Item - 2025.HL24.4

The Board of Health:  

1. Requested the Medical Officer of Health to collaborate with Municipal Licensing and Standards to assess changes made through the Implementation Review of the Noise By-law in Item EC9.5 that is intended to minimise the health impacts of noise.

2.  Requested the Medical Officer of Health to support Municipal Licensing and Standards in fulfilling City Council’s direction in Item EC16.4 to work with waste collection operators and other relevant stakeholders to develop and publish online guidance documents for waste collectors, property managers and residents, that may be referred to for best practices to mitigate noise from waste collection operations.

3. Requested that the Provincial and Federal governments develop a noise monitoring program with the objective of creating long-term data that could inform population health studies.

4. Acknowledged the health consequences of excessive airplane noise on its residents.

5. Requested the Minister of Transport, the Ontario Minister of Health, the Ontario Minister of Education, the Federal Minister of Health, and the Federal Minister of Mental Health and Addictions to hold meaningful consultation with communities impacted by airplane noise.

6. Requested from the Greater Toronto Airports Authority a commitment to accountability and meaningful engagement with communities impacted by airplane noise.

7. Urged the Greater Toronto Airports Authority and/or Transport Canada to fund a comprehensive, independently overseen health study comparing health outcomes of residents under flight paths to those in unaffected areas, with findings to be made public and used to inform mitigation and compensation efforts.

8. Urged Pearson Airport and Transport Canada to consider the impacts of airplane noise on children's learning in their noise modelling studies and noise attenuation efforts.

Noise is raised by Toronto residents as an issue of concern. To address this concern, the City of Toronto has many initiatives guided by the 2019 Noise Action Plan and the updated City of Toronto Noise By-law. Toronto Public Health’s (TPH) mandate is determined by the Ontario Public Health Standards. Noise is not described as an environmental health hazard in the Ontario Public Health Standards. Toronto Public Health consults and provides advice to other City divisions in their work to mitigate the impacts of excessive noise. 

The 2019 Noise Action Plan contains recommended actions within the authority of each City division to reduce excessive noise in Toronto. Although the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in pauses to some City operations, Toronto Public Health and other City divisions have since made substantial progress in the Noise Action Plan. For example, Municipal Licensing and Standards completed the Noise By-law Review in 2024 in consultation with Toronto Public Health, other City divisions, and stakeholders. The review identified new efforts to mitigate noise in Toronto.  

This report, as requested by City Council through Item 2024.EC9.5, Implementation Review of the Noise By-law, provides an updated review of the health impacts of noise. The latest research continues to describe excessive noise exposure impacts on cardiovascular, cognitive, sleep, and mental health outcomes. These are smaller relative impacts than other environmental and social determinant of health factors on these outcomes. This means that while there is evidence to support links between excessive noise and adverse health impacts on individuals, the population-level impact of noise is limited relative to other factors that cause population morbidity and mortality.