page_title: Jaywalking
section_title: Canada
hierarchical_section_title: Jaywalking / Legal view by jurisdiction / North America / Canada
caption_attribution_description: Dundas Street East
context_page_description: Jaywalking occurs when a pedestrian walks in or crosses a roadway that has traffic, other than at a suitable crossing point, or otherwise in disregard of traffic rules. The term originated with "jay-drivers", people who drove horse-drawn carriages and automobiles on the wrong side of the road, before taking its current meaning.
  Jaywalking laws vary widely by jurisdiction. In many countries such as the United Kingdom, the word is not generally used and there are no laws limiting how pedestrians can use public highways. This has caused confusion among tourists and other people visiting countries with such laws.
  Legal texts in other countries use different concepts, such as Rules applicable to pedestrians in the Vienna Convention on Road Traffic. One member of this convention, the United Kingdom, does not have jaywalking laws; its Highway Code relies on the pedestrian making their own judgment on whether it is safe to cross based on the Green Cross Code. Pedestrians do have priority over turning vehicles. Rule 170 of the UK's Highway Code instructs a driver to "watch out for pedestrians crossing a road into which you are turning.
context_section_description: Jaywalking is not in the Criminal Code and is not considered a criminal offence in Canada. No law on jaywalking exists at the federal level, although  several provinces and territories in Canada, as well as municipalities, have enacted regulations and/or by-laws that restrict when a pedestrian may cross a roadway. Most of these provincial regulations and municipal by-laws do not use the term jaywalking to describe when a pedestrian unlawfully crosses a roadway. 
  Section 144 of Ontario's Highway Traffic Act stipulates pedestrians are required to use a marked crosswalk to cross the roadway when they are near one; although the same section also permits pedestrians to cross the roadway when they are not adjacent to a marked crosswalk and they yield to on-coming traffic. Similar traffic regulations also exist in Quebec's highway safety code, and Saskatchewan's Traffic Safety Act. 
  As a result of differing provincial/territorial regulations and/or municipal by-laws, the fine that is charged for jaywalking violations varies across the country, from C$30 in Quebec, to C$697.50 in Nova Scotia. In Ontario, jaywalking-related fines are typically charged under section 144 of the Highway Traffic Act, or a municipal by-law, with an average fine of C$35; although the maximum fine a pedestrian can be charged under the Ontario's Highway Traffic Act is C$50. Although provincial regulations and municipal by-laws on jaywalking exist, its enforcement remains sporadic.
caption: A pedestrian in Toronto walks across a street, several metres (yards) away from a pedestrian crosswalk
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