Filing a 311 complaint
A Gap in the City’s Tracking of Daytime Leaf Blower Noise
There is an important gap in the City’s treatment of complaints about noisy two-stroke gas-powered leaf blowers: the City does not track them as a distinct category of daytime noise.
Under the City’s current approach, daytime noise exceeding 55 dB(A) from sources such as stationary equipment, residential air conditioners and amplified or musical instrument sounds may be investigated. Yet the noise generated by two-stroke gas-powered leaf blowers—typically 95–110 dB(A)—is not tracked in the same way simply because their daytime use is not prohibited by a noise bylaw.
That creates a significant information gap. A sound level of 95–110 dB(A) represents roughly 1,000 to 316,000 times the physical sound intensity of 55 dB(A). Under noise-exposure principles, exposure time to sound levels decreases dramatically as sound levels rise, cutting safe exposure time from indefinite down to just a few minutes.
The problem is not simply that daytime leaf blower noise is permitted. It is that the City has no systematic way to measure the extent of the problem.
Because daytime leaf blower noise is not currently a bylaw infraction, there is no established process for collecting and reporting these complaints in a way that gives councillors meaningful ward-level information about their scale, frequency and geographic concentration.
That information gap makes it difficult for Council to determine where the problem is occurring, how often residents are affected, and whether further action is warranted.
Gasbusters proposes that the City establish a system to record, categorize and report 311 complaints involving daytime two-stroke gas-powered leaf blower noise—regardless of whether the activity is currently prohibited by bylaw.
Get the Word Out
Education is the most effective form of enforcement. When people understand the scientific evidence about the health, environmental, and noise impacts of gas-powered leaf blowers, many choose to switch voluntarily to quieter, energy-efficient electric equipment.
Residents can play an important role by helping to spread awareness throughout the neighbourhood.
Empower your community:
Share information with your neighbours about the health and environmental impacts of gas-powered leaf blowers.
Distribute educational postcards or flyers that explain the benefits of quieter, cleaner alternatives.
Encourage respectful conversations with landscaping contractors and property managers.
Help build neighbourhood support for cleaner, quieter landscaping practices.
Real change begins with neighbours inspiring neighbours. Every conversation and every postcard shared plants the seeds of awareness, empowers others to act, and brings us one step closer to a quieter community.
Leaf Blower Noise Complaints
If you live in:
Ward 10 – Spadina–Fort York
Councillor Ausma Malik
Ward 11 – University–Rosedale
Councillor Dianne Saxe
Ward 12 – Toronto–St. Paul's
Councillor Josh Matlow
Ward 13 – Toronto Centre
Councillor Chris Moise
How to file.
Record a 10-second video of the leaf blower in operation.
Take a screenshot showing video and timestamp.
Email screenshot and video
Submit written complaint to;
311@toronto.ca
OR
mlsfeedback@toronto.ca
____________________________________________________________
The current Bylaw
Leaf blower noise is exempt from enforcement during the following hours:
Weekdays: 8:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.
Saturdays, Sundays : 9:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.
During the daytime hours, complaints about leaf blower noise are not acted upon. Investigations only occur if the equipment is used outside the permitted bylaw hours. Even then, enforcement generally depends on repeated or ongoing noise, not the intensity of a single incident.
After a complaint is filed, it may take seven to ten days for a bylaw enforcement officer to respond.
Residents are directed to contact 311@toronto.ca, They are advised to photograph the contractor’s truck and, if possible, record a video of the incident.
This places the burden of enforcement on residents rather than the City. The result is that neighbourhoods are left unprotected.
Homeowners and tenants are told to tolerate noise levels during the day that would otherwise violate the City’s own health-based noise standards.
In practice, Toronto’s bylaw shields polluting, high-noise machines more than it protects people.
Suggestion from the City
“The Noise Bylaw includes decibel limits and time restrictions for some types of noise. We encourage residents to exercise a reasonable degree of tolerance and to review the bylaw regulations by type of noise prior to submitting a service request. If you have a concern, consider speaking with those responsible for making the noise to give them anopportunity to correct the issue. If you are a tenant, please speak to your landlord first...” City of Toronto
