Over the past few weeks, I’ve been hearing from residents across Etobicoke Centre about e-scooters. People are seeing e-scooters being used in places where they are not permitted, and many are increasingly worried about safety, both for riders and those around them. For parents and grandparents, that concern is particularly strong when they see young people riding them, as many of the local riders seem to be much younger than 16, which is the minimum age to ride these vehicles in other Ontario jurisdictions.
Just this week, new information has made those concerns even harder to dismiss.
On August 10, the Toronto Police Service launched a two-week, city-wide education and enforcement campaign focused on micromobility vehicles ahead of the back-to-school season. Police reported 514 micromobility-related collisions in Toronto so far this year, including two fatal collisions involving e-scooters.
Then yesterday, new national pediatric data was released showing that 10 Canadian children died in 2025 from injuries involving e-scooters, e-bikes and other powered micromobility devices, six of those deaths occurred in Ontario. The report also found that children aged 10 to 15 accounted for 42 per cent of reported cases, with another 18 per cent involving children aged five to nine.
The Toronto-specific data coming out is concerning too. SickKids recorded 107 emergency department visits related to e-scooter injuries in 2025, more than double the 46 recorded in 2024. Nearly half of the e-scooter injuries reported by SickKids in 2024 involved children aged 10 to 13.
These aren’t abstract statistics. They are children. They are families devastated.
E-scooters are not legal to ride in Toronto in most places. They cannot legally be operated on public roads, sidewalks, bike lanes, trails, paths or in parks. Toronto has twice chosen not to participate in Ontario’s e-scooter pilot program. Across Ontario, they are not legal for ANYONE UNDER 16. Also important to add, it is then illegal to ride without a helmet if the rider is under 18 years old.
But unfortunately at the same time, the City of Toronto does not control whether these devices can be sold. So residents see them available for purchase, they see them being used, and they see them being ridden through their neighbourhoods. Many people do not know that there are such rules around these products.
Understandably, many people are asking: if they are illegal to ride here, why are we still seeing them everywhere? That is a legitimate question and I don’t think the answer is simply to repeat that they’re illegal. Residents already know that something isn’t working when they regularly see the rules being ignored.
This is a city-wide issue but there is ward-wide concern about e-scooters. I am hearing about it wherever I go. The underlying question is the same: are our public spaces safe, and are the rules being followed? How do we protect children from getting severely injured, or worse?
A Councillor should be listening to the concerns of residents, identifying patterns and trends, and working with the appropriate City divisions and Toronto Police to understand where the problems are occurring. Major problems require attention and workable solutions, even on the tough issues.
Enforcement matters.
If something is illegal, there needs to be a reasonable expectation that the law will actually be enforced and I welcome the Toronto Police Service’s current two-week enforcement and education campaign.
But a two-week campaign cannot be the entire strategy.
We also need to ask why these devices are being used, whether families understand the rules, what information is reaching young people, where the greatest safety concerns are occurring, and whether the City’s current approach is actually changing behaviour.
Toronto has already recognized that education needs to be part of the response.
In May, City Council adopted a motion directing the City to work with Toronto Police, Toronto Public Health and Toronto’s school boards to incorporate pedestrian safety, traffic awareness and clear e-bike and e-scooter rules into end-of-school-year public education campaigns.
The City is now also explicitly telling parents and youth: e-scooters are not toys, they are not safe, and they are not legal to ride in Toronto.
Those are important steps but residents are still seeing the problem.
So we need to ask: what comes next?
What should a Councillor actually do?
A Councillor cannot personally enforce every traffic bylaw. They cannot control every device sold in a store. And they cannot solve every problem with a single motion at City Hall. But they can make sure residents aren’t left to navigate the system alone.
That means listening to what residents are seeing across the ward. It means asking for the data.It means understanding where enforcement is happening and whether it is working. It means bringing together the appropriate City staff, Toronto Police, school communities, public health officials, community organizations and residents.
It means making sure parents and young people understand the rules and it means following up.
Are complaints decreasing?
Are injuries decreasing?
Are we seeing safer behaviour around schools and neighbourhoods?
Is the current approach working?
If the answer is no, then we shouldn’t simply hold another meeting and move on.
We should change the approach.
This isn’t about being anti-mobility
I also want to be clear about something. I support giving people more ways to get around their neighbourhoods. I support walking. I support transit. I support safe and accessible forms of micromobility. But supporting better transportation choices does not mean ignoring safety.
When we’re talking about children, that responsibility becomes even more important.
There is a difference between supporting legitimate, safe forms of active transportation and accepting the unsafe use of a vehicle that isn’t legal to operate on Toronto’s public streets and paths.
So what can a Councillor actually do?
The City can’t solve every part of this problem on its own.
Ontario controls much of the legal framework around motorized vehicles, while the federal government has a role in product safety and standards. Toronto has already made the decision not to participate in Ontario’s e-scooter pilot, and the City cannot simply regulate what devices are sold in local stores.
But that doesn’t mean there is nothing a Councillor can do.
Start with understanding where the problem is happening. If residents are consistently reporting e-scooters around particular schools, parks, trails, sidewalks or intersections, I would want those concerns documented and brought to the appropriate City staff and Toronto Police. Where are the complaints coming from? What are residents seeing? Are collisions occurring? When and where is enforcement happening? We should be using that information to identify the areas of greatest concern across Ward 2. Accurate and clear data is useful in situations like this.
Make youth safety a priority. The numbers involving children are particularly concerning to me. I would work with school communities, Toronto Public Health, Toronto Police, recreation programs and community organizations to make sure families and young people actually understand the rules before they are injured.
That means making information available where young people and parents actually encounter it, particularly before and during the school year. Education can’t replace enforcement, but enforcement can’t replace education either.
Pushing for better coordination. One of the problems with issues like this is that responsibility is divided. The City has a role. Toronto Police have a role. Public health has a role. The province has a role. And the federal government has a role when it comes to product standards. Residents shouldn’t have to figure out that entire system themselves.
As Councillor, I would bring the relevant people together and ask a simple question: what is working, what isn’t, and what needs to change?
Advocating beyond City Hall. Where the pieces of the problem require action that Toronto cannot take on its own, I would work with the city to advocate for it at the provincial and federal levels. That could include stronger standards for devices being sold, clearer rules around their use, better tools for enforcement and better safety information for families.
If residents tell me that e-scooters are becoming a problem in their neighbourhood, I don’t want the response to be: “Call 311” or “That’s a police matter” or “That’s provincial jurisdiction”
Those things may all be true but they shouldn’t be the end of the conversation. My job would be to help navigate the system, identify who can actually act, advocate where necessary, and then come back to residents with an answer.
What did we find? What was done? What couldn’t be done? And what needs to happen next?
We should not have to wait for someone to get hurt. Our children shouldn’t have to learn about the limits of government jurisdiction by inaction on serious matters, we can do better than that.
Do you have a story or an area of concern with e-scooters; you can reach my team at votejenalexander@gmail.com
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