Calgary police to mail 14,000 photo radar tickets after 6-month delay
Posted Jan 27, 2026 8:50 am.
Last Updated Jan 27, 2026 5:35 pm.
If you think you’ve had a clean slate while driving on the roads, you might receive a dose of reality from the Calgary police.
The Calgary Police Service (CPS) says it’s mailing nearly 14,000 photo radar tickets after a six-month pause, largely because of the Canada Post labour dispute.
CPS says the pause came at the request of Alberta’s Solicitor General, who told all law enforcement not use Canada Post amid the dispute.
They halted mailing tickets on May 16, 2025, putting all photo radar tickets on the backlog for six months.
Now nearly 14,000 of them are being sent out with notes explaining the delay and what drivers can do next. Recipients continue to have the right to dispute the ticket.
Some tickets were delivered by courier after a court approval, but not all of them qualified, which is why many are only just catching up to people now.
The provincial government ordered a huge reduction in photo radar around the province over the past few years.
It put an end to photo radar on numbered provincial highways and the “speed on green” ticketing function at intersections in 2025. Those speed devices will be restricted to red light enforcement only.
Photo radar deployment has been cut by 70 per cent in 2025. The Alberta government has referred to the technology as a “cash cow” and a source of revenue “with no traffic safety benefit.”
That removal has cost the Calgary police budget more than $28 million, which council voted to shore up from reserves last March. The actual shortfall hasn’t been announced yet.
Calgary police announced the return of photo radar later in the year for east and westbound 16 Avenue and 68 Street NE, east and westbound Highway 1A at 12 Mile Coulee Road NW, and eastbound traffic at 16 Avenue and 10 Street NW.
The decision was made in collaboration with the province and aimed at reducing the impact of severe traffic incidents.
For questions, Calgarians can contact the CPS Ticket Control Unit at 403-428-5991 or the CPS Specialized Traffic Enforcement Unit at 403-428-4026.
