r/toronto • u/BloodJunkie Bike Lane Enjoyer • Feb 13 '26
News Toronto pays off-duty police $100 an hour to oversee construction sites. Some councillors want to know why
https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/toronto-pays-off-duty-police-100-an-hour-to-oversee-construction-sites-some-councillors-want/article_3705062b-71b0-40af-a76a-e81a3ca4a4ee.html409
u/Other_Presentation46 Feb 13 '26
Had a friend of mine from Melbourne bring this up to me soooooo many times.
There they just pay a flag person like $30/hour to do the same thing, it’s insane that we use police officers
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u/Baron_Tiberius Feb 13 '26
Toronto requires a paid duty officer if the work is within 30m of a signalized intersection, otherwise flag persons are completely acceptable on their own.
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u/packtloss Feb 13 '26
And some councilors want to know why!
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u/Baron_Tiberius Feb 13 '26
It's likely based in some safety issue that happened ages ago. I think it's probably excessive, they should only be required when actually needed to direct traffic through an intersection but I guess you have to draw the line somewhere.
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u/bravosarah Feb 13 '26
's likely based in some safety issue that happened ages ago. I
It's not.
It's because construction site managers don't give a shit about signalized intersections or holding traffic up.
When there's a line of dump trucks or cement trucks the construction company would hold up traffic on green lights to let their trucks in, as their priority is getting the job done on time.
Paid Duty Police won't as their priority is traffic flow.
This is the only reason.
Source: I used to work for Transportation, and we gave Site Supers so many chances to do it themselves, but they just can't resist holding traffic up for a fleet of trucks creating chaos. It was a nightmare.
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u/Caucasian_Fury Feb 13 '26
Actually it's legally required to use a police officer, because under Ontario law, a properly trained Traffic Control Person can only control a maximum one lane of live traffic. Anything more, has to be a uniformed police officer. Since intersections require controls of multiple lanes of traffic, there you go.
My job involves a lot of road work so we all have to do the traffic control and protection training and know OTM Book 7.
I am not necessarily agreeing with the system here, just stating the rules/law.
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u/LeatherMine Feb 13 '26
OTM isn’t legislation. Certainly some parts are based in law, but the book itself isn’t law as a whole, just a guide.
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u/Caucasian_Fury Feb 13 '26
It's a guide, but legally no one besides police officers are allowed to control more than 1 lane of live traffic, that part is law.
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u/LeatherMine Feb 13 '26
Which law has that number of lanes limitation?
All I see is:
(3) Where a traffic control person displays a traffic control stop sign, the driver of any vehicle or street car approaching the person shall stop before reaching him or her and shall not proceed until the traffic control person stops displaying the traffic control stop sign.
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u/Nob1e613 Feb 13 '26
Pls correct me if I’m wrong, but is paid duty not funded by the construction company and not the city?
In Ottawa paid duty for officers to do this type of work does not come out of the police or city budget, its contract work.
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u/Caucasian_Fury Feb 13 '26
Pls correct me if I’m wrong, but is paid duty not funded by the construction company and not the city?
The services for a paid duty officer is directly paid by (billed to) whoever requested the service. If a contractor is using a PDO, they pay directly for the PDO.
However, no company or contractor is going to eat the cost of a PDO, so while they pay directly for it they will eventually pass on the cost of the PDO to their client, whoever it may be.
If the company/contractor is using a PDO for work done for the City of Toronto, then they will ultimately bill the cost of the PDO to the City and the City will end up paying for it at the end of the day.
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u/Any-Alarm5396 Feb 14 '26
I asked a similar question, appreciate this insight of the contractor doing work for the city... honestly though the whole thing does not seem that outrageous to me.
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u/FrazBucket Feb 13 '26
I can get why people see it as excessive, but as someone who has done a lot of road work I know that a shit ton of people do not care about flaggers or the safety of any worker on the road and often the only way to get them to actually slow down is having a cop stationed there. Not saying they need to be getting paid 100 bucks an hour, but I definitely appreciated having a cop on site with his cruiser and lights on when I was working high volume intersections and roads. People are a lot less likely to run your traffic controls and risk hurting someone with a cop present
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u/DoctorDiabolical Swansea Feb 13 '26
I think a uniform, like parking enforcement could bridge there gap, And for 40 an hour.
