Roads, Parking and Traffic

Parking in Downtown Burlington

Learn how to find a parking spot, pay for parking and charge your electric vehicle in downtown Burlington! Get started by viewing our information below.

Daily rates and free parking times
Parking map with municipal lots, private lots, waterfront parking lots, loading zone and pay park areas
Pay-by-plate instructions
Permits for downtown municipal lots

Important reminders

The City of Burlington adds an extra 20 minutes with a 25¢ minimum purchase (25¢ = 8 minutes of paid time plus 20 minutes of free time)
Remaining paid time on a parking purchase is transferable from: pay street to another pay street, pay city parking garage or lot to another pay city parking lot. Please note, users must move their vehicle to a different parking spot to be eligible for this feature.

If you have any questions about parking downtown, please contact us at 905-335-7800 or at city@burlington.ca

On-street parking

On-street parking is available downtown for a maximum of 20 minutes at a time. This is to help businesses that offer curbside pickup and applies to :

Caroline Street to Lakeshore Road
Burlington Avenue to Martha Street

If you are a driver, please follow all other parking regulations, such as no stopping and no parking in loading zones. We don't want to have to give you a ticket!

Paid parking

Paid parking spaces are available in downtown Burlington on Mondays to Fridays from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. for $1.75 per hour. You can pay at the parking machines with cash or credit card, or with the HONK mobile app. Download the app to search for and securely pay for parking from anywhere.

Free parking

Free parking is available at on-street spaces in downtown Burlington from 6 p.m. to 1 a.m. Monday to Friday, and all day on Saturday, Sunday and holidays. Overnight parking is not permitted between 1 and 6 a.m. Free parking is also available with a valid accessible parking permit or City-issued Veteran Parking Permit.

Municipal parking lots and garages

We offer a variety of downtown municipal parking in lots and the waterfront parking garage .

Paid parking

Parking in municipal parking lots and the garage is subject to applicable hourly, daily and/or monthly fees, generally from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday to Friday. View our Parking Bylaw for fees at each location. We also offer monthly permits for downtown municipal lots and the garage.

Free parking

Free parking is available Monday to Friday from 6 p.m. to 9 a.m., all day on Saturday and Sunday with no time limit. Free parking is also available with a valid accessible parking permit or City-issued veteran permit.

Waterfront parking lot at Spencer Smith Park

The waterfront parking lot at Spencer Smith Park offers free parking:

From 6 p.m. to 9 a.m., seven days per week in the east lot
From 12 a.m. (midnight) to 9 a.m., seven days per week in the west lot

Parking fees apply at all other times, seven days per week.

Waterfront parking garage

Check out our waterfront parking garage at 414 Locust St., Burlington, which offers 339 parking spaces in the heart of downtown. Parking is free overnight.

Winter overnight parking

You may park overnight in downtown municipal lots during the winter. However, please be aware that during a snowfall, we clear snow from municipal parking lots and vehicles are at risk of getting plowed in.

Pay-by-plate parking and using the HONK mobile app

Located throughout the downtown, our pay-by-plate parking machines have replaced parking meters and the machines formerly found in municipal lots.

Benefits of pay-by-plate parking

The pay-by-plate machines offer you a variety of advantages, including:

You can pay by coin (toonies, loonies or quarters), credit card or online
You can park at various locations throughout the downtown when there is remaining paid time on a ticket
You can add time to parking purchases remotely using the HONK mobile app (a $0.35 transaction fee applies)
Printed receipts are available and every payment is linked to your licence plate number. Dashboard tickets are not required
Step-by-step, easy-to-follow instructions displayed on the payment screen
Stickers on the machine that provide bold visual markers
Faster payment processing times

HONK mobile app (online) payments

You can use the HONK mobile app to search, pay for and top-up on-street and municipal lot parking payments online, directly from your smartphone, tablet or computer. Download the app from Apple's App Store or the Google Play Store using any internet connected device. You must sign up for an account and pay a transaction fee of $0.35 for each payment.

Frequently asked questions

Why did the City replace the old machines?

