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TORONTO — Ontario’s school boards are jointly urging the provincial government not to proceed with Premier Doug Ford’s plan to get rid of speed cameras.
A statement Monday from the province’s four publicly funded school board associations is just the latest in a series of groups supporting the automated enforcement tools, including municipalities, the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police and research from the Hospital for Sick Children.
“When it comes to protecting children in school safety zones, we must take every possible precaution,” reads a statement from the Ontario Public School Boards’ Association, as well as Catholic and French organizations.
“Slowing drivers down around schools reduces the risk of tragedy and keeps students and their families safer.”
Ford has announced that his government will introduce legislation this month to prohibit the use of speed cameras across the province.
The premier calls the cameras a “cash grab” and has criticized several parameters of the program his government put in place, including the locations of some cameras outside school zones and the threshold at which tickets are issued.
But the school boards are asking Ford to refine the program instead of scrapping it entirely, similar to calls last week from more than 20 mayors.
“We urge the province to work collaboratively with the people who know their communities well – local municipalities, local school boards, local law enforcement and local public health,” the school board associations wrote.
“Our children deserve the strongest protections we can provide.”
Ford believes traffic can be slowed down through alternate measures such as large signs with flashing lights, roundabouts and speed bumps.
A large amount of available data, however, does show that speed cameras slow traffic. A July study from SickKids and Toronto Metropolitan University found the cameras reduced speeding by 45 per cent in Toronto, and analyses from several other municipalities that use the cameras also show reduced speeds.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 6, 2025.
Allison Jones, The Canadian Press
