Smart Roads Inc. removes illegally parked vehicles from private property in Markham. Twenty-four hours a day, at no cost to the owner, the condominium corporation or the property manager. Call 647-219-1786.
Markham has two parking problems that look nothing alike. Along Highway 7, Warden and Birchmount, dense condominium and rental buildings run short of both resident and visitor spaces. Out in the office and technology parks around Woodbine, Allstate Parkway and Steeles, large lots sit empty after six and then fill overnight with vehicles that have no business being there. Both need enforcement, and neither is solved by a ticket.
Why ticketing does not fix it
Most Markham properties try warning notices first, and they work on the person who parked wrong once by accident. They do nothing to the driver who has decided your lot is their parking space. A notice left on a windshield on private property carries no penalty anyone can collect, so the vehicle that got one on Monday is back on Tuesday. Removing the vehicle is the only step that actually frees the space, and the only one a repeat offender remembers.
How private property towing works in Markham
1. Authorization
You sign a short authorization naming Smart Roads as the towing operator for the property. It sets out who on your side is allowed to call for a tow, and you can cancel it whenever you want. There is no term and no minimum.
2. Signage
We supply and install compliant tow-away signage at the entrances and through the lot, at our expense. Without correct signage a tow is not enforceable in Ontario, so this step is not optional and we do not skip it.
3. The call, or the patrol
From there you either call us when a vehicle needs to go, or we patrol on an agreed schedule and act on anything parked in violation. Larger Markham properties usually run scheduled overnight patrols. Smaller ones call as needed. Both cost the property the same: nothing.
4. The tow, documented
The vehicle is photographed in place before it moves, removed, and reported so the registered owner can be told exactly where it is. You get that documentation whether you ask for it or not, which is what stops a complaint from becoming your problem.
Where we tow in Markham
We tow across Markham: Unionville, Milliken, Cornell, Markham Village, Cathedraltown, Berczy Village, Angus Glen, Greensborough and Thornhill east, along the Highway 7, Markham Road, Kennedy Road, Denison Street and 16th Avenue corridors.
The calls we get most in Markham
Transit commuters parking free in plazas near the Unionville and Centennial GO stations account for a large share of Markham calls, along with overnight occupation of condominium visitor parking and after-hours storage of trailers and work vehicles in business park lots.
Properties we work with
- Condominium corporations and property management companies
- Apartment and rental buildings
- Retail plazas, restaurants and shopping centres
- Office, medical and professional buildings
- Industrial units, warehouses and transport yards
- Car dealerships and service centres
- Places of worship, schools and daycares
- Construction sites and vacant land
Markham’s retail and corporate lots
Retail is where Markham loses the most parking. The plazas along the Kennedy Road and Highway 7 corridors, and the lots around Pacific Mall and Splendid China, fill with vehicles whose drivers are somewhere else entirely — a second store, a workplace, a bus stop. Unionville’s Main Street lots turn over well on a Tuesday and collapse on a Saturday afternoon, and the restaurants there carry the cost. Downtown Markham mixes condominium residents, office staff and evening visitors in the same few blocks, which is why the reserved and visitor stalls there are the ones we are called about.
East and north, the corporate campuses off Highway 404 and the industrial units along Denison Street and Steelcase Road get a different problem: long-term storage. Company vehicles that stopped being company vehicles, trailers parked in a neighbour’s yard, and cars left in a corner of the lot for weeks because the owner assumed nobody would notice.
Visitor parking in Markham’s condominium corporations
The towers at Highway 7 and Warden, and the townhouse blocks in Cornell, Greensborough, Cathedraltown and Berczy Village, all run the same arithmetic: more vehicles than permits, and a visitor lot treated as overflow. Boards usually try permits and warning notices first, and those work on residents who were going to comply anyway. They do nothing about the vehicle parked in the fire route, or the third car that has lived in visitor parking since March.
A tow-away agreement changes the calculation because it is the one consequence a driver cannot ignore. We post compliant signage, take the authorization in writing, and document every tow so the corporation has a record if a resident disputes it. We do the same in Richmond Hill and Vaughan.
How Markham handles parking on private property
Markham’s route onto private land runs through security companies. Under Parking Control By-law 2005-188, employees of security companies holding written authorization from the City are appointed municipal law enforcement officers for the purpose of enforcing parking on private property. The lot itself is not registered; the company is authorised. Towing is separate again, and is a matter between the property and its operator.
- Parking without consent. Section 10(2) prohibits parking on private property without the consent of the owner or occupant, and posted signs are what establish that consent was absent.
- Fire routes. Markham runs a formal Fire Access Route Application through Fire and Emergency Services. You submit a schematic site plan, the City returns an approved fire route plan plus a list of sign suppliers and installation guidelines, and Fire Prevention inspects the signage before the route is in use. Signs are a minimum 30 cm by 45 cm, at intervals of not more than 30 metres, and must show the words “Fire route”, the prohibited-parking symbol and “Vehicles will be tagged and/or towed away”. Fire Prevention: 905-477-7000 ext. 3420.
