Members from a grassroots campaign are calling on Toronto city officials to review and revive the current noise bylaw at its upcoming committee meeting.
No More Noise Toronto (NMNT) was founded by Ingrid Buday and includes a group of people who are advocating for reduced noise volumes in the city.
Buday is actively using her social media platforms to spread awareness about the issue prior to the upcoming noise bylaw review by city staff in January.
Buday says the group’s biggest concerns are with excessive noise made by vehicles.
“From the data we have collected and what I see from comments online the modified vehicles and motorbikes seem to be the biggest concerns. After that is sirens, construction, amplified sound and a selection of others,” she told Now Toronto.
NMNT’s website allows people to log their own noise reports to identify and provide data of where the source of the noise is coming from.
“What makes us different is that we are taking a data centered approach, by providing a way for people to log “Not 311” Noise Reports and have those results available publicly and also by taking sound level measurements from people’s homes. This way it’s not just an emotional argument, we are presenting objective data,” Buday said.
According to their website, 8,827 noise reports have been submitted since 2022, as of Dec. 26.
A City of Toronto spokesperson told Now Toronto, “In 2023, the City conducted a review of the implementation of the bylaw amendments made in 2019 to examine the successes and outstanding challenges related to the Noise Bylaw.”
The review assessed the amendments made in 2019 and considered further refinements to the bylaw including:
- Assessing the effectiveness of the current decibel limits and enforcement approach for amplified sound
- Enhancing the City’s response to excessive vehicle noise
- Strengthening noise enforcement and strategies for the proactive mitigation of noise issues
We asked Buday how the city has responded to the group’s call to action.
“The response has been one of ‘incrementalism,’ aka, change takes time and is slow. So, the response to people’s concerns isn’t adequate.”
“Also, the reporting process is flawed and not all noise complaints are taken at all times, so they don’t know the extent of the problem… They don’t seem interested in fixing the problem,” Buday added.
The city said six public consultations were held in September and email feedback was accepted until Oct. 15 from the public.
“The City also procured an independent acoustical engineering firm to provide a technical review of the bylaw, and a firm to conduct public opinion research,” the city said.
The feedback will be used to recommend refinements to the noise bylaw in a staff report expected to be presented at the Economic Community and Development Committee in January.
“Cities don’t need to be loud, we need to prioritize our public health over the commercial agenda. I think we all know now, if we don’t have our health, really nothing else matters,” Buday said.
The city also mentioned the staff report will be available when the committee’s agenda is made public on their website in early January.
“I hope that many people come and share their story with the City Councillors. I am equipping people to do that as I don’t have their experiences, and want to empower people to speak up, to overcome the apathy that is out there,” Buday added.
