Noise is one of the classic irritants that drives neighbours crazy. While not a “pollutant” in the traditional sense of a “chemical” or ” substance”, noise is “emitted” into the natural environment and is regulated under environmental laws.
What is noise?
One of the central problems with noise is how to define it. The federal nor Ontario governments leave this to the municipalities, which struggle for clarity. For example, Guelph defines noise as “sound that is of such a volume or nature that it is likely to disturb the inhabitants of the City” and Toronto’s simply as “unwanted sound”. Generally, noise means a sound that does or may disturb the quiet, peace, enjoyment or comfort of people who are in the vicinity. Noise can come from a stationary source (e.g., industrial operations, fixed equipment, air conditioners, construction work), mobile sources (mainly transport-related, especially road traffic, but aircraft and trains can be significant sources of noise in some areas; your neighbour’s chainsaw) and may be generated by people and animals (e.g., shouting, music, parties, barking dogs). Sometimes all it takes is the tinkling of a neighbour’s wind chime to drive somebody nuts.
Components of sound
Sound has two basic characteristics, frequency (pitch, measured in wave cycles per second, or hertz) and intensity (loudness, measured by sound pressure level, in a logarithmic scale called decibels). Most of us can hear sounds within a frequency range of 20-20,000 Hz, and we vary in our tolerance of loud sounds: zero dB represents the (approximate) threshold of normal hearing. Generally, sounds of up to 60dB are quiet (e.g., normal conversation, singing birds), while 100 dB is extremely loud (e.g., powered lawnmower or tractor, inside of subway train); 120 dB is uncomfortably loud (e.g., amplified rock music, jackhammer) and the threshold for human ear pain is 140 dB (e.g., jet plane at takeoff, shotgun blast).
Does noise impact health?
Health Canada, in its 1998 report The Health and Environment Handbook for Health Professionals: Health and Environment, identifies environmental noise as an emerging health concern. Noise can have impact on health: hearing loss, stress-related effects like sleep disturbances, decreased school or job performance. As well, the report by Toronto’s Medical Officer of Health, Health Effects of Noise (2000) indicates that elevated blood pressure and physiological reactions to noise may possibly lead to increased cardiovascular disease.
How is noise regulated?
Federal government
The federal government sets standards for noise emission labelling and maximum sound emissions for consumer products (e.g., limits for noisy toys, under the Hazardous Products Act), as well as for equipment and vehicles. For example, the Motor Vehicle Safety Act & regulations mandate maximum exterior sound levels for vehicles, as well as interior sound levels for certain large trucks and buses.
The Canada Labour Code regulates occupational noise in federally regulated workplaces. Every employer must ensure that levels of sound and vibration are in accordance with prescribed standards. For example, the Aviation Occupational Safety and Health Regulations and the Oil and Gas Occupational Safety and Health Regulations under the Code set maximum sound levels to which workers can be exposed during a 24-hour period.
Health Canada’s Acoustics Division promotes reduction of the health effects of noise exposure and provides and implements standards to protect against occupational and environmental noise, among other things. As well, Health Canada is required to advise on the health effects of environmental noise to environmental assessments involving other federal departments. For example, in 1989, Health Canada commented on the health aspects of noise that would be associated with the construction of additional runways at Toronto’s Pearson Airport.
Health Canada spearheaded development of the (voluntary) Canadian Standards Association’s standard Noise Emission Declarations for Machinery. These declarations appear in instructions, technical sales literature and labels and also assist employers in decisions to purchase quieter machines, implement noise control plans and comply with occupational and environmental noise regulations.
Provincial laws
The provinces establish noise control guidelines for land use planning, and also authorize municipalities to create and implement municipal plans and noise-control by-laws. Occupational noise exposure thresholds are also set by provincial occupational health and safety laws and regulations. The provinces are also responsible for controlling the noise levels for many products, equipment and vehicles while in operation, through various environmental and other statutes. For example, unnecessary noise from a bell, horn or signalling device is prohibited under Ontario’s Highway Traffic Act.
