The Canadian Automotive Museum (CAM) yesterday said it had heard the City of Oshawa fine was being allowed to lapse, but when a top not-for-profit’s official called they were told it was not so. Instead, CAM received two more fines.
“We recently became aware of public statements indicating that the fines against the museum were no longer being pursued. Because this was important information, our executive director contacted [Oshawa] city staff directly to clarify the situation. We were advised that the fines have not been removed,” said the statement.
“We subsequently received two additional fines by mail today [Wednesday October 7], bringing the museum’s total to $2,750,” said CAM.
It said the fines are all relating to City of Oshawa By-law 65-2009, Section 3.1 – Loitering/Nuisance.
A Broader Community Challenge
CAM said withdrawal of the fines would be welcome, but the underlying issue would remain.
“Our concern has never been simply about the dollar value of the fines. It is about the growing amount of staff time and limited charitable resources being spent managing recurring activity around our property, and about whether individual property owners should be expected to address a broader community challenge on their own.
“We want to work with the city and other stakeholders on a solution that actually improves downtown,” it said.
Even before receiving any of these fines, CAM had written to the city requesting the opportunity to address council and discuss the challenges businesses in the area have been experiencing.
It asked for practical improvements around the museum, including:
- More proactive security and By-law support
- Improved lighting and cameras
- Better access control
- Improvements to the museum’s parking area to make it a more welcoming and usable space
- Better coordination between the city, by-law, police and other relevant agencies
- A broader conversation involving the Region, social-service organizations, businesses, cultural organizations and other community stakeholders.
“We don’t believe this is an either/or situation. The museum has a responsibility to manage its own property, and we are doing that. But the broader challenges affecting downtown require a coordinated response.
Steps Taken by CAM
The Canadian Automotive Museum said it has invested in:
- Security cameras
- Improved exterior lighting
- Signage
- Increased staff monitoring of the property
- Staff regularly going outside to manage access
- Asking people to leave when necessary
- Regular calls to Durham Regional Police Service and by-law when issues arise
- Providing security footage to police and city staff when relevant
- Established procedures for staff to follow when incidents occur
“We will continue to take responsibility for what happens on our property. However, there is a significant difference between taking reasonable measures to secure a property and having the financial capacity to provide 24/7 private security. As a small independent charity, we simply do not have the operating budget to do that, nor would that solve the larger challenges at play,” the statement pointed out.
When Did This Start?
The issues CAM said it is experiencing are not new. “We have been documenting and raising concerns with municipal and regional partners since 2024.”
These concerns have included recurring vandalism, trespassing, littering, property damage, unauthorized use of our property and parking areas, open drug use and other disruptive activity. We have also experienced significant property damage, including broken windows and copper theft from our air-conditioning system, said the statement.
In the summer of 2025, CAM received a municipal by-law order relating to nuisance activity on the property. “We communicated with by-law about the steps we were taking and the fact that, as a small charitable organization, private security around the clock was not financially realistic for us.”
What Funding Does CAM Receive
The statement said there is a misconception that the Canadian Automotive Museum is a municipally or federally operated museum with government funding that could be redirected to pay for security.
CAM is an independent not-for-profit charity. Our day-to-day operations are primarily funded through admissions, membership, gift shop sales, and donations.
The museum receives $0.25 per capita in capital funding annually from the City of Oshawa and a maximum of $1,545 annually in operating funding through the Province of Ontario’s Heritage Organization Development Grant (HODG). It also applies for government grants, but these are generally for specific projects and cannot simply be redirected to ongoing security costs.
Downtown Is Home To CAM
We want to remain in downtown Oshawa, said the statement while pointing out that CAM has been part of downtown Oshawa for more than 60 years. “We own our heritage building, our collection includes more than 100 historic vehicles, and our museum welcomes approximately 15,000–20,000 visitors each year.”
Relocating would be an enormous undertaking, both financially and logistically. More importantly, moving the museum would not address the underlying challenges affecting downtown, the statement emphasized adding that “relocating the problem is not the same as solving it”.
This isn’t about assigning blaming or asking that challenges simply be moved somewhere else. It is about recognizing that no one organization can solve these issues alone.
We believe downtown deserves a coordinated, community-wide response, and we are ready to play our part.