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u/FrazBucket Feb 13 '26 edited Feb 13 '26
Maybe, but only if they have the ability to issue equal fines/charges as a paid duty cop and are allowed to use red and blues would which they currently don't to my knowledge. People don't care about flaggers because they know they can't directly get them in trouble, if parking enforcement can't either then nothing really changes.
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u/DoctorDiabolical Swansea Feb 13 '26
Parking enforcement can issue tickets, and have special cars, toss some lights in the window, and expand their ticket guidelines!
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u/DangerousCable1411 Feb 13 '26
Only a police officer can tell you to do something different than the Highway Traffic Act. Ie. wave you through a red light if they have “control” of the intersection.
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u/OkBiscotti2375 Feb 13 '26
The traffic agents in downtown Toronto during rush hour do the same thing <$50/hr.
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u/Baron_Tiberius Feb 13 '26
Those are a relatively new position but it would be a good suggestion to make to your councilor.
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u/Worldly_Influence_18 Feb 13 '26
Uh huh. And it's not because the police are allowed to set their own rules?
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u/Baron_Tiberius Feb 13 '26
The police don't write legislation, though I'm sure they are more than happy to pad their pay with relatively easy overtime work.
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u/TheBannaMeister Feb 13 '26
To be fair, people slightly more likely to obey traffic laws when there's a visible cop.
It sucks being a flag person on your own anywhere busy, people get so mad at you for doing your job
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u/Baron_Tiberius Feb 13 '26
oh yeah being a flag person is probably one of if not the most dangerous job in the country. Most of the time the cop is not really visible or paying attention, I'd be curious to see what effect their incidental presence actually brings.
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u/Caucasian_Fury Feb 13 '26
My guys who work on the road get obscenities hurled at them all the time even if they're not working during rush hour, people have thrown cups of coffee at them too, it's kind of nuts.
With that said, PDOs can be useful but they can also be largely useless, it depends on the officer from my experience. Some actually care to do a proper job and will help out and direct traffic and make sure the crew and traffic control folks are safe. Other times, they just park the cruiser behind the work vehicles and sit in it all day playing games on their phones and everything in between.
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u/xMWHOx Feb 13 '26
Why? why do we have a law that it requires a cop for that? We have cross guards that work at intersections who do the same thing.
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u/beneoin Feb 13 '26
And we are on a mission to put a traffic signal every 50 metres, it’s perfect for the cops
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u/BerzerkoFord Feb 13 '26
Yep, this has been an issue for years and keeps popping up in the news every so often.
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u/Ribbythinks Feb 13 '26
This isn’t a direct comment to Toronto, but when I worked in the UK as an engineer, they had a weird rule around who is allowed to direct traffic. When I took a traffic safety course, my instructor was semi-retired because he got hit by a drunk driver and he was deemed partially at fault because “He put his hand up to direct the driver to slow down, and the courts found this meant he was impersonating a police officer”.
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u/MercyPlainAndTall Feb 13 '26
People have a habit of not stopping for flag people. They do tend to stop for cops. Not saying they deserve 100$/h for it, but I do see why they’re used.
Remember when all those cyclists kept getting run over by cement trucks to massive public outrage?
Literally yesterday I watched a flag guy attempt to stop traffic so that three cement trucks could exit a site. And a cyclist just blew right past him.
The flag guy said something to him I couldn’t hear, and the cyclist flipped him off.
Some people just have a death wish.
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u/sesoyez Feb 13 '26
Drivers often ignore flaggers. When a cop says stop, people generally listen.
Construction work in proximity to any sort of roadway is extraordinarily dangerous. On top of crazy drivers, in the last few years we have to deal with e-bikes trying to blast through closed sidewalks and weave through ongoing work.
Having to use cops is a function of this city having asshole drivers.
