Toronto Pearson Airport Noise Complaints Process For Airplanes Needs Upgrade: Residents

People who say their lives are impacted by the overhead noise of aircraft flying in and out of Toronto Pearson airport are calling for changes on how residents make noise complaints despite a recent modification by airport staff in response to public input.

“There needs to be a better system,” Fabio Ovettini, who lives in the Humber River-Black Creek area of Toronto, said.

He said the noise from aircraft, especially in the overnight hours, is causing him to lose sleep.

“According to our own government, Health Canada advises us to get eight to nine hours of sleep to stay healthy. I’m not getting anywhere near that,” Ovettini said.

He pointed to online data showing 39 flights went over his home between the hours of 12:05 and 6:30 a.m. on June 13. The recorded decibel levels range from hearing a mild conversation to an alarm clock going off.

“It’s exhausting,” Ovettini said.

“But the current way to report complaints is discouraging people from reporting these overnight incidents.”

Toronto Pearson airport staff created a direct line for people to lodge noise complaints and an online portal where they can now report up to 50 incidents using one complaint form. The maximum number of complaints was five per form, but it was changed in response to a public outcry.

However, Ovettini and others who spoke with CityNews said the reporting process still needs an upgrade.

“Let’s say in the middle of the night when a plane goes over my house, I need to wake up and record it on a piece of paper … because they expect that information, who will do this?” he asked.

“I’m already losing sleep. They make the complaint platform useless.”

Ovettini called for an automated system by using the multiple noise monitoring systems installed in several neighbourhoods across the Greater Toronto Area. He said once these devices clock planes registering decibel levels that impact residents, complaints should be filed and recorded automatically.

“This would allow for a more accurate representation of the impact these planes are having on so many people,” Ovettini said.

While Ovettini said his neighbourhood is impacted by flights landing at Pearson airport, Irene Zeppieri, who lives in Woodbridge, said planes taking off from the airport keep her up.

“When those departures go over my house, they’ll turn and that makes a huge amount of noise for an extended duration, and it’s pretty constant,” she said.

Several residents from Oakville, Vaughan and Ovettini’s Toronto neighbourhood have joined together, connecting via email, hoping to put pressure on Pearson airport, Nav Canada (the entity that oversees air traffic control) and lawmakers.

Liberal M.P. Judy Sgro, who represents the riding of Humber River-Black Creek, said her office has received complaints from several of area residents.

“The noise has been a real issue and I’m listening to my constituents, but I don’t have authority over operations at Pearson,” she told us by phone.

Residents said Sgro and the House of Commons were presented with an airplane noise petition for Humber River-Black Creek, and it was approved for investigation.

A Pearson airport spokesperson said they are also listening to the complaints.

“Toronto Pearson has an extraordinarily robust noise management program,” Sean D.

“While airport noise can’t be eliminated, we believe continuous improvements should be studied, discussed, and implemented in consultation with our neighbours.”

He did not say whether they’re looking at an automated complaint process, like the one suggested by Ovettini, but said they remain open to discussions. They hold several public meetings where residents are welcome to give feedback. The next one is scheduled virtually for July 25 at 6 p.m.

“Any discussion about noise complaints should be weighed against other impacts, including the economic impact the airport generates. More than 50,000 people are employed in the Toronto Pearson community, and we contribute $42 billion (six per cent) of Ontario’s yearly GDP,” Davidson said.

As for overnight flights, airport staff said they have a night restriction program in place between 12:30 and 6:30 a.m. and it puts an annual limit on the number of aircraft movements.

According to Pearson airport officials, they received noise complaints from only 73 individuals in the Humber River-Black Creek district in 2023. The current population for the area is more than 100,000.

But Ovettini wondered if that number would be higher with a better reporting system.

“It has been made to discourage people,” he said.

“People are not saying they don’t want or expect planes to fly over their homes,” Zeppieri added.

“What they’re saying is that the way that the planes are flying right now is having a significant impact on their life. It’s impacting their quality of sleep.”

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