On March 6, my office held our first “Toronto Centre Talks” (TC Talks) event at the St. Lawrence Community Recreation Centre to talk about something that has been bothering a lot of us lately: noise. A neglected topic across health and enforcement, this was a forum to allow advocacy and staff to discuss this topic together.
My staff was joined by Ingrid Buday, Ingrid Buday, Executive Director of No More Noise Toronto, Dr. Shovita Padhi, Executive Medical Officer of Health, Toronto Public Health (TPH), Leo Butko, Acting Manager of Noise Enforcement, MLS and Mariya Kharchuk and Cole Booker, Municipal Standards Officers, Infrastructure & Development Services.
Ingrid provided a resident advocacy perspective on the topic and explained how No More Noise Toronto was created. Frustrated in 2019, she began studying noise from her bedroom window and found a plethora of data on loud vehicles and noise pollution, leading her to become more curious about the topic of noise and its role in our city. Ingrid highlighted that despite everyone being aware of the impacts of noise, reporting to the City can be a frustrating experience, and felt that complaints about noise are therefore underreported. Through No More Noise Toronto, Ingrid is advocating to see noise levels in the City decreased to below 55 decibels, in line with guidelines from the World Health Organization.
Dr. Padhi showcased the health impacts of noise from a public health standpoint. Studies have identified that health is impacted by environmental noise in Toronto, primarily due to vehicular traffic, but there are challenges with quantifying that impact as there are other environmental factors such as air pollution that also impact on someone’s wellbeing, and that makes it hard to separate out. In 2017, TPH published a study: “How Loud is Too Loud”, and in 2019, TPH published its “Noise Action Plan” describing cross-city collaborations on strategies to reduce noise. An update on how the Noise Action Plan has been working was presented to the Board of Health on April 1.
The Noise Enforcement Team shared very important insights on the types of noise enforcements and hours of operations. With so many different types of noise and activity in the city, there are professional instruments used by staff to measure and study noise in a duration of time. These decibel level standards measurements are taken from a ‘point of reception’ that are indoor and outdoor, which determine how much noise is actually intrusive. Staff noted that there are jurisdictional challenges with vehicular noise that challenge enforcement as by-law officers cannot ask people to stop a vehicle and request identification like a police officer can, and getting reliable readings is critical should the City need to pursue charges.
It was a very productive and insightful conversation, and I want to extend my thanks to every resident who was able to attend. I hope you can all join us on April 10 at the Regent Park Community Centre for our next TC Talks about Mental Health and Addictions, where we will have another diverse panel discussion.
Amidst the trade war with the United States, developing an Economic Action Plan was a top priority for City Council on March 28 and 29.
This year, residents from the Bay-Cloverhill, Church Wellesley and Upper Jarvis Neighbourhoods of Cluster 1, St. Lawrence of Cluster 5 and Corktown and Canary District Neighbourhoods of Clusters 6 are invited to join us for this in-person Participatory Budgeting Ideation Workshop!
If you, a friend, or a relative is on the Rent-Geared-to-Income (RGI) Housing Centralized Waiting List or need help applying for RGI housing, we have great news for you! We're collaborating with Access to Housing and Housing Help Centres to host MyAccesstoHousingTO Sign-Up Clinics for Ward 13 residents from April 22 to May 5 to provide information and assistance for online navigation.
