The TTC has not set a $500 fine for fare evasion. The by-law table on the TTC site lists a total payable of $235 for refusing to pay a fare and $425 for the more serious fare offences, and the TTC says penalties run up to $425. If you saw $500 in a headline, it doesn’t match the official schedule.
What the TTC fines table says
The TTC publishes a By-law No. 1 fines table. For fare matters, two amounts come up again and again. Refusing to pay a fare, failing to follow the conditions of use of fare media, and misusing a transfer carry a set fine of $195 and a total payable of $235. Altered or invalid fare media, and unauthorized sale of fare media or transfers, carry a set fine of $345 and a total payable of $425.
The gap between set fine and total is the provincial victim fine surcharge, usually 20 per cent of the fine, plus costs. So $195 becomes $234 with the surcharge, and the table rounds the total up to $235 once costs are counted.
How these amounts compare with a fare
Since September 1, 2026 an adult PRESTO fare is $3.30. A $235 ticket is about 71 of those rides. A $425 ticket is about 129.
Now the monthly fare cap. After 47 paid trips in a calendar month, rides are free, so a heavy rider tops out at 47 times $3.30, or $155.10. Compare that with one $235 ticket and you can see why a single missed tap costs more than most of a month of transit. You can test your own numbers in the TTC fare cap calculator.
A rider who takes 20 trips a month pays $66. One $235 ticket equals more than three and a half months of that.
Who can write the ticket
The TTC’s fare evasion page says proof of payment can be checked by special constables, operators, customer service agents and provincial offences officers, who may wear a uniform or plain clothes. In July 2025 the TTC announced that its fare inspectors would be known as provincial offences officers. Some teams have worked in plain clothes since December 2024.
That means an inspector can board a streetcar two stops after you did and ask for proof that you paid. Keep your card or phone ready, and check the reader for a confirmation before you move away from it.
Discretion and the review of fines
The TTC approved a Use of Discretion policy on April 11, 2024. It lets officers weigh how serious the situation is before deciding on a ticket, so a ticket is not automatic in every case. A TTC report also noted that the fine schedule was last updated in 2009 and planned a reassessment in 2025, alongside a look at an administrative monetary penalty system that would give the TTC more room to set penalties. We could not find a published outcome of that review, so the amounts above are the ones still on the TTC table.
Does an unpaid ticket stop your licence renewal?
This is the claim that worries drivers most, and the answer is narrower than the old headline suggested. The Ontario government says defaulted driver fines must be paid in full before you can renew your driver’s licence. But it defines those as fines for unpaid moving violations, and says they don’t include parking or highway toll fines.
Whether a TTC fare ticket that goes unpaid ends up in that category is something we couldn’t confirm on an official page. Don’t assume it does, and don’t assume it doesn’t. If you have a ticket you can’t pay, deal with it through the court process shown on the ticket rather than waiting.
What we could not confirm
An earlier version of this article quoted a yearly loss of $140 million from fare evasion and a large hiring drive for inspectors. We could not verify either figure on a City or TTC page we could open, so both are left out. The 116 fare inspector positions mentioned in a 2024 TTC report are the only staffing number we can point to.
What to do if you get a ticket
- Read the ticket for the offence, the amount and the deadline.
- Check your PRESTO account history to see if your tap went through.
- Choose whether to pay or dispute it, following the instructions printed on the ticket.
- Look up the status of an old ticket on the Ontario online portal for Provincial Offences Act cases.
If a fine would strain your budget, run it through the budget calculator before deciding how to pay. See also the Toronto Parking Cost calculator, and the full set of Ontario work and family calculators.
Sources
- TTC By-law No. 1 fines table
- TTC proof of payment and fare inspection
- TTC news, July 2025
- Ontario, paying defaulted fines and licence reinstatement
Common questions
Is the TTC fare evasion fine $500?
Last reviewed: . Figures come from the official sources listed above. How we check the numbers and our editorial policy.