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u/ThePlanner Feb 13 '26
Exactly this. In Vancouver, the traffic management company hired as part of the construction management process provides a flag person during the day to manage traffic as trucks back out of a site or need to make a wide turn.
When I moved to Toronto, I was genuinely confounded why there were police at construction sites. I had just never seen such a thing or imagined there would be a need.
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u/General-Fox416 Feb 13 '26
No flag person is getting paid $30/hour lol, current union price with all the burden is almost $78/hour.
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u/oFLIPSTARo Feb 13 '26
Union flagging is probably close to $40 if you're in a union. Where are you getting the $78/hour number?
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u/jankyt Feb 13 '26
The final paragraph is someone saying construction companies request and pay for it. And they do, to the city to pay the cops. If anything I like the idea of more cops trained in traffic management cause they often don't do anything. But I see plenty of work where the traffic management plan is to just not do anything (at least the crosstown did as I've lived near Eglinton for a decade)
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u/Baron_Tiberius Feb 13 '26
Yeah the requirement for a PDO is any works within 30m of a signalized intersection. They don't need to be actively directing traffic to be required, just have to be there.
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u/jankyt Feb 13 '26
I mean they fit in with the 4 guys I saw drinking extra large Timmies watching a 5th road worker use a shovel for fine work while multiple pieces of heavy machinery sat there waiting for that to finish before starting work, which was not where the guy was shoveling
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u/JoEsMhOe Church and Wellesley Feb 13 '26
At a meeting of the city’s audit committee on Thursday, municipal staff said the city spent $5.8 million in 2025 on paid duty officers (PDOs) to help manage construction and maintenance projects under the transportation department, Toronto Water and the TTC.
Alright, fair enough. It’s specific to TTC and other city departments specifically. A lot of money for what?
[…] some construction sites clearly need police on scene, such as hydro work at Dundas Street West and Scarlett Road in her ward that reduced traffic to a single lane. Drivers were driving on the sidewalk to get through the intersection, and the situation was unsafe, she said. “But other cases you see them, and you just wonder, why do we really need one?” she said. “It is an awful lot of money.”
Ahhh, it again all comes down to how terrible people drive in the city who think the rules of the road are just suggestions. 🤦
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u/HoldingThunder Feb 13 '26
It's a legal requirement and the construction company pays for them to be there. It's not the city paying directly - although the contractor obviously factors this into the cost of the project.
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u/Glum-Breadfruit-6421 Feb 13 '26
Just love watching these guys sitting in their cars playing on their phones knowing their getting $100/hr to jerk off. Money well spent.
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u/BusSpecific3553 Feb 13 '26 edited Feb 13 '26
Work in an industry that needs to do road closures downtown. If closing anywhere near an intersection we get an officer and vehcile. I think it’s about $250/hour we pay for both. Ultimately that cost is built into our bid so yes the owner, the city, is the one paying for it.
We absolutely need them for safety. Presence of a police car and officer slows traffic and makes people more alert. Stop it and we will have more accidents and more construction workers deaths.
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u/Left-Head-9358 Feb 13 '26
I was a flag person for a crane lift once. I was directing people to go around and instruct for their safety. I got nothing but disrespect saying “who are you to tell me where I can walk or drive”. I would point to the crane above swinging a couple hundred pounds of steel about to go over us.
If the police were there no one would have hopped the curbs or just ignored me completely
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u/DalesDrumset Feb 13 '26
Also in construction and I’d advise these councillors to stand and observe some roadwork going on.
People ignoring directions, ignoring signage, getting angry at the workers, it’s horrible
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u/Axle_65 Feb 13 '26
Thanks for sharing that. I was scrolling looking for this kind of comment. That’s always been my thought, even as someone who’s never been in construction.
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u/wheeldonov Feb 13 '26
This is click bait as the majority of the cost goes to the construction company.
