Item - 2026.MM42.18

Councillor James Pasternak, seconded by Councillor Lily Cheng, recommends that:

1. City Council direct the City Manager to immediately work with Live Nation to retain a mutually agreeable third party acoustics engineer firm and/or sound expert – at its sole cost – to examine and review Rogers Stadium’s physical layout and structures and identify any capital improvements or acoustical enhancements and technologies that will mitigate sound dispersal (including bass) into the neighbouring communities, in consultation with the Ward Councillor and industry stakeholders and experts in the acoustics and sound industry.

2. City Council direct the City Manager and appropriate divisions to work with Live Nation, at their cost, to explore the option of building a sound barrier berm on the edge of the west Allen East District and any other property nearby property that would produce a reduction of sound.

3. City Council direct the Executive Director, Municipal Licensing and Standards, and the Executive Director, Customer Experience to establish a harmonized and co-ordinated response policy in communicating to local residents’ noise complaints with consistent responses.

4. City Council request the Executive Director, Municipal Licensing and Standards, in partnership with Live Nation to explore seasonally installed stationary noise monitoring at locations where there has been a history of noise complaints, to be paid for by Live Nation.

Rogers Stadium is an open air music venue that sits on the north end of the old Downsview Airport runway.  It opened in June 2025 and was built by way of temporary zoning permissions. The venue attracted about 700,000 visitors in 2025 and is expected to attract over 1 million visitors in 2026. The economic benefit to the City includes the hiring of over 1,000 part time employees, procurement and economic activity to local businesses, music grants and scholarships to local schools and benefits to Toronto’s tourism industry.

The stadium aligns with provincial live music polices and guidelines which can be found at https://www.ontario.ca/document/vision-ontarios-live-music-industry/local-music-scenes and the City of Toronto Live Music Strategy https://www.toronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/90a2-2022-2026EDCBrandedMusic-StrategyC5-test.pdf

Despite these advantages, many residents in York Centre, Willowdale and the City of Vaughan have raised serious concerns about the noise levels on concert nights. While noise can be a factor of wind direction, velocity and cloud cover, it is also a factor of amplification and bass driven musical scores. Capital improvements and operational measures at the stadium should be explored.

The operator of the stadium, Live Nation, affixed soundproof cladding on the stadium at the start of this concert season. While some have noticed an improvement, others have not.

Adding to the frustration of local residents there is also a lack of a City of Toronto integrated and consistent response framework. 311 operations and municipal licensing are providing contradictory information to residents about the noise by-law and the action that can be taken.  This includes the City of Toronto noise by-laws and exemption policies as well as enforcement at the source of the sound.