FAQs

Getting started is easy!

Download the HotSpot app on your smartphone from the App Store or GooglePlay.

1. Open the app.
2. Press Get Started.
3. Enter your details:
   1. Select your country followed by your province or state. Next, select the city or location you will be parking in.
   2. Select what services you will be using HotSpot for and hit Next (This can be changed at any time and does not impact your ability to use other services.)
   3. Enter your email address and press Next.
   4. Choose a password using the guidelines displayed on screen.
   5. Review and check the box to accept the terms of service, hit Submit.
   6. Select a membership plan from the options provided by clicking ‘Select Plan’. If a premium membership is selected, it will prompt you to add your credit card details to process payment.
   7. Add your vehicle by doing the following:
      1. Click Add Vehicle.
      2. Enter your car’s details and press Add Vehicle.
      3. Verify that you entered your plate correctly and press Yes.

To learn how to park with HotSpot, watch this video: How to Park with HotSpot

Now you are ready to park with HotSpot!

Parking enforcement is based on plate numbers, so you need to add your vehicle to your account.

Some points to ponder before you start adding your vehicle:

• If you drive more than one vehicle, we recommend that you add all vehicles you might park with. For example, if you have two vehicles in your household and might drive the other vehicle, even on a random day, you’ll save time and possibly a ticket if you add both vehicles now.
• If you rent a car and park with it, either with your permit or street-side parking, we recommend that you add the rental vehicle’s plate.
• If you add more than one vehicle, you can make one of the vehicles the default vehicle.

Adding Your Vehicle on your HotSpot Mobile App:

1. Open the app and click on the icon in the upper left hand corner.
2. Press Manage My Vehicles.
3. Press Add Vehicle.
4. Enter your vehicle’s details.
5. Press Add Vehicle.

Adding Your Vehicle using the HotSpot Web Dashboard:

1. Open a browser window.
2. Go to htsp.ca and click Log in.
3. Click the Vehicles tab.
4. Enter the information and hit Save.

Enter your vehicle’s details in the right panel, and click Save Vehicle.

Our memberships are broken down into premium and basic:

• $30 Annual Membership (Premium) – BEST VALUE
• $3.00 Monthly (Premium)
• Park and Go (Basic)- no commitment option that adds a service charge per parking session ranging from 10-25 cents.
  • Available in select cities.
  • Some features are limited by city.

In the following municipalities, the memberships above will vary: Halifax Regional Municipality, The City of Barrie, and the City of Ottawa..

Are you a CAA member?

• Classic and Plus Members are eligible for a discounted annual subscription for $27/year.
• CAA Atlantic Premier Members are now eligible for a FREE* annual HotSpot Parking Transit Taxis subscription.

*Valid CAA Membership required. Premier benefit available to CAA Atlantic Members in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland & Labrador.

Premium members have more control and convenience when parking by:

• Having the ability to save money by cancelling parking sessions early and obtain refunds for any unused time.
• Access to real time parking maps to easily find available parking spaces and view related parking information. (Available in selected cities)
• Providing users with a parking extender feature that allows your parking session to be automatically extended to avoid a parking ticket if your plate is scanned within 30 minutes of expiry.
• Saving money by eliminating convenience fees on parking sessions.

If you are a new user, it will prompt you to select a membership plan as part of the registration process.

If already registered:

1. Press the hamburger icon.
2. Press Manage My Account.
3. Select My Membership Plan, the plans will be displayed on the following page for you to select from.

Your membership will be charged to the credit card associated with your account. Your next billing date and cost will be displayed on the next page, you can cancel your membership at any time to avoid a charge on your next billing date by clicking on ‘Cancel membership’.

We can be found in many Canadian cities, towns, airports and lots as well as some American cities. You will see HotSpot signs at lots that have partnered with us. All HotSpot Parking connected meters will have a HotSpot Parking sticker on the side of the meter.

Refunds are available only to Premium members however we do understand that mistakes happen, that is why we have implemented a 3 minute grace period for cancellation. Once a session is started, a 3:00 minute timer will appear on screen, if your session is cancelled within that time frame, you will be issued a full refund to your wallet.

No, the membership is used only for hourly parking, if you are using HotSpot for transit or permit services, no membership is required.

On the parking screen, under the city selection field there is a section that reads ‘This session will be charged to your’ with two options to select from, Wallet and Credit Card. If you want to use wallet funds to pay for your parking, make sure you select ‘Wallet’ as your method of payment.

The wallet is used primarily for hourly parking however you can also use wallet funds to pay for parking permits or make membership payments. To use the wallet, you will need to turn on the ‘Use wallet’ feature by selecting the icon on the upper left hand corner and clicking on App Settings from the drop down menu, there will be a ‘Use Wallet’ feature available to toggle on.