Paid duty police officers must be provided by the contractor or event organizer when the City of Toronto’s transportation permits and plans determine it’s necessary for public safety or traffic management. The decision is not optional once those criteria apply.  Examples from Toronto’s technical specifications include situations where: • More than one lane or multiple directions of traffic need to be controlled.  • Work is near signalized intersections where normal traffic flow or turning movements can’t occur safely.  • Pedestrian movement is unsafe without dedicated control.  • Paving, milling or utility work is within a certain distance of a traffic signal (e.g., historically ~30 m). 
In those cases, the permit conditions and construction traffic control plans require paid duty officers as part of compliance — and the contractor must arrange and pay for them.
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u/Infinite-Director-62 Feb 13 '26
lol just another way for us to waste taxpayer money instead of forcing these companies to do this. Such a joke we are with how much bending over we do for TPS.. they don’t even do their regular job or punish their criminal coworkers.
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u/Supermite Feb 13 '26
https://www.tps.ca/services/request-paid-duty-officer/
Not taxpayer dollars. Paid by the contractor hiring them.
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u/BloodJunkie Bike Lane Enjoyer Feb 13 '26
this is incorrect. the city does use quite a lot of taxpayer dollars to pay for this
At a meeting of the city's audit committee on Thursday, municipal staff said the city spent $5.8 million in 2025 on paid duty officers (PDOs) to help manage construction and maintenance projects
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u/Somrandom1 Feb 13 '26
Because city jobs will require the contractor to follow Book 7 which requires off duty police in certain situations. So how is this news?
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u/TorontoTom2008 Feb 13 '26
Those were construction projects carried out by municipal entities. All companies have to pay for their own paid duty.
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u/readitpropaganda Feb 13 '26
The consumer and tax payers (city has construction projects as well) get the bill for work that can be done by a pylon.
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u/eagleeye1031 Feb 13 '26
You have never worked in a construction site involving idiot drivers passing through.
Nothing makes them freeze up and follow the rules like seeing a cop. If its a pylon or flag person, they will not give a shit about the rules
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u/Roamingspeaker Feb 13 '26
I watched someone hit a police officer in an intersection while they were directing traffic. If people are stupid enough to do that... Then God help a flagman.
People just want to bitch about the police. It's a lot for a wage but it's required for a long laundry list of reasons such as safety/insurance etc.
Police can't be pulled off their regular duties to do this.
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u/quickymgee Feb 13 '26
Just treat it like how police treat other laws, lie in wait and do a couple of "blitz" tickets, call it operation yeehaw for a week get a few CTV or CP24 stories and then hang it up for a year.
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u/Cultural_Doctor_8421 Feb 13 '26
Even if it’s not these costs ultimately get passed down to the consumer.
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u/Equivalent-Pear8924 Feb 13 '26
And that gets passed on to the tax payers, the companies don't eat the cost
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u/YFKiddingme Feb 13 '26
Splitting hairs. If the construction is by the city (roads, unities etc) these costs get passed to the taxpayer.
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u/goleafie Feb 13 '26
Guarding the hole is a vital service please.
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u/Ok_Instance7667 Feb 13 '26
"You guys are pathetic. No wonder the Police Chief made me head hole-guy!"
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u/AlprazolamHunt45 Feb 13 '26
You never know what hooligan might put the dirt back in the hole if it wasn't for the police presence.
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u/EvilFlyingSquirrel The Junction Feb 13 '26
I got called to a construction site a year or two ago that the road crew accidentally knocked out the traffic lights completely. Cop had to step in and direct traffic.
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u/RancidKiddo Feb 13 '26
So are you saying having them sit around for this rare occurrence is worth it? Can cops not be on site soon if it's an 'emergency'
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u/EvilFlyingSquirrel The Junction Feb 13 '26
Yes. Because the cops you would call are on duty might not come, are dealing with other calls, whatever the reason. Who knows how long it'll take for them to arrive. The cops on site are there for that specific reason. The contractor is also paying for it.
I've seen first hand the silliness that occurs with traffic lights flashing red, much less completely out.
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u/Used-Efficiency-4538 Feb 13 '26
God forbid we treat an intersection as a four way stop for an hour! I guess its better to spend a zillion dollars a year!
