In mid-February CANASA Executive Director JF Champagne appeared before the Police Services board after it became known that Toronto was going to raise the false alarm rate from $83.50 to $130 effective Feb. 1.  A false alarm to the fire department will cost the caller $350 per dispatched fire truck.

“The problem with Toronto is they don’t charge the homeowners, they charge the monitoring stations, who in turn have to collect the money from the homeowners. So if the homeowner refuses to pay, the monitoring centre is left high and dry to absorb the cost,” says Champagne.

Champagne say the fee hike is going forward and the move is making some question the willingness of the City to work with the industry before making such aggressive changes.

“It’s done and there’s nothing we can do to change that — the rate has gone up. The point though is that Police Chief (Bill) Blair came to CANASA two years ago saying we needed to work together better, but now they’re slapping our members with 40 per cent increase,” he says.

In the past, other municipalities have worked pro-actively with the alarm industry when they have made changes to their bylaws.

“We do recognize the municipality’s right to raise and levy fees to provide a service, but when we dealt with York Region, which is changing its bylaw policy, they sent a letter at the end of January indicating implementation will be July 1 and they directed it to the alarm industry,” says Champagne.

And while it had seemed the issue of false alarms had taken a backseat to other issues in the last year or so, indications are that it could be rearing its head again this year as cash-strapped cities look for revenue.

“I have spoken to colleagues at the Security Industry Association (SIA) in the U.S. and in the last 90 days across North America they’re starting to see this wave — the new budget cycle is showing increased pressure on various public bodies to balance their budgets,” says Champagne.