Ontario’s Environmental Protection Act (EPA) prohibits the discharge of a contaminant into the natural environment, if the discharge causes or may cause an adverse effect. Under the EPA, “discharge” includes emitting something. A “contaminant” can mean sound and an “adverse effect” includes harm or material discomfort (to a person), adverse health effect and loss of enjoyment of normal use of property.
Not all noise is prohibited; for example, facilities that create noise may obtain permits called “certificates of approval” from the Ministry of the Environment (MOE) that permit them to emit noise (e.g., through their operations, machinery, etc) up to a certain threshold. There are extensive MOE guidelines on applying for noise approvals, which require, at a minimum, that the proponent assess and document the impacts of all noise emissions from a facility on sensitive locations outside their premises.
Some permits require that noise levels be controlled. For example, under the Licences to Sell Liquor Regulation to Ontario’s Liquor Licence Act, anyone who holds a licence to sell liquor in outdoor premises may not permit noise from entertainment or from the sale and service of liquor to disturb nearby residents. A recent case illustrates how politically charged these issues may be. From 1996 to 2006, a business called Docks on Cherry operated under a liquor licence at the Toronto waterfront. Due to numerous complaints from neighbours over the years, the City opposed renewal and expansion of the licence. The Alcohol & Gaming Commission of Ontario held a 26-day hearing during which the City gave evidence of repeated violations of the noise by-law and several charges under that by-law. The AGCO revoked the licence. Although this was not the end of the matter (the Divisional Court set aside the decision, and the AGCO and City sought leave to appeal to the Court of Appeal), the issue became moot as another entity purchased the site, and managed come to an agreement with the neighbours to have its liquor licence approved. In granting the licence in 2008, the AGCO added several conditions to the licence, including that no sound emanating from the premises be audible (i.e., to the human hear of any person, unassisted by mechanical or other means) to the nearby community at any time; and that a monitor be assigned to roam the community and report any sound audible immediately, and to respond to complaints. As well, other security and testing procedures were mandated. (See in Re Polson Pier Entertainment Inc.)
Municipalities
Ontario’s Municipal Act, 2001 gives municipalities the power to prohibit and regulate with respect to noise. Similar provisions exist in other provinces. As well, municipalities control land use management, zoning, traffic management and road noise barrier programs. Municipal public health boards, established under Ontario’s Health Protection & Promotion Act (HPPA), are required under the 2008 Ontario Public Health Standards (and related Protocols) to identify health hazards and take action. The term “health hazard” is defined broadly in the HPPA as a condition of a premises; a substance, thing, plant or animal other than human, or as solid, liquid, gas or combination that has or is likely to have an adverse effect on human health. While it is not clear whether “noise” would be included as such a hazard, public health units typically provide health programs that address hearing issues.
Municipal noise by-laws typically include prohibitions on certain types of noise (e.g., operating loud machinery/tools, shouting, loud music, barking, honking) at specified times (e.g., after 11 p.m. or all the time) in prohibited areas (e.g., residential). They typically contain both objective and subjective criteria. Objective criteria include, for example, prohibiting continuous (or non-continuous) sound that exceeds a certain sound meter rating, or exceeds background noise by a certain amount. As well, limitations may be set for certain sound emissions (e.g., from residential air conditioners). However, it is often a judgment call as to whether someone has infringed a noise by-law where the criteria to consider are whether the sound was “likely to disturb” neighbours (or a religious ceremony in a place of worship), or “clearly audible” to all or most?
By-laws are sometimes challenged in courts as overly vague or prohibitive, or as infringing rights of the noise-maker under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. For example, in 2005, the Supreme Court of Canada upheld the right of municipalities to regulate environmental nuisances, in Montreal (Ville) v. 2952-1366 Quebec Inc. The City had charged a nightclub with breaching its noise by- law, by using loudspeakers to broadcast its shows into the street. Two lower courts quashed the bylaw, saying it infringed the club’s freedom of expression. The Supreme Court agreed that the street is a public place where free expression is protected, and the amplified soundtrack was indeed a protected form of expression. However, the Court found that the by-law was justified: there is a pressing and substantial need to control noise pollution, and the by-law went no farther than necessary. City officials had made a reasonable effort to identify and control only those noises that interfered with people’s peaceful enjoyment of the city.
