There are many hourly and daily parking options in downtown Kitchener and around Grand River Hospital. You can pay for hourly or daily parking from your phone or a kiosk.
On this page:
Parking lots
Follow these steps:
- drive into the parking lot and park your vehicle
- go to one of the payment kiosks, pay for your parking and print a ticket
- put the ticket in your car on the front windshield where it will be visible to parking lot staff
- when you’re ready to leave, exit the lot
You can also download the Passport Parking or PassagePass app and pay from your phone.
Parking garages
We have two different systems in our parking garages:
Garages with licence plate recognition
If a parking garage has licence plate recognition cameras around the entrance gate, follow these steps:
- drive up to the kiosk before the entrance gate
- if you’ve registered your vehicle on the PassagePass app, the system will detect your licence plate and open automatically
- if your vehicle isn’t registered with PassagePass:
- press the “ticket” button to print a ticket
- take the ticket
- wait for the gate to open and then drive through and park
- when you’re ready to leave, and you’re registered with PassagePass:
- drive up to the exit gate and wait for it to open
- when you’re ready to leave, and you’re not registered with PassagePass:
- go to one of the payment kiosks and either scan your entry ticket or enter your licence plate number and pay your fare at the kiosk, or
- drive up to the exit gate, wait for the system to recognize your licence plate and pay your fare at the exit kiosk
Licence plate issues
In some situations, the system may not be able to read your licence plate (example: it’s faded or hidden by snow). If this happens, please call the "Call When Here" phone number posted at the entry or exit gate (we recommend adding this number as a contact for easy access).
If you included your cell phone number in your permit request and activated the Call When Here function, the system will recognize your phone number on record. If you haven’t provided your phone number or activated the Call When Here function, please use the intercom to speak with staff, who can raise the gate to let you in or out.
Garages without licence plate recognition
If a parking garage does not have licence plate recognition cameras around the entrance gate, follow these steps:
- drive up to the kiosk before the entrance gate
- press the green “ticket” button to print a ticket
- take the ticket when it prints
- wait for the gate to rise and then drive through and park
- take your ticket with you
- when you’re ready to leave, you can either:
- use one of the payment kiosks to pay your ticket before going to your car, or
- at the exit gate, insert your ticket and pay by credit card at the gate
Pay for parking from your phone
We have two apps you can use to pay for hourly or daily parking from your phone, depending on your location:
- all surface lots and on-street parking spots: Passport Parking
- parking garages with licence plate recognition: PassagePass
If you’re not sure which app to use, look for the signs and decals with the relevant app name when you park.
On both apps, you can add time to your parking from your phone instead of walking back to your car.
Download the Passport Parking app
Using the Passport Parking app, you can pay for hourly parking in on-street spots or parking lots downtown and around Grand River Hospital from your phone.
Download the app:
Get support from Passport Parking.
Download the PassagePass app
Use the PassagePass app to pay for hourly parking at parking lots and garages with licence plate recognition.
Licence plate recognition is available at the Civic Centre parking garage. It will be available at more lots and garages as we phase out our existing monthly parking system.
Download the app:
If you have any questions, please send us an email or call 519-741-2200, ext. 7151.