The City of Winnipeg has significantly increased the amount of money it collects from outstanding tickets since it started using text messages to remind people to pay up. 
The City of Winnipeg says it's owed about $12 million in unpaid fines, including parking tickets and bylaw violations. In March, the city announced its collection agency, CBV Collections, would start sending out text messages as a reminder.
Between 2021 and 2024, the city's previous contractor collected an average of $171,414 per year, a city spokesperson said in an email. Since starting in March, the new contractor has collected $582,023 – more than three times as the previous contract collected in an average year, but collected in a matter of months.
"Now that they're texting, within the first six months, they've pulled in … about $600,600 thousand. In six months, so I think that's great," said public works committee chair Janice Lukes, speaking at an unrelated event in Charleswood on Wednesday. 
According to the city, the outstanding fines include $7.5 million in unpaid parking tickets, and another $5 million in other unpaid fines for other bylaw offences like uncut grass.
The city also began reporting unpaid tickets to credit bureaus, meaning unpaid fines could affect people's credit scores.
It's part of an effort by the city to access millions in unpaid fines — money the city desperately needs, as it faces funding challenges on multiple fronts.
The $12 million in unpaid fines is "like about a two per cent tax increase. Like, that's a lot of money," Lukes said.
The way people communicate has changed, making older methods like mail and phones less effective, she said.
"I know people that have super boxes that don't pick up their mail that often. You get the mail, you throw it down," Lukes said.
The collection agency also uses mail and phone calls to seek payment, city spokesperson Adam Campbell wrote in an email.
The chair of the Winnipeg Police Board says he worries scammers may take advantage of the new collection method, but Markus Chambers agrees the city needs to do more to collect what it's owed.
Texting "is a tried and true method," Chambers said in a phone interview.
"Other jurisdictions that have been utilizing this process have been able to recover a larger amount of funds and that's something that the City of Winnipeg definitely needs to see. And it's about changing behaviour as well."
At the Parking Store on Portage Avenue, the plan got mixed reactions.
David Quinn came down to deal with a parking ticket.
"If [texting] works, yeah, because most of the time, people don't pay unless they get pushed. And I got pushed today," he said.
Yonas Gebere says people may think they're getting scammed.
"People are always worried about that. So it's better to send mail, then people can be more protected," he said.
The city says anyone who receives a text about an outstanding ticket should call 311 to validate the request before paying.
Texting Winnipeggers about unpaid tickets helps city coffers
Reporter
Cameron MacLean is a journalist for CBC Manitoba living in Winnipeg, where he was born and raised. He has more than a decade of experience reporting in the city and across Manitoba, covering a wide range of topics, including courts, politics, housing, arts, health and breaking news. Email story tips to [email protected].
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