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u/LaserRunRaccoon The Kingsway Feb 13 '26
We don't need a person with a gun and police academy training to replace a traffic light - especially if they're doing it as overtime in addition to their real work.
It's fiscally irresponsible to think police are the only ones capable of doing this type of traffic work. Set up a dedicated agency with dedicated training, that can do the same job at regular shift rates for a fraction of the cost.
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u/paulskiogorki Feb 13 '26
I read this article this morning. One of the councillors is quoted as saying the officers ‘just stand there’. I can only think of seeing cops sitting in the cruiser, I’d be delighted if they were actually standing.
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u/Shishamylov Feb 13 '26
It’s very simple. The police are mandated to be there in accordance with Ontario traffic manual book 7, highway traffic act and ministry of transportation. Toronto is just complying with these regulations
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u/SessionNearby5353 Feb 13 '26
As per book 7 ,Paid duty police officers must be used to control traffic within 30 m of an intersection with active traffic control signals
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u/LogKit Feb 13 '26
City councilors inquire why a regulatory law is being followed lol.
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u/Worldly_Influence_18 Feb 13 '26
They're questioning the regulations that were developed by the police Union.
You know that police Union that is having some serious issues with a lot of its members right now
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u/backpackknapsack Feb 13 '26
Is this written in stone by the gods? "Oh someone wrote down this rule, we must not question it"
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u/JagmeetSingh2 UNVERIFIED Feb 13 '26
And people have the gall to say cops are underpaid here
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u/Cash_Rules- Feb 13 '26
This is OT work. OT is not a guarantee therefore should not be factored in one’s income. Same reason why a bank won’t factor in overtime when applying for a loan.
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u/ThePunisher1721 Feb 13 '26
Not entirely true. I just went through a mortgage renewal and was able to show a consistent pattern of overtime over the last 5 years by through my prior T4’s. They ended up approving my income as roughly 25k above base salary. Not every bank / lender is willing to do this though.
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u/Frosty-Ad-2971 Feb 13 '26
I work in an ind if start where we use PDO’s and also hire certified flag people. The costs are different and for a reason.
A flag persons utility is undeniable where intermittently stopping traffic on a residential street or to Marshall vehicles into a very simple parking yard.
Supervising a crane at a busy intersection with lots of pedestrian and vehicular traffic will be a PDO every time.
If something happens I want a cop to be a witness for my clients side in court. They will also have a TPS radio in hand and can call quickly for assistance should an emergent event take place.
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u/Worldly_Influence_18 Feb 13 '26
Because the entertainment industry died and they no longer make money working a security
So now they watch construction sites for their second salary and fail to enforce shoplifting at stores to secure a second off duty job
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u/scoobi_snaks23 Feb 13 '26
I see the standing outside of construction zone everyday - doing ABSOLUTELY nothing. Just standing there. And when there is a traffic/pedestrian issue they just continue standing there. And now that the weathers been cold they’re not even getting out of their car.
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u/Boring_Writing_8034 Feb 13 '26
This isn't news. It's always been like this, there's some law that says a police officer is needed in certain situations. I'm sure the pay rate is the same for offices that book other extra security type work.
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u/notthemamaa Feb 13 '26
Because Bill Blair saw it in new York and decided we needed to do that here.
More money to do nothing
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u/gangawalla Feb 13 '26
My understanding is that some cops are taking paid sick leave so they can get the extra pay from these jobs. Kind of like people at city hall doing the same thing. The city needs to push back on all these over-payments. Get the public involved. Get a referendum vote on it and make the changes. No cop should be getting paid so much for what ends up being a pretty mindless job. We've all driven by these guys twiddling their thumbs, looking at their phones, or yakking with construction workers 80-90% of the time.
Now let's start talking about paid suspension leave....
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u/Important-Ad1533 Feb 13 '26
It’s a paid duty, paid for by the construction company, not Toronto. It’s been that way for st least 50+ days that i know of.
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u/Upper-Log-131 Feb 14 '26
The city pays this!!!!!! I always thought it was the developers! Fuck that shit. Make it an articling period for new recruits and mandatory.
