ICBC to replace all 140 intersection cameras with updated technology

ICBC to replace all 140 intersection cameras with updated technology

Published 4:53 pm Thursday, September 10, 2026

The 140 aging intersection cameras across B.C. are set for replacement.

The Ministry of the Attorney General announced Thursday (Sept. 10) that the intersection cameras at some of B.C.’s highest-risk intersections will be getting the upgraded technology.

ICBC has selected Jenoptik Canada through a competitive procurement to supply and install the new cameras and to maintain them for as long as 10 years, the ministry said. The cost comes in at $67 million over the life of the contract.

With the cameras coming to the end of their working life, the new technology will have higher resolution. The ministry added the cameras will also have similar enforcement and data capabilities as the previous cameras.

The cameras are set to be replaced in phases. The existing cameras will remain operational while new ones are installed.

About 90 locations will require “minor” road or sidewalk work to install new poles and wiring. That’s expected to take two weeks at each site, the ministry says.

The program has been in operation since 1999.

Intersections were selected through data analysis of the high-risk intersections throughout B.C., “to find where red-light running and speeding cause the most serious crashes.”

The cameras record drivers who run red lights. The government says that in the past five years, red-light infractions have decreased by 13 per cent and “repeat red-light offenders” have declined by 29 per cent.

In 2019, 35 of the 140 cameras were upgraded to include technology to record drivers who speed. The government says that in the past three years the number of drivers going over the speed limit by more than 25 km/h has decreased by 52 per cent.

RoadSafetyBC, according to the ministry, has reported that fewer drivers are running red lights at all 140 camera locations and the cameras have helped reduce serious crashes, including side-impact, head-on and pedestrian crashes.

Traffic offences and penalties will not change with the new cameras, the ministry said. The province will have to update its regulations under the Motor Vehicle Act to allow the new camera model to be used in B.C.