Some municipalities have comprehensive noise control guidelines. For example, Ottawa’s Environmental Noise Control Guidelines (2006), based mainly on MOE policies and guidelines, implement the noise policies in the City’s Official Plan.
Some challenges in regulating noise
The subjective criteria used in noise by-laws and guidelines make it difficult for triers-of-fact to make objective decisions. The standard may vary from neighbourhood to neighbourhood in a community. For example noise may be defined as sound that is “clearly audible” under certain circumstances, or “of such a volume or nature that it is likely to disturb”; or “can easily be heard by an individual who is not on the same premises”. The “high annoyance”, which is usually measured via community surveys, is widely used to measure the well-being of residents.
One gap in federal laws is that products are not monitored after they are sold, when they might deteriorate and exceed sound thresholds required when they were manufactured.
As sound levels, frequency and quality vary with time, it is difficult to determine what the impact of sound will be at the planning stages of any project. As well, the cumulative impact of several noise sources may be difficult to assess. Experts are now able to project sound impacts through sophisticated computer modelling programs, but caution that ongoing noise monitoring is critical.
Conclusion
It’s a no-brainer that noise should be controlled; noise control efforts should be directed to reducing noise at its source, such as during the design stages of a new facility or equipment.
Minimizing noise not only helps to reduce adverse health effects to exposed workers, it also greatly reduces annoyance in the workplace and community
Resources
Believe it or not, Health Canada’s The Health and Environment Handbook for Health Professionals: Health and Environment is hard to find – we located a copy posted on the WHO’s Panamerican Health Organization site, Virtual library of sustainable development and environmental health, at http://www.bvsde.paho.org/muwww/fulltext/saneam/health/Chapter3.pdf
Ottawa Noise Control Guidelines
http://www.ottawa.ca/residents/planning/design_plan_guidelines/completed/noise_ctl/index_en.html
The Canadian Hearing Society’s October 2008 Position Paper on Noise Pollution at
Guelph by-law
http://guelph.ca/uploads/PDF/By-laws/noise.pdf
Vancouver by-law
http://vancouver.ca/bylaws/6555c.PDF
Toronto’s by-law
http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/bylaws/2002/law0476.pdf
Health Canada
http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/ewh-semt/noise-bruit/index-eng.php
Noise control & impact assessment at Health Canada
Health Canada Acoustics Division
http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/ahc-asc/branch-dirgen/hecs-dgsesc/psp-psp/ccrpb-bpcrpcc_accoust-eng.php
Health Canada’s presentation concerning the Pearson airport runway addition
http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/ewh-semt/noise-bruit/aircraf-avion/airport-pearson-aeroport-eng.php
Ontario Public Health Standards (2008)
Identification, Investigation and Management of Health Hazards Protocol
Polson Pier Liquor application
http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2007/te/bgrd/backgroundfile-9093.pdf
{ 30 comments… read them below or add one }
[...] Dianne Saxe has written a short blog entry highlighting some of the issues in regulating noise through environmental law statutes and municipal by-laws [...]
is there such standard level or time allotment for music bands to practice in a residential area, need your help to know the noise bylaws on residential areas regarding this matter. location is red deer, canada
Dear Mr. Braga,Thank you for your query. Unfortunately, we cannot give legal advice through the blog, or to non-clients. The clerk of your municipality should be able to give you a copy of the local noise bylaw; many municipalities post these bylaws on their website.Many thanks and best wishesDianne Saxe
I live in River Oaks,Oakville,ontario near 6th line and dundas st. The noise is getting worse everyday from the road traffic. They are expanding this highway by two more lanes making it a six lane highway. I know my health is suffering from the stress of the noise both inside and out. I cannot sit outside in my backyard without it sounding like an airport, no exaggeration. Inside i have to have music on to drown out the engine noise. The city proposes to plant more trees on the berm which will be useless. Does anyone know what I can do about this legally???
