The abuse of designated handicapped parking spaces is on the rise but the enforcement of it isn't, a CTV News investigation has revealed.

Our cameras captured many people breaking the law. While some people said they were just using the space to wait for a friend, others admitted they were using the parking pass of a handicapped relative.

CTV investigative reporters tested how rigorous handicapped enforcement is by parking a car without the disabled pass in three different locations, making sure not to take the last spot.

At each location, the car was in the disabled space for more than an hour without any repercussions.

Advocates are not surprised.

While municipalities require property owners to provide a certain number of disabled spaces, after that it's up to the private owners to provide enforcement.

"It's really tokenism if it's not enforced," said Jane Dyson of the B.C. Coalition of People with Disabilities.

There are more than 100,000 people in the province with disabled passes, a number that is set to increase with our aging Baby Boomers.

Unfortunately, the agency that issues the passes has no power to enforce their use.

"We have no access to any other systems, including the licence plate database from ICBC," said Emese Szucs, the manager of accessibility programs for the Social Planning and Research Council of B.C. "We can't identify people who are doing so."

SPARC said it receives up to 15 complaints a day about the people who use disabled parking spots – a marked increase in the past two years.

CTV News contacted the three companies that failed our parking enforcement test.

While they said they do ticket and tow violators, none would go on camera. The companies said they would be talking to their security team about the issues CTV raised.

The city of Richmond is investigating the parking concerns in their city and could be taking action.

"There's a whole variety of actions possible that range everywhere from education and awareness to enforcement. And the business owners should be stepping up to make sure that doesn't happen," said city spokesperson Ted Townsend.

In the meantime, people with disabilities want to remind the public that a handicapped spot can be a rare and precious commodity.

"It is a great deal of trouble if you're in a wheelchair and you can't find a parking spot," said wheelchair user Bernie Tague.

With a report from CTV British Columbia's Mi-Jung Lee