Media Release: New Data Reveal Disparities in Transit Enforcement
In collaboration with Justice and Equity Alberta, the Criminal Trial Lawyers’ Association Policing Committee, the Edmonton Coalition on Housing and Homelessness, and the Coalition for Justice and Human Rights, the JHC is raising serious concerns about transit enforcement practices and the disproportionate impact of these policies are having on Edmontonians experiencing homelessness and poverty.
The full text of our statement is available below, or downloadable as a PDF.
New Data Reveal Disparities in Transit Enforcement
Human rights organizations call for reform following data on transit enforcement against Edmontonians experiencing homelessness
EDMONTON, AB (September 25, 2026) – Following newly released data on the punishing transit enforcement faced by Edmontonians experiencing homelessness, human rights organizations across the province are calling for change.
The John Humphrey Centre for Peace and Human Rights (JHC) is joining Justice and Equity Alberta (JEA), the Criminal Trial Lawyers’ Association Policing Committee (CTLA PC), the Edmonton Coalition on Housing and Homelessness (ECOHH), and the Coalition for Justice and Human Rights (CJHR) in raising concerns following their release of new data highlighting the disproportionate impact of Edmonton’s transit enforcement practices on people with no fixed address and calling for changes to the City’s approach.
Data obtained from the City of Edmonton show that Transit Peace Officers issued 6,673 tickets under Alberta’s Trespass to Premises Act in 2025. Of those, 5,748 tickets, or approximately 86 per cent, were issued to people recorded as having no fixed address, representing approximately $3.45 million in fines.
Enforcement continued during periods of extreme cold. While Edmonton’s Extreme Weather Response was active last winter, 1,303 trespass tickets were issued to people with no fixed address, representing $781,800 in fines.
“We are grateful to these organizations for bringing this data forward and continuing to draw attention to the impacts of enforcement on people experiencing homelessness and poverty,” says Parveen Parmar, Director of Advocacy at JHC, “The findings reinforce what we continue to hear from the community: fines that reinforce and perpetuate exclusion do not address the circumstances bringing people into contact with enforcement, and create further debt and barriers for people already struggling to access housing, services and stability.”
The organizations also raised concerns in their release about section 37 of Edmonton’s Public Spaces Bylaw, which prohibits remaining in a transit vehicle or transit station while engaged in behaviours or activities other than those related to using Edmonton Transit Service. In 2025, 131 of the 159 tickets issued under section 37 (approximately 82 per cent) were issued to people recorded as having no fixed address.
“The City’s policy of banning hundreds of unhoused people from using transit, an essential service, often for months and then issuing them $600 trespass tickets for breaching those bans is cruel, counter-productive, and has failed to make Edmontonians feel safer using transit,” says Chris Wiebe, Spokesperson for the Criminal Trial Lawyers’ Association’s Policing Committee & Justice & Equity Alberta. “All levels of government must act urgently to address the compounding houselessness and addictions crises. The City of Edmonton must change its Transit Ban and Extreme Weather Response policies to ensure people are banned from transit only when absolutely necessary for safety, especially during extreme cold.”
The John Humphrey Centre supports the calls for the City to review its transit ban and enforcement practices, including limiting written transit bans to circumstances involving reasonable safety or security concerns and changing enforcement practices during periods of extreme cold.
These concerns engage fundamental human rights principles. Canada has committed to upholding the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which recognizes the right to an adequate standard of living, including adequate housing. In its General Comment No. 4, the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights emphasized that adequate housing is not simply a matter of having shelter or a roof over one’s head. It includes the right to live in security, peace and dignity.
The findings come as Edmonton prepares to review its Public Spaces Bylaw at the September 28 Community and Public Services Committee meeting.
JHC supports approaches to homelessness and poverty that prioritize dignity, safety, housing, accessible shelter, health and harm reduction services, voluntary treatment and rehabilitation, and meaningful community supports.
About the John Humphrey Centre for Peace and Human Rights
The John Humphrey Centre for Peace and Human Rights is a non-profit, charitable and non-partisan organization working to advance dignity, freedom, justice, and security through human rights education, community-based research, advocacy, and community dialogue.
For more information or to arrange an interview, please contact:
Parveen Parmar, Director of Advocacy
John Humphrey Centre for Peace and Human Rights
parveen@jhcentre.org
jhcentre.org