Changes to Construction Noise regulations as of Oct 7th
Great news! The Provincial government has agreed that Ontario Regulation 130/20 which changed the Toronto Noise Bylaw back at the beginning of COVID would expire on Oct 7th. Under this regulation, noise from construction projects and services associated with the healthcare sector was permitted 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Noise from other construction activity was permitted from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Construction noise will now return to not being permitted from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. the next day, except until 9 a.m.on Saturdays and all day Sundays and statutory holidays.
Many thanks to all the residents who submitted emails to the Provincial government!
Take Action: Sign the Petition to Stop Excessive Construction Noise Hours
Now is the time to take action to stop Doug Ford’s provincial government extending construction hours beyond the October, 2021 deadline…Counccillors Josh Matlow and Kristyn Wong-Tam have developed a petition…
In Councillor Josh Matlow’s Community Update on July 7th, he asked residents to take action:
“Doug Ford’s provincial government used COVID-19 to extend construction hours for his developer friends under the guise of building new hospitals. While no new hospitals were built in Ontario, many Toronto residents have suffered as a result of excessive noise day and night, 7 days a week, from luxury condo developments.
Last spring, at the beginning of the pandemic, the Province meddled with the City of Toronto Act to change permitted hours of residential construction from 7:00am – 7:00pm Monday to Friday, 9:00am – 7:00pm on Saturdays and not at all on Sundays to 6:00am to 10:00pm every day of the week. This was an unconscionable decision during a time when the Ford government was asking people to do their part to stop the spread of COVID by staying home.
I have heard from too many Torontonians whose mental health and work has suffered from this greedy giveaway to developers. Extending construction hours should have never happened in the first place, but it’s certainly well past time that this decision was reversed.
Working with Councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam, we have developed a petition to the provincial government.
https://www.kristynwongtam.ca/constructionnoise
by redacting Limitation 2 to Ontario Regulation 130/20 of the City of Toronto Act that allows for “construction activity in the City between the hours of 6 a.m. and 10 p.m.” This represents a significant departure from the City’s By-laws, which permit noise from construction between 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. from Monday to Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. on Saturdays, and not at all on Sundays.”
Please participate in the Councillor Matlow/Wong-Tam campaign on this important issue by signing the petition.
Stop Excessive Construction Noise
In Councillor Josh Matlow’s Community Update on Dec 18th to his Ward 12 constituents, he included the following. The overriding of Toronto’s Noise By-law affects many residents within the City as it allows non-COVID related residential and commercial construction to work within the extended hours and this is in effect until October, 2021.
“I have heard from many tenants that construction noise has become an even larger problem during the pandemic, with people staying home for longer hours than ever. Between the hours of construction being lengthened to 6am to 10pm every day of the week by the provincial government (Limitation 2 to Ontario Regulation 130/20 of the City of Toronto Act) and with multi-residential buildings having increased renovations, excessive construction noise has taken a toll on our quality of life. I have started a campaign to push the provincial government to put tenants’ health and wellbeing first.”
Please participate in Councillor Matlow’s campaign on this important issue by signing his petition below. Make sure to click on the resulting link as well to ensure your voice is heard by the provincial government on this important matter.
Sign the petition: https://joshmatlow.ca/construction-noise/
Council/Toronto residents against Construction Noise – Aug 30, 2020
Many Toronto residents are suffering from excessive construction noise during COVID-19 as the Province overruled the City of Toronto Act for the control of construction noise. The new rules allow any construction site (even single residential) to work Mon to Sun from 6:00 am to 10:00 pm. An article from the Toronto Noise Coalition on this issue https://wwwtorontonoisecoalition.ca/single-post/2020/04/16/Suffering-from-excessive-construction-noise-during-COVID-19. City Council has submitted a request to the Provincial government to rescind Limitation 2 to Ontario Regulation 130/20 but they are now recessed until Sept 13, 2020. In September we will be looking for public support in the form of sending letters or signing petitions to the Provincial government.
