Mount Allison is implementing paid parking on its campus starting in January 2026. The move comes just as the university prepares to pave the Lansdowne Field in downtown Sackville and convert it to a 154-space parking lot.
The new paid parking system will be enforced 24/7, says the university, including weekends, and means only permit holders will be allowed to park in university lots.
In an email to students, staff and faculty on Thursday, administrative vice president Robert Inglis said that the new paid parking system will help manage parking demand on campus, by promoting carpooling or alternative transportation.
Inglis said demand for parking has been growing due to an increasing number of commuters, and the new policy is intended to encourage use of low to no-cost alternative options like walking, biking, or carpooling.
Pricing won’t be available until August this year, but the university has set up a web page to share further information at mta.ca/parking, and has outlined types of permits that will be available:
| Permit type | What it offers |
|---|---|
| General parking | Parking available daily. Options include annual, monthly, or pay-per-use |
| Overnight parking | General parking with overnight access in overnight parking lots. |
| Carpooling parking | A parking permit shared among a group of individuals. |
| Reserved parking | Access to park in reserved parking spaces. |
Mount Allison says the new permit parking system “will be enforced 24/7, including weekends, to ensure that parking spaces are always available for those with valid permits or payments.” The school says details on how enforcement and violations will be handled will be released with a new Parking Policy for the university in December 2025.
Mount Allison faculty and staff will be asked to register their vehicles with the new system starting in May, and students starting in August. Inglis says registration in 2025 will allow users to get familiar with the new system before paid parking comes into effect in January. Advanced registration will also “allow Security to better monitor parking lots, improving overall safety and addressing any parking issues when possible.”
The new system will not necessarily guarantee available parking spots for permit holders. “As is done at other Universities, more parking permits than parking spots may be sold because a single spot is typically used by 3-4 cars in one day,” according to the university website. Reserved parking permits will be available to guarantee spots on campus.
The school says that non-university affiliated community members and other campus visitors will also be able to purchase parking permits once the new system in activated.
A new Mount Allison parking lot on the former Lansdowne Field in downtown Sackville is slated for construction in the coming weeks, and should be ready by fall. The lot is part of a five year, $95 million project to renovate the Ralph Pickard Bell library, and at the same time, build a parking lot and multisport complex on Lansdowne Street.