Maggie
I hear you and have been sending complaints to Jeff Reid and the mayor's office for the past three years. They have promised a sound absorbing wall then recanted and said they are starting a Rapid bus transit system , which will just make the noise even worse. I don't know why more people are not bothered by this but am so upset that i cannot sit outsided front or back to enjoy a coffee or conversation with a neighbor.
it takes one hour a week to cut grass & etc. allowing 2 hours a day for this for a given week in enuf
I'd like to monitor some nearby noise. Does anyone know where to rent the equipment in Ontario?
I have a gun club that expanded in Kazabazua Quebec, They happened to expand by putting a handgun range 2oo feet away from my property ,which is beside a once peacefull lake, now they are about to put a skeet shooting range beside that, the handgun range is for the surete de quebec, also to shoot there,..
so when I phone about the noise they say its legal, I wrote to the environment minister, the municipality , the chief firearms officer, and many others,,,but that didnt help either.
I contacted a lawyer and I am at 2 thousand dollars now and the lawyer wants to take it to court but im running out of money…The funny thing is this land that its on was once called Danford lake farms limited…I didnt think you could put something like this on farmland….I guess our system is a little crooked…..I do not trust this government anymore….we as taxpayers dont have any rights anymore….do we???. oh ya my land is 5 acres on waterfront that is now useless to me or anyone else……wow
Hi Ken,
I hope by now you have managed to get your situation under control. My parents are over near Quyon where on weekends, the three gravel pits are used as unofficial shooting ranges. The municipality and the pit owners are reluctant to get involved and again, the cops can't do anything because the shooters are using registered firearms. I am hoping that you have some advice that you can share with me. Thanks, Cindy
Motorcycle noise in Edmonton.AB has been a growing concern so our city council tells us. I have talked to hundred and hundreds of people on this matter and have only heard one resident complain for two months I've asked everyone in my path and only one person complained. Now city council with only one month warning to public comes to the table with a new Bylaw voted by only some of the council members that showed to read this bylaw and poof there it is Motorcycle noise bylaw first fine $250.00 second fine $1000.00 and up to $10000.00 for third infraction unfortunatly Harley Davidson motorcycles do not meet our citys set noise infraction so what do Harley owners do? This is discrimination against a minority group or freedom to express act?
What area of law would this fall into?
I have a neighbour that has 30 windchimes on her house and is now putting them up along the property line just to annoy me. What can be done?
Linda,
Unfortunately, we cannot give legal advice through the website.
Dianne
It's a long shot! Do you know where to find the construction hours and noise bylaws online for Plateau Mont-Royal in Montreal? I've tried the city web site without luck…
Hi, Joanna. Most municipalities post frequently used bylaws on their website, or you can call the clerk\’s office.
Good luck.
Where can I find information in regards to a neighbour that runs a sining studio form his condo that we can hear in our suites.
Dear Jennifer,
You could check the condo bylaws and the municipal noise bylaw for information. You could also check the Ministry of the Environment website.
Best wishes
Dianne Saxe
My neighbors play drums and it's disturbing me. It is almost daily. I checked the bylaws of my City (24/7 noise bylaw) and have complained but it still continues. I have to go to Court to get this to stop. There should be easier ways than going to court to deal with noise difficulties. Somebody should just witness the noise and end this.
Our residential street is across a field from our small town fairgrounds. The fairground committee had now started renting the grounds out to an atv racing club. They are packed in there on every long weekend. Tracks have been built and now the municipality is trying to rezone it from agricultural so they can keep having these races more frequently. We cannot sit on our deck and talk when these races are on. We cannot have our windows open. They seem to obey the times to shut it down but it is a major noise nuisance and quite stressful to residents. Some of them work shift work. We have given a petition to council but there are a lot of people in the area that want the races because of increased business to their stores. Needless to say, they do not live near this. I have been told that the noise from this track is heard over five miles away so you can imagine how bad this is for us. We are going to the next coucil meeting on Sept 12. Any suggestions on what we should arm ourselves with (paper wise of course) would be appreciated.