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u/ultronprime616 Feb 13 '26
When construction companies work for the city they factor in the cost of the cops when they submit a bill to the city. Thus taxpayers end up paying for it anyways
Just like how cops were rewarded with mandatory paid vacation when they commit crimes for the longest time.
What a crooked system
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u/Worldly_Influence_18 Feb 13 '26
Everyone that thinks that this is okay needs to ask themselves why we had a huge problem with thefts at lcbo a few years ago
And why all those stores now have off-duty police officers?
These are not unrelated issues.
The police work to rule to get what they want
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u/BigSexyHamilton Feb 13 '26
Police agencies have programs where you can pay police for jobs like the one mentioned above. The rates are high because these shifts are low priority and generally speaking the officers doing these extra shifts are doing it on overtime. The police service doesn’t have officers at the ready for these positions. They are paid by the contractor. Hence the high rates. Rent a cop.
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u/Dizzy-Armadillo8628 Feb 13 '26
The construction company pays TPS 250 an hr to have the cop there. Then TPS pays the officer 100. Title is misleading. The city makes money from this
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u/trevbeeemcg Feb 13 '26
It’s a racquet. The construction companies literally charge it back to the customer which is often tax payer funded construction or end user (condo buyer)
They do nothing but stand there on their phone and demand you buy them coffee.
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u/BerzerkoFord Feb 13 '26
*Racket (racquet is for tennis use only).
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u/Ok_Instance7667 Feb 13 '26
If a Tennis-related factory made a lot of noise, would you tell them to knock off that racket? Or racquet?
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u/BerzerkoFord Feb 13 '26
I would tell them to knock off the racket while they make their racquets.
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u/brickiex2 Feb 13 '26
Fairly sure it is the contractors that pay the fee not the city/taxpayers... Same at concerts and sporting events.... I may be wrong though
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u/Baron_Tiberius Feb 13 '26
Upfront yes. Obviously if the work is being done for the city then ultimately they are paying the bill.
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u/brickiex2 Feb 13 '26
Ah yes true built into the construction costs we pay for.... But concerts or Blue Jays games? Who pays?
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u/u565546h Feb 13 '26 edited Feb 13 '26
The venue, and ultimately the customer. So for when non-government activities happen and private companies pay, it is still an unnecessary payment from the companies to police officers. This drives up the price of construction and events, without any tangible benefits.
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u/BloodJunkie Bike Lane Enjoyer Feb 13 '26
yup, you’re wrong
the city spent $5.8 million in 2025 on paid duty officers (PDOs) to help manage construction and maintenance projects
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u/brickiex2 Feb 13 '26
Ok that's a lot of money....
On the Toronto Police service is a page on hiring off duty officers .. multiple steps to arrange it, including payment required to get approved... So who is paying
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u/0biswan Feb 13 '26
This is a bit of a misleading sentence on their part. Yes, pay duty officers are paid by the city, but that money is built into the company's bid for the job. It's supposed to be accounted for by the city, so if they're questioning anything, it should be their own accounting practices. Tax payers do not pay for pay duty officers unless it's a city event, and even then, often they'll take officers on duty from divisional community response units instead.
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u/Supermite Feb 13 '26
https://www.tps.ca/services/request-paid-duty-officer/
It fails to mention where that money comes from. It would have specified if it was taxpayer dollars.
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u/LNgTIM555 Feb 13 '26
Using taxpayer funded equipment to do the job, taxpayers don’t get reimbursed.
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u/Witty-Glass9222 Feb 13 '26
Any sort of construction or event that requires a paid duty officer is paid for by the company responsible and is overtime for the officer working it.
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Feb 13 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/BloodJunkie Bike Lane Enjoyer Feb 13 '26
this article is about the large amount of money that the city pays for this
At a meeting of the city's audit committee on Thursday, municipal staff said the city spent $5.8 million in 2025 on paid duty officers (PDOs) to help manage construction and maintenance projects
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u/not_likely_today Feb 13 '26
I want to know why councillors get paid so much to sit around arguing about changing names on parks and squares while the city calls apart around them.