SAHRA has provided updates on this issue in previous eBlasts. The City of Toronto Act was amended by the Province of Ontario [until October 2021] to allow for any “construction activity in the City between the hours of 6 a.m. and 10 p.m.” This represents a significant departure from the City’s by-laws, which permit noise from construction between 7 am to 7pm from Monday to Friday, 9am to 7pm on Saturdays, and not at all on Sunday. City Council approved Motions on June 30th to request the province to rescind Limitation 2 to Ontario Regulation 130/20.
It was a concerted effort between Councillors Matlow, Colle, Wong-Tam and Cressy supported by SAHRA, LPRO, FoNTRA, the Toronto Noise Coalition as well as 13 Residents’ Associations in the downtown area that resulted in this Motion being presented and approved.
We have now been advised that the City Clerk has submitted the request to the Provincial government but they are now recessed until Sept 13, 2020. We will continue to organize public support for this request, possibly in the form of a Petition.
Provincial overriding of Toronto’s Noise By-law
Update (July 4, 2020) from Councillor Josh Matlow
Council Stands up for Toronto residents against Construction Noise
As part of the Provincial government’s emergency orders to address COVID-19, THE City of Toronto Act was amended [until October 2021] to allow for any “construction activity in the City between the hours of 6 a.m. and 10 p.m.” This represents a significant departure from the City’s by-laws, which permit noise from construction between 7 am to 7pm from Monday to Friday, 9am to 7pm on Saturdays, and not at all on Sunday. I have heard from many of you that the constant noise during unreasonable hours has had a significant impact on your quality of life. That’s why I’m pleased to report that Council supported my motion to request the province to rescind Limitation 2 to Ontario Regulation 130/20 , enacted April 7, 2020, which took away the allowance of the City to regulate or prohibit noise in connection with construction to the detriment of our residents. It is now up to the Premier to do the right thing for Toronto residents.
SAHRA would like to mention that it was a concerted effort between Councillors Matlow, Colle, Wong-Tam and Cressy supported by SAHRA, LPRO, FoNTRA, the Toronto Noise Coalition as well as 13 Residents’ Associations in the downtown area that resulted in this Motion being presented and approved. We are now followiong up with the City Clerk and the Councillors to ensure that the ‘request’ is duly submitted to the Province.
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The Provincial Government decided to override the City of Toronto Act, to relax the construction provisions of the Construction Noise By-laws. The City’s noise by-law permits construction equipment to operate Monday to Friday 7 am to 7 pm, Saturdays 9 am to 7 pm, and not at all on Sundays and statutory holidays. We could understand the government deciding to allow construction equipment to operate at any time of the day or night for construction required for pandemic management such as the building of temporary hospital facilities until October, 2021. But the extension of construction to these hours was extended for ALL healthcare facilities, including those which have no connection to the fight against the pandemic. Furthermore, we do not understand why the hours have been extended to 6 am through 10 pm every day, for non-healthcare facilities, and specifically to projects providing residential homes. SAHRA argued to the Premier of Ontario that the City’s noise by-law was enacted to protect the health of the public from excessive noise; that the by-law should be overridden only to deal with a greater health issue. We therefore asked that they reconsider the construction hours for non-pandemic related construction.
The Premier’s response was: “Extended construction hours will help ensure that important health care related construction projects, like expansion of hospitals, are completed during the outbreak. It will also help speed up the building of new facilities needed to provide health services in response to COVID-19. Only construction on health care projects can now continue 24 hours a day to get this absolutely essential infrastructure in place. In addition, there are tens of thousands of residential units being built in Ontario this year. Those projects are critical to the thousands of families who need a roof over their heads. Extended construction hours will allow for smaller work crews, more distance between workers and staggered break times.”
FoNTRA submitted a request that the non-healthcare construction hours be adjusted to the Toronto Noise By-law hours (Monday to Friday 7 am to 7 pm, Saturdays 9 am to 7 pm, and not at all on Sundays and statutory holidays).
Councillor Mike Colle also submitted a request on May 6, 2020 to Steve Clark (attached) asking that the Province re-instate the City’s Noise By-law #591 as it applies to residential construction.