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Ron Klicka, who lives in Jasper, Ont., says he hasn’t been in Guelph in years, but got a parking ticket dated from 1987. The photo has been edited to remove personal information.
(Ron Klicka)
On Dec. 7, 1987, Ron Klicka parked in the wrong spot near the train station in Guelph, Ont.
On Jan. 20, 2026, the city sent him a “final notice” for his outstanding balance on a parking ticket, and warned the fine could increase if it wasn’t paid.
“I opened it up and I see a parking ticket from Guelph. I mean, it’s been a couple of years since I’ve been in Guelph,” Klicka told CBC News. “And then I looked at the offence date and it said 1987.”
Klicka, who lived in Guelph during the 1980s but now calls Jasper, Ont., near Ottawa home, said he called the city’s provincial offences office after he received the letter in the mail last month and saw the date.
“They said, ‘No, it’s legit and you owe us $24.50.’ I said ‘fine,’ so I paid it,” he said with a chuckle.
In total, Klicka paid $34.50, including the $10 late fee.
Klicka doesn’t remember ever getting the ticket and said it never came up as an issue when he went to renew his provincial licence plates or driver’s licence.
“I think I’ve had like three parking tickets since I started driving in 1982 and I’ve always paid those tickets right away — never been an issue. So my guess is downtown someone either took the ticket off the windshield or it didn’t stay or something.
“I did move from Guelph to Alberta for a little bit. So maybe they couldn’t catch up with me or something like that. I don’t know. But then I’ve been licensed in Ontario for decades and never got caught.”
LISTEN | This Ontario man just received a parking ticket from 1987:
The Morning Edition – K-W3:53Former Guelphite receives 40-year-old parking ticket from City of Guelph
Ron Klicka had just three parking tickets since he started driving in 1982. But one ticket didn’t catch up to him until 40 years later. Ron told CBC K-W’s Lauren Kuivenhoven he was shocked to receive the ticket after all this time.City has $12M worth of unpaid fines
Amy Rocha, supervisor of financial operations for legal and court services with the City of Guelph, told CBC News the province downloaded the responsibility for collecting fines in 2000 to municipalities.
“To maintain the integrity of the justice system, every effort is made to collect court-ordered fines, regardless of age.”
She said that normally, unpaid parking tickets would show up when a driver renews their licence plate sticker, and the city’s “not sure why this did not happen in this particular case.”
Rocha said municipalities face challenges in collecting unpaid fines, including that the province decided people no longer need to renew their licence plates, so they wouldn’t be stopped from renewing due to a parking ticket.
The city has options to enforce payments like using third-party agencies to collect fines, adding some fines to property taxes or going to court, but those can be resource-intensive and costly options.
Rocha said the city currently has around $12 million worth of unpaid fines.
She noted anyone who has an outstanding ticket can talk to staff to talk about how to pay it, including the option of payment plans or extensions.
Klicka said he’s surprised by how much money municipalities are owed for things like parking tickets.
“They actually do add up. It’s your property taxes. If we had those tickets paid for, then it would be a good chunk of money.”