When a parking session cost is less than $1.00, our payment processor will not be able to charge a credit card directly for this transaction therefore it will need to be paid for using wallet funds.

Wallet funds cannot be used to purchase transit passes, this can only be done using a credit card directly.

1. Press the hamburger icon.
2. Press Manage My Account.
3. Press Add/Manage Funds.
4. Press Add Funds.
5. Choose a pre-set amount.
6. Press Add Funds.
7. Press Use This Card to use the credit card on your file.
8. If you want to use a different card, press Add Card and follow the instructions.

Press Yes and then Okay to confirm.

Yes, we accept VISA debit cards, we also accept prepaid credit cards.

1. Press the hamburger icon.
2. Press Manage My Account.
3. Press Add/Manage Funds.
4. To add a credit card, press Add Card and follow the instructions to add a card.
5. If you have more than one credit card, you can select Default for the card you want to use.

To remove a credit card, press Remove under the tile for the card you want removed.

Don’t worry! Parking paid with HotSpot won’t appear on the meters and the parking officers know this. If a parking officer is checking your vehicle and sees that the meter is flashing “0:00”, they will check your license plate to see if you’re a HotSpot user. To ensure that you don’t get a ticket, double check that your license plate on your HotSpot account doesn’t have any typos.

The total savings is an indicative total of how much you have saved since using the app, it is not an accessible pool of funds. Each time you refund a session, the unused time is refunded into your wallet, when you start a new parking session, these recycled funds are used to cover the cost.

In the HotSpot mobile app:

1. Press the hamburger icon.
2. Press Manage My Account.
3. Press History.
4. Press the transaction for which you want a receipt.
5. Press Email Receipt, and then Okay.

On the HotSpot website:

1. Log into your account at htsp.ca.
2. In the Transactions section of the Wallet tab, select the date range for transactions you want to access.
3. For each receipt you want to print, click the printer icon in the Email column.

The receipts are emailed to the email address that is associated with your account.

It’s easy! This video shows you how: Riding Transit with HotSpot

Using transit with HotSpot is easy, just follow these steps:

1. Select Transit from the bottom menu.
2. Select your city and Hit Purchase.
3. Select a bus pass/ticket type from the options provided.
4. Review the details of the selection on the next screen, hit Purchase to finalize. (Can only be charged to a credit card directly, the wallet cannot be used.)
5. Next, select a route by hitting Continue.
6. Click on the route by selecting the gear icon on the top of the page, once you have found your route, click on Select Route.
7. Once you are ready to board the bus, hit the Board Bus button.
8. Confirm this action by hitting Yes.
9. A screen will appear of an animated bus moving across a screen, that is the screen you show to your driver. This screen expires within 15 minutes of activation so it is suggested to hit the board bus button just before you are about to enter. 

HotSpot has designed a ticket saving system which allows paid HotSpot users the ability to automatically extend a previous parking session upon an officer scan of plate if their session has expired within the last 30 minutes. For example, if a session ends at 1:30 and the plate is scanned at 1:50, it will extend the session up to one hour from the time of expiry therefore it would be extended to 2:30.

• The ticket extender is a premium feature and is available only to paid HotSpot members, users get 2 saves monthly (resets on the 1st of every month.)
• Upon activation of this feature, you will be charged for the extended parking time. (which cannot be refunded)
• Users cannot add time to this extension.
• The extender cannot be applied if doing so will cause the session to exceed the max time for the spot.

The max time on metered parking is enforced by your city to keep traffic moving through busy downtown areas. Parking longer than the max time is considered to be meter feeding and is a violation of the Motor Vehicle Act. You can contact either HotSpot support or your city to dispute a ticket you feel was issued in error.

You can add multiple cars to your HotSpot account, but can only park one car at a time per each account. If you have more than one car on your account, ensure that the Parking screen on the mobile app shows the license plate for the car you are trying to park. If it is not correct, please change it. Parking enforcement is based on plate numbers.

First you need to add your ticket in the app.

1. Open the app.
2. Press the hamburger icon.
3. Press Resolve a Parking Ticket.
4. Press Add Ticket.
5. Take a picture of the ticket or choose an existing file.
6. Enter the ticket number.
7. Optional: Add comments. This is useful if you plan to dispute the ticket.
8. Press Submit Ticket. Your ticket is now listed on the Parking Tickets screen. At this point, you can proceed to pay the ticket or dispute it. If you want to dispute the ticket, don’t take any further action in the app. The ticket will be reviewed by HotSpot Support and then by the city parking authority. You will be notified of the resolution in approximately one to two weeks. If you are at fault for the ticket, proceed to pay the ticket.
9. Open the ticket.
10. Press Pay Ticket.

Enter the dollar amount of the ticket and click Okay.

If you are purchasing a permit for the first time, first you need a HotSpot account with a vehicle and a payment method.

