Lakehead Eliminates Free Evening Parking (Orillia)

Since opening in 2006, Lakehead Orillia has granted students free parking past 5:00 pm. This meant that students could take evening classes without paying $6 for a day pass, getting fined $25, or paying upwards of $492 for an annual parking pass. As of September 22, 2022, Lakehead is revoking this courtesy to students. 

Lakehead Orillia Security informed students by issuing “warning tickets” to all students who were parked without passes after 5:00 pm on Tuesday, September 19, 2022, and will be placing new signage around the parking lot. Henceforth, students arriving before 4:00 pm must pay $6 to park, regardless of how long they will be on campus, and students arriving after 4:00 pm must pay $3 to park, regardless of how long they will be on campus. Lakehead insists, however, that they still technically have free evening parking because parking is free after 9:00 pm. While this is true, the latest that Lakehead courses begin is 8:30 pm, so no students will arrive for classes late enough to get free parking.

Photo courtesy of Kezia Leamon.