Parking Reform Atlas
Winnipeg’s removal of parking pay stations to rely mainly on mobile payments
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Brief summary of this reform
In 2025 the City of Winnipeg made mobile payment the primary way to pay for on-street parking (and for some off-street surface parking lots).
City-operated pay stations (payment machines) have been removed and are no longer an alternative for paid on-street parking areas.
The alternative or back-up option is to pay via ‘prepaid parking booklets’ containing parking passes for display on the dashboard. However, mobile payment is much more convenient and is expected to dominate. Even before the removal of parking meters, mobile payments already accounted for over 80 percent of parking transactions, according to the City.
Why should you care?
In cities that have parking meters or parking payment kiosks proposals to remove this familiar payment option often face strong opposition. Therefore, it is so far rare for such cities to do what Winnipeg has done. This is a case for other cities to watch to see if the shift to mobile payment with safeguards (prepaid parking booklets) can prevail.
Mobile only payment requires much lower investments by cities in on-street payment infrastructure and makes it much cheaper to operate paid parking in streets. Avoiding significant in-street infrastructure also makes it much easier to extend paid parking to more streets, if warranted. Lowered costs by avoiding parking meters can also enable paid parking in streets that need parking management, but where the expected daily fee intake would not justify costly infrastructure. Residential streets that face strong visitor parking demand are a common set of examples.
Country
Canada
Vehicle type
cars
State/province
Manitoba
Key actor type
Local government
Jurisdiction
City of Winnipeg
Primary motivation
Multiple
Agencies involved
Winnipeg Parking Authority
Is it a model or a warning?
remains to be seen
Reform type
Main parking category
Main parking paradigm shift
pricing
On-street in mainly commercial streets
Towards more responsiveness to context/market
Adaptive Parking thrust
Implementation status
Year adopted
P: Price parking in the right ways and with the right rates for each place and time
implemented
2025
Goals of the reform
The key goal of this change was to avoid the high cost of replacing pay stations that were approaching obsolescence while still providing convenient ways to pay for street parking.
It was also argued that removing the option of paying via in-street parking meters would have several other advantages, such as avoided theft and vandalism, and lower ongoing costs. “The decision not to replace them means the city will save $3.6 million in replacement costs and $1 million in annual operating costs.” (https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/winnipeg-parking-meters-being-removed-1.7540016)
See the Why Should You Care section for more benefits that were not made explicit to justify the reform.
Impetus (what problem, campaign, opportunity or event prompted action?)
The immediate impetus for the decision was the fact that the existing pay stations had reached the end of their useful life and would stop working as Canada's mobile network providers phase out their 3G networks (https://www.winnipeg.ca/people-culture/our-city-our-stories/how-pay-parking-winnipeg).
Detailed description of the reform
THIS CASE IS A DRAFT THAT RELIED ON WEB-BASED INFORMATION. IF YOU HAVE LOCAL INSIGHT OR MORE INFORMATION OR A CORRECTION, PLEASE VISIT https://www.parkingreformatlas.org/get-involved TO SEND A TIP OR OFFER FEEDBACK.
In 2025 the City of Winnipeg made mobile payment the primary way to pay for on-street parking (and for some off-street surface parking lots). City-operated pay stations (payment machines) have been removed and are no longer an alternative for paid on-street parking areas.
The Winnipeg Parking Authority appointed the Vancouver-based PayByPhone company to operate the mobile payment system. Motorists need to download and install the PayByPhone app and register to enable payment via mobile device.
The back-up option is to pay via ‘prepaid parking booklets’ containing parking passes for display on the dashboard after the day, month, year and start time of parking are scratched. These can be purchased from seven locations around the city or ordered by phone and delivered at no additional cost. This is an improvement on the initial situation in mid-2025 when prepaid parking booklets were only available from three locations. These replace the earlier Scratch N’ Park Meter Passes.
However, mobile payment is much more convenient for most people, and is expected to dominate. Even before the removal of parking meters, mobile payments already accounted for over 80 percent of parking transactions, according to the City.
There were complaints in the months before and after the change but controversy seems to have died down quickly. [Please correct me if this is wrong!]
Relatively good public acceptance of the change may, in part, be influenced by the fact that the area with paid on-street parking in the core of the city has many off-street parking options, including many surface parking lots. Off-street parking (which can be paid with cards or cash) is apparently a nearby option almost everywhere in this area.
Results or impacts
It is probably too soon to assess the results.
There were complaints in the months immediately before and after the change. As of mid-2026, the controversy seems to have died down, although this impression may just reflect the difficulty of searching for such discussion.
Some complaints focused on a small extra charge for SMS notifications in the parking app. If this option is turned off, then posted prices are correctly charged. But if it is left on then payment via the app is slightly more expensive than the posted prices. However, people complaining said this option was on by default.
Sources and acknowledgements
City of Winnipeg (Last update: April 14, 2026; Accessed July 2026) Paid parking payment methods, https://theparkingstore.winnipeg.ca/theparkingstore/parkingInfo/PaidParkingPaymentMethods.stm
City of Winnipeg (3 July 2025) How to pay for parking in Winnipeg, https://www.winnipeg.ca/people-culture/our-city-our-stories/how-pay-parking-winnipeg
CBC News (21 May 2025) Getting rid of parking meters a 'terrible' decision, Winnipeg drivers say, https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/winnipeg-parking-meters-being-removed-1.7540016
Image source: Via City of Winnipeg (last updated 20 February 2026) Parking demand area map, https://theparkingstore.winnipeg.ca/theparkingstore/parkinginfo/parking-demand-area-map.stm
Last updated:
18 Jul 2026