The City's on-street parking meters dated back to the 1980s and were hard to service. The technology used in the new parking machines gives you more flexibility when parking downtown, including the option to pay by coin, credit card or online. You can also move to a new parking space if you have paid time leftover on your ticket.

How can I add time to the time I've purchased remotely?

Top-up your parking payment using the HONK mobile app.

If I have money left on my parking purchase, can I use it to park in a new location?

Yes. Any remaining paid time on a parking purchase can be used in another downtown parking lot, the parking garage or on a downtown street. Permits are transferable from:

Pay street to another pay street
City pay parking lot or garage to another City pay parking lot

Has the price of parking increased?

No. The price of parking in downtown Burlington continues to be $1.75 per hour.

How many parking spaces does the City of Burlington offer downtown? Have any spaces been lost due to new parking machines?

We provide more than 1,400 municipal parking spaces in downtown Burlington to serve the needs of business, special events, tourism and visitors.

Downtown maps and finding parking

View our interactive online Downtown Municipal Parking Map to find current parking spaces available, types of parking and rates.

You can also locate our Downtown Burlington Festivals and Events Parking on the Downtown Municipal Parking Map.

Shuttle Service

Shuttle bus service is available for the following major events. For schedule information, please refer to their website:

www.soundofmusic.ca | Sound of Music (Father’s Day Weekend)

www.burlington.ca/canadaday | Canada Day (July 1st)

www.canadaslargestribfest.com | Ribfest (Labour Day Weekend)

Occupancy sensors and digital signage

We are one of the first cities in Canada to introduce new occupancy sensor technology that helps make it easier for you to find available parking online. By installing small occupancy sensors at all on-street and municipal lot parking spaces, we keep track of which spaces are occupied and which are empty for use.

The sensors placed at each space send a wireless signal to a nearby receiver when a vehicle is parked. Using this data, real-time parking information is displayed on digital counter signs installed at City-owned parking lots. The signs show drivers the number of spaces available in each lot. These sensor installations are ongoing and will involve rolling lot closures in the spring and summer .

We have also installed digital way-finding signs on major downtown streets. These signs display real-time information about the number of available parking spaces in nearby lots. They use directional arrows to guide you to lots with empty spaces.

Public electric vehicle charging stations

Did you know there are 32 public electric vehicle (EV) charging stations in downtown Burlington? All charging units are Level 2, the most common level of charging.

Locations

Address	Available time to plug in	Number of ports
Parking Lot 2 - 446 Burlington Ave.	After 6 p.m. and on weekends	Six
Parking Lot 3 - 533 John St.	After 6 p.m. and on weekends	Two
Parking Lot 4 - 421 John St.	After 6 p.m. and on weekends	Two
Parking Lot 5 - 391 Brant St.	Anytime	Two
Parking Lot 6 - 430 Brock Ave.	After 6 p.m. and on weekends	Two
Parking Lot 7 - 500 Locust St.	After 6 p.m. and on weekends	Two
Parking Lot 10 - 1371 Elgin St.	After 6 p.m. and on weekends	Two
Parking Lot 13 - 426 Brant St.	Anytime	Two
Waterfront Parking Garage Level 1A - 414 Locust St.	Anytime	Four
Waterfront Parking Garage Level 6A - 414 Locust St.	Anytime	Two
Waterfront Parking Garage Level 6A - 414 Locust St.	After 6 p.m. and on weekends	Six

You can find other publicly accessible EV charging stations around Burlington with PlugShare.

Who can park at EV charging stations?

As per our Parking Bylaw, only electric vehicles may park in designated EV parking spaces. EVs must be plugged in and you must move within four hours of parking. A $47 ticket is issued for non-compliance.

Costs

There is no fee to charge a vehicle, however our parking rates still apply.

What is an electric vehicle?

An electric vehicle, also known as an EV, is a car that is powered by an electric motor instead of a gasoline engine. An EV uses energy that is stored in rechargeable batteries, which are recharged by common household electricity.

Electric vehicles are quiet, cheaper to operate than gasoline-powered cars and do not have tailpipe emissions. The electricity used to charge EVs in Ontario is much cleaner, since the provincial government phased out coal-fired generating stations, resulting in limited greenhouse gas emissions from the grid.