Montreal borough is to base parking fees on the size of a car

A borough in the Canadian city of Montreal is to introduce a residential parking scheme in which the fees are based on the weight and engine type of cars. The approach aims to encourage residents to own both cleaner and smaller vehicles, as well as to use car-sharing services, which could also benefit many European cities. 

The borough, Rosemont-La Petite-Patrie, will introduce its new residential parking permit scheme from 1 July 2023. The price for a permit will depend on the engine of the vehicle and on its weight. There are two categories based on the engine type: electric, hydrogen and plug-in hybrid cars, on the one hand, and all other engines. Cars with cleaner engines with a net mass of less than 1.549 tonnes, will pay $115 (Canadian dollars) (€79.02 Euros*) for their parking stickers, as will owners of lighter cars (that weigh less than 1.249 tonnes) with petrol and diesel engines.

The heavier the vehicle is, the higher the rates are. Owners of cleaner cars with a net mass of more than 1.85 tonnes will pay $205 (€140.87) , while owners of petrol and diesel cars will pay this rate if their vehicles have a net mass of more than 1.6 tonnes. The parking scheme will charge reduced rates for low-income people, people with reduced mobility and members of carsharing services.

The background for the new pricing scheme is that Montreal's car ownership is growing faster than its population. Whereas there was an increase of the adult population of 11.3% between 2001 and 2021, the number of passenger cars increased by 21.7% in the same period, with a sharp increase of light trucks by almost 190%.

The Mayor of the Rosemont-La Petite-Patrie borough, François Limoges, said that the new pricing scheme aims to encourage the use of smaller vehicles and for people to carpool or use carsharing services.

*1 Euro = 1.45528 Canadian dollars

Article published first at CTV News on 2 May 2023.