- Accessible parking. Section 11. The permit goes on the sun visor or dashboard with the symbol, number and expiry visible from outside. Lot and facility operators are required to erect and maintain accessible parking signage and must not block access to those spaces, and cannot charge accessible users more than the general public.
- Repeat offenders and abandoned vehicles. Section 20 lets a vehicle with three or more undisputed penalties in ninety days be towed without further notice, and deems a vehicle left more than twenty-four hours to be abandoned.
- Reporting to the City. 905-477-7000 ext. 2050, or By-law Enforcement and Licensing at 905-479-7782.
Markham publishes no size, wording or placement rule for tow-away signs on private lots — only for fire routes. That freedom is why so many Markham properties end up with signage that is technically present and practically useless, and why we install ours to a standard a driver can actually read at the entrance.
It costs the property nothing
There is no fee to the property owner or manager. No monthly charge, no per-tow invoice, nothing for signs or patrols. The cost of the tow is recovered from the owner of the vehicle that was parked illegally, which is the standard arrangement for private property towing across Ontario. Your operating budget is not part of this.
The rules we work under
- Tow operator certification. Ontario’s Towing and Storage Safety and Enforcement Act requires certified operators, with certificate numbers and company identification displayed on the truck.
- Property authorization. A vehicle only moves when the property owner or their named representative has authorized it in writing.
- Signage. Tow-away signs go up where a driver can read them on the way in, and we put our name and dispatch number on them so anyone whose vehicle is gone knows who to call. No Ontario municipality prescribes the wording, which is exactly why so many lots are covered in signs that answer nothing.
- Published rates and an itemized invoice. Certified operators file a maximum rate schedule with the Ministry of Transportation, cannot charge above it, and cannot charge for a service that is not on it. The vehicle owner gets an itemized invoice before payment is asked for.
- Reporting. Tows are reported, so a vehicle owner who finds an empty space knows immediately where their car went and who has it.
None of this is optional, and an operator who treats it as optional becomes a liability you inherit. Ask any towing company in Markham for their certificate number before you sign anything with them.
If your vehicle was towed in Markham
Call 647-219-1786 and we will tell you where your vehicle is, what is owed and what to bring. You will need proof of ownership and valid photo identification. We would rather you had your car back today than argue about it for a week, so the process is deliberately short.
Questions we get asked
How much does private property towing cost me as the owner or property manager in Markham?
Nothing. There is no charge to the property, no monthly fee and no contract minimum. Our costs are recovered from the owner of the towed vehicle, which is how private property towing works everywhere in Ontario. You are not invoiced for a tow, for signage, or for patrols.
Can I have a car towed from my Markham property immediately?
If your property is already set up with us, with authorization on file and compliant signage posted, then yes. Call and a truck is dispatched. If you are not set up yet we can usually have signage and paperwork in place within a couple of days, because towing a vehicle without proper authorization and posted signs is not enforceable.
What signs do I need on the lot?
Ontario requires clearly visible tow-away signage at the entrances and throughout the lot, stating that unauthorized vehicles will be removed at the vehicle owner’s expense, and showing the towing company’s name and telephone number. We supply and install the signs for Markham properties at no cost.
My car was towed in Markham. How do I get it back?
Call 647-219-1786. We will confirm where your vehicle is, what you need to bring and what is owed. You will need proof of ownership and valid identification. Every tow we perform is documented and reported, so the location of your vehicle is never a mystery.
Do you tow from underground and structured parking?
Yes. A large share of the Markham work we do is underground, in condominium and commercial garages with low clearance. We use equipment sized for those spaces rather than trying to force a standard flatbed into a garage it does not fit.
How quickly do you get there?
Most Markham calls are attended within the hour and dispatch runs 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Fire route obstructions and accessible-space violations are treated as priority calls and go to the front of the queue.
Can you enforce reserved and numbered stalls in a Downtown Markham building?
Yes, where the stall assignment and the authorization are documented. Numbered-stall disputes are the ones most likely to be challenged later, so we keep photographs and time stamps on every removal.
Our plaza on Kennedy Road is busiest on weekends. Do you patrol then?
Yes. Retail properties in Markham usually want patrols concentrated on Friday evening through Sunday, and that is how we schedule them.
Get your Markham property covered
Setting up takes one conversation and a signature. Signage goes in, and after that the problem is ours instead of yours. Call 647-219-1786, where dispatch answers around the clock, or send us a message.
We also tow in
Vaughan · Woodbridge · Richmond Hill · King City · Newmarket · Brampton · Mississauga
See the full private property towing service area.