Data shows 90% of trespassing tickets on Edmonton transit go to those with no fixed address

Transit peace officers in Edmonton gave out 5,721 tickets for trespassing in 2024 — a move that housing and legal advocates say is disproportionately harming those who are homeless. 

Data obtained by the Criminal Trial Lawyers' Association found that 90 per cent of the tickets went to people with no fixed address.

Tickets can be handed out for various infractions like fare evasion, public intoxication, loitering, littering, aggressive panhandling, smoking and urination and defecation.

The majority of tickets handed out to people with no fixed address were for trespassing, representing about 67 per cent of tickets issued to people in that category. 

The bulk of trespassing tickets were issued during the coldest months of the year and was highest from January to March and then spiked again at end of the year from November to December. 

Nearly 600 tickets were issued for the months of February, March and December. 

About 10,059 infraction tickets were handed out in total for 2024. 

In a statement to CBC, the City of Edmonton said an NFA designation on a ticket does not necessarily mean the person who was issued the ticket is unhoused.   

"Transit peace officers cannot compel someone to provide an address. In addition to experiencing homelessness, there are several reasons why an individual may be listed as having no fixed address," said Brooke Hilborn, deputy chief of the Community Standards Peace Officers.

"These include individuals who have no personal information to substantiate their address, are travelling through Edmonton, are 'couch-surfing' or staying with someone temporarily." 

But a lawyer with the association's policing committee says the brunt of the tickets are being levied at people who are homeless and who are left with no choice but to seek shelter at transit stations, even though it could land them the hefty fine of $600. 

Association lawyer Chris Wiebe, who has been tracking the issue since 2019, says while there was a downward trend in trespassing tickets issued from 2021 to 2023, that has since been reversed as of last year.

"In lieu of adequate housing and shelter spaces, we saw the city resort, unfortunately, once again, to over-ticketing people," Wiebe said. 

"Which does not make the problem any better and has a lot of adverse impacts on our most vulnerable neighbours, people who are living unhoused, people who are living with substance use disorder."

An estimate of the total possible value of trespass tickets is more than $3 million. This takes into account if each ticket was determined by the courts to be the full $600. 

Hilborn said the figure is an estimate of the total fines issued and does not reflect the amount that was collected.

"For example, if a fine is unpaid, a court summons may be issued, and the court may decide to adjust the penalty," Hilborn said.

"The city is not typically made aware of the final penalty amounts issued, which are decided by the courts."  

The city says it does not have exact information on how many of the people fined with no fixed address have paid. 

In April, city council voted to redirect $5 million to place more transit peace officers at LRT stations throughout Edmonton to try to address social disorder and crime.

According to the city's Homelessness and Housing Services Plan report from 2024, 55 per cent of Edmonton's population experiencing homelessness is Indigenous. Wiebe said that makes the data even more concerning. 

"We know that this is going to continue to impact unhoused Indigenous people at a grossly disproportionate rate," Wiebe said.

"And the irony of giving a trespass ticket to to an Indigenous person on their traditional homelands that they've occupied their ancestors have occupied since time immemorial. It's striking."

Ward Dene Coun. Aaron Paquette said he acknowledges that addressing systemic issues like housing insecurity, substance use struggles and mental health challenges is vital in alleviating a growing number of people not getting the care they need. 

But he said the city needs more support from both the provincial and federal governments,

Paquette also pointed to efforts by the Community Outreach Transit Team, which is a partnership between the City of Edmonton and the Bent Arrow Traditional Healing Society.

Outreach workers with Bent Arrow go into the community with a transit peace officer and aim to connect vulnerable people to community services and resources.

"If you're just dealing with the tsunami of human suffering, you have to respond," Paquette said.

The CTLA is calling for a progressive fine system that is proportionate to a person's income and for the city to further clarify the behaviour attached to someone who is being issued a ticket to prevent excessive ticketing.