Calgary has a "ParkPlus" system. When you park on the street or in a parking lot, there are 4-digit lot numbers in each non-free parking zone. These zone numbers are coloured based on priority, which affects the pricing. You can go to the electronic parking machines situated every 100 metres or so, and enter your licence place number and zone number. You do not need to put the receipt on your dashboard - a car with cameras will drive by and automatically take pictures of each car's licence plate, and match it with their database of paid users.
Alternatively, you can register your car's licence plate with ParkPlus, Calgary's online parking system, by going to the ParkPlus website and creating an account for yourself. Then you can fill in a balance with ParkPlus and whenever you park, you call 403-537-PARK (7275) and activate your session in that zone, and it will charge your balance automatically.
In the unfortunate event that your car has been towed, there is one impound lot in the city: 400 - 39 Avenue SE, which is just off of MacLeod Trail and a short distance from 39th Avenue C-Train station (thankfully!).
The hours of the impound lot are:
Check the Impound Lot Vehicle Search page to see if your vehicle has been impounded or call the impound lot at (403) 537-7111.