MONTREAL - The City of Montreal's ticket agents and the Montreal police issue more than 1.7 million tickets every year, yielding a total haul of more than $150 millions in revenue.
And the latest numbers revealed by the QMI news agency shows that the Cote-des-Neiges-Notre-Dame-de-Grace borough tops the list of boroughs when it comes to giving out parking tickets.
Snowdon city councillor Marvin Rotrand sees the trend as a sign of vitality in the area.
"There's a huge amount of construction, new people coming in all the time. It's a borough with a huge number of institutions, we're practically downtown," said Rotrand.
The city's 180 parking agents answer to the police and the local constabulary is not apologizing for the rash of tickets in the area.
The police point to the parking challenges that come with hosting two hospitals, several metro stations and a university.
They deny that they are overzealous.
"We didn't increase the number of people doing the ticketing job," said one officer, "but we have more regulations."
The borough brass also notes that a high proportion of street parking is set aside for local residents.
The sticker parking puts the squeeze on drivers just visiting the area.
Outside the Jewish General Hospital one driver reported to CTV News that he had spent 30 minutes in a fruitless attempt to find parking for a visit to the doctor's.
He would be advised to feed the meter once he finds a spot. A ticket for failing to fill a meter in the area costs a hefty $52.
