The City of Ottawa bought Fleximodo IoT Parking Sensor Standard units in June 2025 and mounted them on the road surface rather than drilling them in. The sensors report occupancy over NB-IoT on a Canadian mobile network. It is Fleximodo's first deployment in Canada, and a direct purchase by the city rather than through a reseller.
At a glance
| Location | Ottawa, Ontario, Canada |
| Sector | Municipal on-street and public parking |
| Products | IoT Parking Sensor Standard with On-Surface Adaptor |
| Connectivity | NB-IoT on a Canadian network |
| Scale | [CONFIRM: number of sensors] |
Why on-surface mounting?
Surface mounting lets the city place sensors without cutting into the pavement. The On-Surface Adaptor holds a standard sensor in a low housing fixed to the top of the existing surface. There is no core drilling, no resin fill and no need to wait for a construction window, which in Ottawa is limited by frozen ground for much of the year.
It also keeps the layout flexible. If the city wants to move sensors to a different street or car park after reviewing the data, the adaptors can be removed and refitted elsewhere. Detection works the same way as in the in-ground version: a magnetometer combined with radar, with the 99.96% accuracy Fleximodo quotes for the Standard sensor. See the Sensor Standard product page for specifications.
Why NB-IoT on a local network?
NB-IoT uses existing cellular towers, so the city does not need to install gateways. Using a Canadian network keeps the connection local, and avoids relying on international roaming.
Why the cold matters
Ottawa is a harsh test for any outdoor sensor. Winters bring long periods below -20 °C, snow cover and repeated freeze-thaw cycles; summers bring surface heat. The Sensor Standard is rated from -40 °C to +85 °C and has IP68 and IK10 ratings. Magnetometers drift as temperature changes, so the firmware runs automatic temperature compensation, adjusting the sensor's baseline so a cold night does not look like a car leaving.
With live bay data the city can:
- see occupancy per space and per street in near real time
- measure turnover and dwell time before changing time limits or tariffs
- feed availability into apps or guidance signage
For another public-sector deployment with on-surface NB-IoT sensors, see Dublin. A US deployment is described in the Suwanee case study. Cities planning a wider rollout can read more on municipal smart parking.