: the first two cameras go live, rotating between zones.
- May 21, 2025: tickets move from provincial-offences charges to the City's Administrative Penalty System (By-law 2024-086); the number of cameras had grown to four.
- September 24, 2025: Council votes to phase the program out by year-end, negotiate red-light-camera agreements funded from the ASE reserve, and ask the Province for traffic-safety funding. The recorded vote was 9–2, Councillors Courser and Hamilton opposed: the vote, with every name (item 25-A-090).
- November 3, 2025: the Province's Bill 56 receives Royal Assent. Schedule 5 repeals the Highway Traffic Act part that authorizes municipal speed cameras, effective November 14, 2025.
- November 14, 2025: Barrie's cameras come down. The City's page states that tickets already issued remain valid and refunds will not be issued.
Sources: Speed Limits & Enforcement (City program page, as of 2026-08-09), City of Barrie. Original document. The City's own record of the ended ASE program: authorization (motion 22-G-131), cameras live 2023-12-01, the end date of 2025-11-14, the no-refunds statement, and the full camera-location history with serial numbers and Certificates of Accuracy. A live page; re-capture before citing anything new from it. Bill 56, Building a More Competitive Economy Act, 2025 (S.O. 2025, c. 11) — status page, Legislative Assembly of Ontario, dated November 3, 2025. Original document. Royal Assent November 3, 2025. Schedule 5 repeals Highway Traffic Act Part XIV.1, the authority for automated speed enforcement, in force the later of November 14, 2025 and Royal Assent — hence the province-wide end date of 2025-11-14. All retrieved August 9, 2026.
The money
The City has published no end-of-program accounting. What is on the record:
- The 2026 budget book carries a $660,000 net ASE revenue transfer, priced before the program's end date moved.
- Figures obtained under freedom-of-information law and reported by BarrieToday in December 2025: 99,841 tickets issued from December 2023 through the end of October 2025, totalling $9,037,066 in fines, with staff saying about 70% of fines issued were actually paid, and almost $1.7 million transferred to the traffic-calming reserve. The busiest camera location was southbound Veterans Drive (15,840 tickets); the quietest was westbound Rose Street (143). Note the distance between the headline figures: $9.0 million is fines issued, not money received — about 70% collection puts receipts around $6.3 million, and vendor and program costs come out before anything reaches a reserve, which is how $9.0 million issued becomes $1.7 million reserved. The reporting does not itemize the steps between, so neither does this page.
- On the way out, council committed $500,000 ($50,000 per ward) in interim traffic-calming money and directed staff to ask the Province for $5 million for traffic-safety measures.
The FOI totals are the outlet's reporting of City records rather than a City publication; no staff report states them, and this page will switch to the City's own accounting if one appears.
Sources: Service Areas — Tax Rate (2026 Business Plan & Operating Budget), City of Barrie. Original document. "Barrie's speed cameras issued $9M worth of tickets over two years" (BarrieToday, syndicated to OrilliaMatters), BarrieToday / Village Media, dated December 23, 2025. Original document. Speed Limits & Enforcement (City program page, as of 2026-08-09), City of Barrie. Original document. The City's own record of the ended ASE program: authorization (motion 22-G-131), cameras live 2023-12-01, the end date of 2025-11-14, the no-refunds statement, and the full camera-location history with serial numbers and Certificates of Accuracy. A live page; re-capture before citing anything new from it. All retrieved August 9, 2026.
Why it belongs in an election
Two framings of the same program ran through council debate and the coverage: a road-safety tool that slowed drivers in school zones, and a revenue tool that taxed drivers who live on arterial roads. The figures above support arguments in both directions, which is exactly why the question is political. What candidates now differ on is what replaces it: red-light cameras are in negotiation by council's own direction, the traffic-calming reserve holds ASE money, and any future speed camera would need the Province to reverse a ban it enacted months before this election.
The full recorded-vote record for this term, including this vote, is at council votes.
Common questions
Does Barrie have speed cameras?
Not any more. Council voted 9–2 in September 2025 to wind the program down by year-end; before that date arrived, the Province banned speed cameras outright, and Barrie's came down with the ban on November 14, 2025.
How much money did Barrie's speed cameras make?
Figures obtained under freedom-of-information law and reported by BarrieToday: 99,841 tickets from December 2023 through the end of October 2025, totalling $9,037,066 in fines issued — with about 70% of fines actually paid and almost $1.7 million transferred to the traffic-calming reserve. The City has published no end-of-program accounting.
Are Barrie speed camera tickets still valid?
Yes. The City's page states that tickets already issued remain valid and refunds will not be issued.