A resident in Willowdale is urging the City of Toronto to hire on additional noise bylaw officers, after lodging several complaints against contractors working at off-hours on his street. 

Local resident Paul Tinsley lives a few doors down from a house on Avondale Avenue that is currently under renovation. 

“The noise around here is horrible,” he said. “Especially when you are sleeping and hear diesel trucks idling and backing up.” 

Construction noise is an ongoing problem in the city. In 2015, City of Toronto Municipal Licensing & Standards division conducted a survey with almost 1,000 responses and found 82.5 per cent considered noise a problem. Fifty-four per cent made formal complaints, and construction was listed as the most disruptive of all city noises. 

The City of Toronto noise bylaw states that construction can occur between the hours of 7 a.m and 7 p.m. Monday to Friday, and 9 a.m to 7 p.m. Saturday. It is not permitted on Sunday, unless an exemption has been granted. 

Fines can range from $350 to $5,000 if a contractor is caught working after those times.  

Tinsley said there have been a number of weekends when the construction crew has started its work before 9 a.m. on a Saturday. 

Tinsley filed a noise complaint with the city, but by the time a bylaw enforcement officer arrived, the construction site was vacant. 

“I can send them complaints, but nothing happens until [the officers] actually catch them,” he said. “They don’t have enough staff to come out when the complaint is made or they just don’t care.” 

Toronto councillor Josh Matlow has heard similar complaints from residents in his ward and said contractors violating the noise bylaw is a common occurrence. 

Matlow said, when residents call 311 about a noise complaint, they are typically told by an operator that a bylaw officer will come out within five days. “It is such a waste of resources to send a bylaw officer out at some arbitrary time, but that’s the reality,” he said. 

Matlow said his office receives too many calls from residents on this issue.

“I am asking council that bylaw enforcement be resourced adequately so that they are able to come out at a more timely manner,” he said.

Willowdale residents have also filed a noise complaint against the contractor working on the new Avondale Public School.

“Residents know the school has to be built, but when construction is being done before bylaw hours or after, that is unacceptable,” he said.