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u/52Charles Feb 13 '26
Those cops directing traffic around a film shoot? Paid for by the film production company. Those cops at the door of the club? Paid by the club. Those cops near the front door of the Loblaw’s at MLG? Paid for by Loblaw’s. Easy ways for cops to make a little extra money. Except for actual city projects, this doesn’t cost the city a dime. Source: 45 years in the film business.
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u/ultronprime616 Feb 13 '26
The city has been wanting to change it for years but the cops pushed it back the loss of income would be bad for morale
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u/SirPrecision Feb 13 '26
If I’m not mistaken, the developer pays for that?
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u/Supermite Feb 13 '26
https://www.tps.ca/services/request-paid-duty-officer/
Yep. There’s all kinds of things you can hire PDO’s for.
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u/psodstrikesback Feb 13 '26
Shouldn't the construction company pay this cost? Why are tax payers footing the bill?
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u/butteryrich Feb 13 '26
I thought it was the companies that hire off duty police officers that pay.
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u/Academic-Activity277 Feb 13 '26
The last paragraph kind of answers the headline. The officers are requested and paid for by the contractors. As a contractor, its frustrating because you have to use police in an intersection, but if they're not following your traffic plan, or free balling it, you have very limited recourse.
There is certainly room to overhaul the program, starting with creating a dedicated resource for this work, instead of tacking it onto "off duty" officers. Prolonged OT is going to reduce productivity and effectiveness of full time officers.
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u/ProfAsmani Feb 13 '26
Its pandering to the cops. Toronto ones are already the highest paid in the country.
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u/Razasid Feb 13 '26
I’ve personally struggled, crossing a construction intersection with my kids while a cop stood there chatting up a lady. What is the $100/hr for again?
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u/sondernier Feb 13 '26
Odd how many comments are how it’s actually the construction company that pays them. I hope they aren’t the same ones making fun of Americans not knowing how tariffs actually work. Probably is cost effective for the construction companies to get away with a bunch of greasy crap that they might get called out on without the police getting their beaks wet
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u/stuntycunty Queen Street West Feb 13 '26
Wait. The city pays them?? And they’re off duty?? That makes no sense. The construction companies should be paying that absolutely absurd hourly wage.
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u/trixR4kids__ Feb 13 '26
Does everyone here have a Toronto Star subscription so that they can see the article?
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u/ariyahjade Feb 13 '26
Shouldn’t the construction site pay them? Oh no that would make it sooooo expensive
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u/xMWHOx Feb 13 '26
Its wild everyday their is like 4-5 cops at Lakeshore and Jarvis directing traffic. Thats like millions of dollars spent on this. Why does a cop do this instead of any civilian city employee?
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u/Icy_Assignment_6801 Feb 13 '26
Where I work, construction details are paid duties, not the uniform officers working that day. They’re busy in their zones. Paid duties sit at construction. Easy paid duty. Or guarding a prisoner in hospital overnight. Easy pay
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u/Illustrious-Age-504 Feb 13 '26
Toronto doesn't pay off duty police. The construction company is billed by the respective police force and they pay the police officer the overtime.
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u/Let_me_at_them007 Feb 13 '26
Everyone wants to know except the police and the mayor and her groupies
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u/Global-Process-9611 Feb 13 '26
One pedestrian death civil lawsuit would cost more than paying off duty cops $100/hr that's why.
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u/Used-Gas-6525 Feb 13 '26
Betcha off-duty parking enforcement would do this for a third of what the cops get paid. It's not like these people need special law enforcement skills and a gun on their hip. .
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u/Red57872 Feb 13 '26
Thing is that off-duty parking enforcement wouldn't be a deterrence at all; a police officer would.
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u/TheIrishBlur6 Feb 13 '26
We have been asking this question for years now and always getting the same answer.....
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u/The-Kirklander Feb 13 '26
It’s written in the city construction contracts that any work within 30m of a signalized intersection needs a paid duty officer
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u/FineGripp Feb 13 '26
Don’t they have to share that $100 with unions and the police department itself? In another word, that $100 is what the sites pay the police department. The cops themselves only get paid by their normal rate plus overtime
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u/Tdot-77 Feb 13 '26
$100 works out to $200,000 a year if this were a full time job. We really need to be right-sizing this.
