Image: City of Chilliwack / Caitlin Weston, manager of bylaw enforcement for the City of Chilliwack, speaks during Tuesday's council meeting about the "Toys for Tickets" program in which Chilliwack residents can elect to pay their parking ticket by instead buying a gift or gift in the lead-up to Christmas.

By Mike Vanden Bosch

Toys for Tickets

Chilliwack council approves ‘Toys for Tickets’ program to help families around Christmas time

Nov 6, 2024 | 6:31 AM

CHILLIWACK — Chilliwack councillors have approved a “Toys for Tickets” program between now and Christmas in which Chilliwack residents can pay for their bylaw tickets by purchasing a Christmas gift and donating it to a local charitable organization.

Councillors signed off on the temporary initiative at their meeting Tuesday (Nov. 5) as the City of Chilliwack seeks to emulate a program used in several Canadian municipalities, particularly in Alberta and Ontario, that offers a “Toys for Tickets” program.

According to a staff report from Caitlin Weston, bylaw manager for the City of Chilliwack, each program varies a bit but the program functions for a defined window of time during which time individuals who receive parking tickets are encouraged to pay for their parking tickets with toys or gift cards which then get distributed to local community organizations to help families in Chilliwack.

In response to a question from Councillor Chris Kloot at Tuesday’s meeting about possibly having a ticket reduced by a certain percentage in exchange for buying a gift, Weston told councillors city staff she was receptive to the idea.

“Our hope is that the incentive is just to help the community and that’s enough for people to want to participate in the program, but that’s certainly something that we can consider,” Weston said.

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Weston’s staff report says this type of program offers the person receiving the parking ticket the opportunity to give back to the community by helping local families in need, and helps to turn the unpleasant experience of receiving a parking ticket into a more positive one. Only City-issued parking tickets would be eligible to participate in the campaign. Toys should be new, unwrapped, in their original packaging, and of equal or greater value (after taxes) to the value of the parking ticket(s) owed, she wrote in her staff report. Gift cards of equal or greater value (after taxes) to the value of the parking ticket(s) owed will also be accepted. A receipt must be included with each toy or gift card donation.

At the end of the campaign, the City of Chilliwack says it will donate all items collected to a local charitable organization to distribute within Chilliwack.

City parking tickets range anywhere from $20 to $50.

“Bylaw Enforcement Officers strive to educate the public and obtain voluntary compliance, with verbal and written warnings with no monetary penalty being given wherever warranted,” Weston wrote in her report. “Because of this, Bylaw Enforcement Officers do not issue a large volume of parking tickets, and the financial impact of a campaign of this nature is therefore expected to be minimal.”

The “Toys for Tickets” program begins November 25 and concludes December 13.

Councillor Kloot asked staff to provide council with an update on the program and community buy-in after it wraps up.