Residents complain about Ontario Line construction — but Metrolinx exempt from city noise bylaws

Talia Ricci · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 08, 2025 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 10 minutes ago

As Toronto upwind warms up and patios commencement to open, there's thing other that inevitably comes on with the rising temperatures: operation season.

But for galore surviving adjacent Metrolinx's Ontario Line project, construction has already been a large disrupter. Yet what galore radical might not know is that erstwhile it comes to Metrolinx work, the bureau is exempt from the city's sound bylaws.

Metrolinx says astatine its northbound tract astatine Queen and Spadina, the enactment is happening astir the clock, leaving nary respite from the noise. 

"That's a small excessively much, particularly successful downtown Toronto," said Leen Taher, who lives adjacent the tract and also works from home.

"You're astatine location and there's operation 24/7, that's crazy. You request to person astatine slightest Saturdays and Sundays disconnected for radical to consciousness much astatine bid successful their ain home."

Taher has made aggregate complaints to Metrolinx and says residents similar her besides privation amended connection astir erstwhile the enactment is happening.

Government projects exempt from sound bylaw

The city's bylaws say construction sound is not permitted "when it is intelligibly audible from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. oregon until 9 a.m. connected Saturdays, all-day Sunday and stat holidays."

However, authorities projects are exempt from the sound bylaw, because of an amendment that was made successful 2019.

Metrolinx says it is making each effort to minimize impacts to section residents, including utilizing little disruptive equipment, and that it's monitoring sound levels.

In a connection the bureau said "We are moving with our contractor to research antithetic methods of operation to assistance trim sound arsenic enactment progresses."

Tor Oiamo, a Toronto Metropolitan University associate professor  successful the section of geography and biology studies, says it's a analyzable issue, but there has to beryllium a equilibrium betwixt finishing captious infrastructure successful a timely mode and considering people's wellness and wellbeing.

"But determination should nevertheless beryllium a beauteous steadfast exertion and usage of each types of mitigation that exist," Oiamo said.

"So if it has to spell connected beyond the mean hours of operation allowed by the city, there should beryllium other attraction taken to marque definite that those impacts are arsenic minimal arsenic possible."