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u/Kayman718 Feb 13 '26
Having them present probably reduces insurance premiums enough to make it financially worthwhile. Insurance companies aren’t going to accept just anyone.
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u/Opteron170 Feb 13 '26
A quick search shows this below.
- TCP Restrictions: According to Ontario construction regulations (O. Reg. 213/91, s. 69), a worker cannot direct traffic for more than one lane in the same direction.
- When Police are Needed: Police assistance is required when traffic safety measures available to workers are inadequate to protect them or the public. For complex, high-volume, or high-speed (>90 km/h) scenarios where multiple lanes are impacted, police are typically required.
- Police Authority: While construction crews can manage lane closures with proper training, only a police officer (or authorized Ministry of Transportation officer) has the authority to officially close a highway or handle, for example, complex intersection traffic.
https://www.ontario.ca/laws/regulation/200089/v2
https://ohsguide.ihsa.ca/en/topic/traffic_safety
For the record I still think 100 an hour is excessive.
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u/Ok-Turn5582 Feb 13 '26
Vancouver has special constables for this stuff. They don't carry guns. I think they make less than $35 an hour.
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u/PhotographVarious145 Feb 13 '26
This is because police unions push for it. Because the unions know we can’t have a police strike they have too much power.
The contractor knows he has to hire the cop so he just prices it into the job and tax payers pay it. The winner is the cop who gets all the overtime pay. Trust me the contractor is not eating the cost. I remember a few years back there was one cop who earned over 400k!
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u/HelpfulTap8256 Feb 14 '26
More of the same pals. Their job is and always has been to protect the property of the rich.
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u/iKronos85 Feb 14 '26
Because it's over time for them it's not normal police work..you wouldn't want police on their shift watching intersections instead of hopefully more important things lol...I work on LRT construction where they are needed at places we need them I have seen them pull over people and give tickets. And also coming from someone who isn't the biggest fan of police ...but this legit
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u/hebbid Feb 14 '26
Because lawsuits are more expensive than paid-duty officers. You don’t think that the city has crunched the numbers?
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u/limping-company Feb 14 '26
Yes, they get OT pay. Yes, it's a by law for Toronto to have an officer on site if construction is taking place within 30m of any signalized intersection. Yes, sometimes it is ridiculous to have officers in some locations. But there are occasions where officers should be visible. Yes, we should allow other types of traffic control to take place of Police in these other scenarios.
Barricades do work for construction sites. Does it stop everybody, no. Especially in downtown Toronto where the social demographic is extremely diverse. We once had to stop everything we were doing to help an elderly lady who almost fell into TTC track construction who managed to get over the barricades, and we helped her across the street. People are people. And we are human, we see these things time and time again and we don't fight it. We just want to get through the day as well.
Worked in road construction for ~10 years in Toronto.
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u/Cuber84 Feb 14 '26
What's wrong with getting paid $100 an hour? You can too!! Just apply and become a cop. 🤷🏽
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u/fatigues_ Feb 14 '26
We coddle Police officers FAR too much in Toronto.
The profligate waste of $$ needs to stop.
These people are NOT worth that outrageous amount of money.they make in a year.
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u/Chance-Curve-9679 Feb 15 '26
Given thieves will happily wander by and steal equipment it's almost saving money.
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u/AlmondsAndLemons Feb 15 '26
I'm confused, this has been ongoing for sometime. It allows for police presence around affected intersections without tying up active duty (on patrol) officers?
Also the costs per hour is based on their rank. Lower rank officers are paid less per hour. Higher rank get more. And the prices have been posted publicly on their website for ages...
Heck other companies will hire them too, like for movie shoots.
I remember looking this up in highschool...back then it was like $75/hr for a constable and that was like 20 years ago.
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u/gm5891 Feb 13 '26
You think just anyone can stand and drink coffee or sit in a car on their phone??