Is it legal to wash a car on a city street?

Globe and Mail

11-05-2025

A lot of drivers in cities like Toronto and Vancouver don't have driveways. Are they legally allowed to wash their cars on the street? What about maintenance like an oil or tire change? – Jason, Toronto
If you're trying to wash your car on the street in Toronto, keep your mind on the gutter.
The city bans letting anything other than rainwater or melted snow get into a storm sewer.
That's to prevent contaminated water – 'such as run off from car washing, which can contain toxic chemicals, heavy metals, oil and grease' – from ending up in creeks, rivers and Lake Ontario, Krystal Carter, City of Toronto spokeswoman, said in an e-mail.
To avoid an up to $50,000 fine, consider using a cloth or sponge and a bucket.
'The wastewater can be contained in the bucket and disposed of in a sink or toilet,' Carter said.
Unlike storm drains, the drains in your home go into the sanitary sewer system, which ends up at a treatment plant.
That rule applies if you have a driveway, too: you still can't let dirty, soapy water flow into the storm sewer. But there are ways around that, she said.
'For example, [you could wash] cars on a permeable surface such as gravel that allows the wastewater to be absorbed before it reaches the storm sewer,' she said.
Or, you could just go to a car wash. The dirty water at a car wash ends up in the sanitary sewer system, Carter said.
Street sense?
There's also another Toronto bylaw that could dampen your plans to wash your car on the street.
Chapter 73 of the city's Municipal Code bans letting water flow across sidewalks and streets. It also bans obstructing sidewalks and streets.
'Washing a car on the street could violate these regulations if it involves a hose running across [the sidewalk] or water flowing onto the sidewalk or roadway,' Carter said.
If you break that bylaw, you could be hit with a $240 fine.
However, Toronto didn't charge anyone under either bylaw for washing their car on the street last year.
The rules vary by city. Vancouver, Calgary and Halifax, for example, generally ban soapy water from storm drains.
While Vancouver said it bans washing cars on the street to prevent pollution, a spokeswoman said washing cars in driveways is 'generally not considered an issue.' It didn't issue any tickets last year.
Vancouver also recommends car washes because it said they recirculate their water and 'typically use seven times less water' than washing your car at home.
Montreal said you can wash your car on the street as long as you're using a bucket or a garden hose with an automatic shut-off so you're not wasting water.
In Winnipeg, you can wash your personal car on the street, but not a commercial vehicle.
No foul?
In Toronto, those same bylaws also limit DIY car repairs on the street. For example, they say you can't let oil or antifreeze 'foul' the street or sidewalk or get into the storm sewer. You also can't interfere with street or sidewalk traffic.
As long as you're not breaking the rules, you can do some maintenance, Carter said.
The rules vary in other cities. We checked with a few cities and most said they didn't specifically ban repairs or maintenance on the street, as long as oil or other fluids aren't spilled.
Winnipeg was an exception. It bans all non-emergency repairs on the street.
Have a driving question? Send it to [e-mail] and put 'Driving Concerns' in your subject line. Emails without the correct subject line may not be answered. Canada's a big place, so let us know where you are so we can find the answer for your city and province.