Parking in Downtown Burlington

You can take advantage of on-street parking in our downtown for up to 20 minutes at a time. If you need to pick something up quickly, you can park on-street in the core of downtown from:

• South of Caroline Street,
• North of Lakeshore Road,
• East of Burlington Avenue and
• West of Martha Street

Please make sure you 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

We offer paid parking in our downtown that is close to many businesses and services. Paid parking is in affect:

Monday to Friday
9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
$2 per hour

Paid parking on Saturdays

There is a charge to park in on-street on Saturdays between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m.

On-street parking is limited to three hours.

How to pay for parking

1. Pay at a parking machine with cash or credit card or

2. Pay through the HONK mobile app. Use the app to renew your parking time on your phone. Download the app to search for and pay for parking from anywhere.

Free parking

On-street parking is free after 6 p.m. and on Sundays.

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

Paid parking

We offer hourly, daily and/or monthly permits, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday to Friday. Parking fees apply to peak lots 1, 4 & 5 on Saturdays as well, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

View our Parking Bylaw for fees at each location and monthly permits for downtown municipal lots and the garage.

Free parking

There is no charge for parking in most downtown lots Monday to Friday from 6 p.m. to 9 a.m., weekends and holidays, with no time limit.

There is no charge to park in Lots 1, 4 & 5 from 6 p.m. to 1 a.m. Monday to Saturday, and all day on Sunday and holidays.

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:

• 6 p.m. to 9 a.m., seven days per week in the east lot
• 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

The Waterfront Parking Garage at 414 Locust St., Burlington, offers 339 parking spaces in the heart of downtown. Parking is free overnight.

Lot 16 - 515 John St. - Temporary Mobile Payment Lot

Lot 16 is located at 515 John St. on the south east corner of John Street and Caroline Street. It is a temporary parking lot that only takes mobile payments. There is no parking machine so you do need to pay for your parking using the HONK Mobile app. Our parking officers will know that you’ve paid for parking using your license plate, since there are no paper permits and nothing to put on your dashboard. If you need to extend your stay, you can do that using HONK on your phone.

You need to pay for parking in Lot 16:

Monday to Friday
9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Parking is free after 6 p.m., on weekends and holidays.

Winter overnight parking

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

Paid parking

If you park in any municipal parking lots, street spots or the garage, there are peak times when you need to pay for parking. You may choose hourly, daily and/or monthly fees, generally from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday to Friday.

Select lots require payment on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Follow our signs for details.

Free parking

You can park without paying Monday to Friday from 6 p.m. to 9 a.m., and all day Sunday with no time limit in most lots. Some downtown lots also offer this on Saturdays. Follow our signs for details.

If you have a valid accessible parking permit or City-issued veteran permit, we offer you free parking. You can park for up to the allowed time and no payment is needed.

Overnight parking

You may park overnight in parking lots at Orchard Community Park, Lampman Park and Pathfinder Park, if applicable.

You may park overnight in downtown municipal lots during the winter. Please be aware that during a snowfall, we clear snow from municipal parking lots and you may be plowed in. Subscribe to our Snow Control Updates and we'll email you if we've declared a snow event.

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.

Honk Mobile Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

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?

Yes, the price has increased. The rate is now $2 per hour.