Note: You don’t need a HotSpot membership to purchase permits and you can set payments to come directly from your credit card.

Purchasing for a Permit Using the HotSpot Mobile App:

1. Open up the app.
2. Press the hamburger icon.
3. Press Purchase a Permit.
4. Verify that your city is correct.
5. Press Select a Location, select a parking lot, and press Select a Location.
6. Verify that the plate is correct.
7. Press the permit listed under your plate number.
8. Read the information about the permit and the lot.
9. Optional. Press Auto Renew if you want to Automatically renew each month. If this option is not visible, automatic renewal is not available for this lot.
10. Press Purchase.

Paying for a Permit Using the HotSpot Web Dashboard

1. Open a browser window.
2. Go to htsp.ca and click Log in.
3. Click the Permits tab.
   You might see two permit panels: one for the current month and one for the next month. Ensure that you purchase for the correct month.
4. Select a city.
5. Select a location.
6. Select a lot.
7. Select a permit.
8. Verify that the plate is correct.
9. Optional. Select the Would you like this permit to auto renew checkbox if you want to Automatically renew each month. If this option is not visible, automatic renewal is not available for this lot.
10. Read the information about the permit and the lot.
11. Press Purchase.

When you purchased your permit, you chose to have it automatically renewed. Now you want to change that setting. No problem!

Note: Not all parking lots allow for automatic parking renewal. If auto-renewal is not available for your lot, the Auto Renew toggle is not shown on your permit details page.

How to Enable/Disable Automatic Permit Renewal Using the HotSpot Mobile App:

1. Open the app.
2. Press Permits on the bottom menu.
3. Select My Permits and click on your permit shown.
4. Turn the Auto Renew on/off using the toggle button.

How to Enable/Disable Automatic Permit Renewal Using the HotSpot Web Dashboard:

1. Open a browser window.
2. Go to htsp.ca and click Log In.
3. Click the Permits tab and select My Permits.
4. Under your active permit, select the Enable Auto-Renew or Cancel Auto-Renew accordingly using the red text in the bottom right hand corner of the current permit.

Parking permit enforcement is based on license plate number. It is important that the plate associated with the permit is accurate. If you rent a car or park a different vehicle, you will need to change the plate on your permit to avoid getting ticketed or towed.

Changing the Plate Number on my Permit Using the HotSpot Mobile App:

1. Open the app.
2. Press Permits on the bottom menu.
3. Press My Permits.
4. Select your permit.
5. Press Change Plate.
6. Select the new plate using the drop down menu provided.
7. Press Change Plate.

Changing the Plate Number on my Permit Using the HotSpot Web Dashboard:

1. Open a browser window.
2. Go to htsp.ca and click Log In.
3. Click the Permits tab and select My Permits.
4. On your active permit, click on the active plate. A drop down menu will appear of active plates on file, select the plate number you want to change to and verify the change has been completed.

If you plan to pay for parking with the HotSpot app, yes! Parking enforcement is based on your license plate. Enforcers check your plate to verify that you paid. If you are driving a rental or another vehicle, your plate won’t show up in their system as being paid and you will be ticketed.

You have a HotSpot account, but don’t remember your password. No need to worry! It’s easy to reset your password so that you can log in and purchase your parking permit.

Resetting Your Password on the HotSpot Mobile App:

If you use the HotSpot mobile app:

1. Open the app.
2. On the Login screen, press Forgot Your Password?
3. Enter your email address and click Next.

We will send you a link to reset your password! 

If you use the dashboard on the HotSpot website:

1. Open a browser window.
2. Go to htsp.ca.
3. Click Log in at the top right corner of the webpage.
4. Click Forgot Your Password.
5. Enter your email address and click Reset.

We will send you a link to reset your password!

The real time parking map allows users to easily locate available parking in their city based on selected criteria. Simply select the Find Available Parking button to display a live map of parking locations. By toggling on the Live Data icon, an easy to read color shaded map will be displayed to quickly identify vacancy levels for various parking locations. If you hover over a specific area, it will display additional details such as max hours, hourly rates and exact number of available spots. Once you have found your desired parking location, select the Pay button to auto-fill the correlated HotSpot ID into the meter number section of the HotSpot app, select your time and press Park to start your session.

This video shows you how this process works: Real Time Parking Map- How It Works

The real time parking map is considered to be a premium membership feature with the exception of the Municipality of Halifax in which this functionality is available at no additional cost.

This product operates by integrating parking maps for each location which requires linking each physical parking location in these maps to a corresponding HotSpot ID. HotSpot intends to expand this service to all locations, however this process takes time. We appreciate your patience while we work to create the infrastructure needed for this expansion.

1. Press the hamburger icon.
2. Press Manage My Account.
3. Press App Settings.
4. Press Delete Account.
5. Press Yes to confirm.