Karen, this is a common problem.
You can ask the medical officer of health and your local doctors for support, if health is being affected. There are some good references to research on noise and health in the Erickson (Kent Breeze) decision of the Environmental Review Tribunal- see my blog post from July. You can also sue the fairground operators for nuisance, if the noise is unreasonable – there is an excellent precedent. We'll be glad to help you and your neighbours with this if you wish.
Best wishes
Dianne
I live in the country. A neighboiur moved in with 18 huskies. They all howl and sing at 5:30 am for an hour and at 5:00 pm for a hour. I am sick from getting up at 5:30 every morning.
What can i do?
Peter, I understand your frustration- we have noisy neighbours ourselves. I assume you have talked with your neighbours about the issue. You could check whether your municipality has a noise bylaw that is being breached, and whether they will enforce it. You can also sue your neighbours for nuisance, if the noise is unreasonable.
Best wishes
Dianne
My name is Shu Fang from Montreal. I bought a condo unit last year. The unit is in the semi-basement, but the electrical room having four transformers inside is just between the master bedroom and the living room and the transformers make a lot of noise, it is really frustrating. Could you please tell what regulations govern the the constant noise level in the bedroom? What do you suggest to us to resolve this noise problem? Thanks.
Hi, Shu Fang,
You could discuss the issue with your condo board. If they won\’t help, I suggest you consult an experienced noise consultant in Montreal. Best wishes
high efficiency furnace venting into condo common property destroys the peace and tranquility of the neighbors front yard and is an infraction of the bylaws and is also a possible safety hazard as it can be directed into the fresh air intakes. will a demand letter suffice the condo board to have the furnace vented out of the roof chimney?
My neighbours are renovating and for 6 weeks now, there is drilling and hammering directly above our unit. We cannot work or rest when they do this and we never know when it will be noisy. In the next 2-3 weeks, the contractor staff will run compressors and use saws. I have asked the contractor and my condo manager to be notified when and for how long there will be drilling so I can plan to leave the unit. It seemed to me a reasonable request but it did not happen. I am horrified at the prospect of compressors and saws in the future. The contractor says our manager assured him there are no noise restrictions in the building; they can work from 8 am to 6 pm. The condo manager treats me as if I am the nuisance. Are these normal by-laws? Can I do anything? Thanks.
Sorry, we don\’t provide legal advice for individual problems over the Internet, or to non-clients.
i thought this was a web-blog for someone with intuitive and legal qualifications to help out people with major [noise] problems. It doesn’t seem like it is when the only person who can help simply says “…we don’t provide…advice…over the internet…”. Then what is this blog’s purpose?– to become another entity where people discover they can’t be helped here either? far too many municipalities are very lax on building allotment, noise and pollution bylaw enforcement as it isn’t popular with their photo-op agenda. They feel more comfortable getting a front page pic before the building site of yet another one of so many endless oversized condo buildings whilst being supported by those same developers who pay their election campaigns.
I just moved into my new condo. The unit next to me has been rented out. He had a party the other night and the music was very loud. Not only did I have to complain about the noise but smell that was linguring into my condo. They were smoking weed! What are my rights?
Is there anything that can be done regarding the noise from elevators in a condo building ? The residences that are directly behind the elevator shafts, i.e., the units surround the elevator shaft ? These elevators make weird grinding noises and distinctive clunking noises every time the elevator cabs stop, 24 hours a day.
I have lived in my home for almost a decade but last year some trash moved in and they party day in, day out. The noise has affected my physical health. I have reported the incident to the property managers, they have issued a letter, but the nuisance has increased with more frequent partying very late into the morning. Slamming doors, gates, yelling, screaming, impact noises, what can be done? move? wear earplugs? wearing earplugs will not stop vibration. Why are there no consequences for such anti-social behavior? Why can’t trash like this be evicted for creating a disturbance that affects an entire block?
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