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441-01821 (Transportation)

Paper petition

Original language of petition: English

Petition to the Minister of Transport

Whereas:

  • Quality of life is negatively affected by a high frequency of air traffic occurring near residential areas, including from related stress and interrupted sleep;
  • There is a need for greater cooperation on the part of airport management with citizens and federal authorities to reduce the negative impacts of aircraft noise;
  • The Region of Waterloo International Airport (RWIA) is home to one of the largest and busiest flight training schools in Canada, and its total air traffic has increased by over 1,400% between 2019 and 2022, making it now the 6th busiest in Canada;
  • The negative impacts for residents nearby RWIA have worsened significantly during this time, particularly given that the airport: does not have any night time flight restrictions or curfews in place, permits pilots to arrive and depart at any hour of the day or night, and has not maintained a functioning noise management committee with citizen representation that meets regularly to review residents' complaints; and
  • Canada's other busiest airports near residential areas in Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Hamilton, Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal are all subject to heightened noise management requirements and air traffic and runway restrictions.

We, the undersigned residents of Canada, call upon the Minister of Transport to:

  • Ensure that all Canadian airports near residential areas have established sufficient airport-specific noise abatement procedures and control requirements to meet all their obligations under the Canadian Aviation Regulations; and
  • Assess whether any other Canadian airports near residential areas should be subject to additional noise management requirements and restrictions, such as:
      • the requirement to develop a minister-approved Noise Management Plan and report publicly on noise management issues and actions;
      • heightened noise abatement procedures and controls, and operating restrictions on flights during night time hours; and/or
      • operating restrictions for designated Noise-Restricted Runways.

Response by the Minister of Transport

Signed by (Minister or Parliamentary Secretary): The Honourable Pablo Rodriguez

Managing noise at aerodromes, especially active aerodromes, is a difficult exercise for the aerodrome operators, residential neighbours, aerodrome users and all levels of government. 

Aerodrome operators are responsible for managing noise resulting from the use of their facility with the goal of balancing the needs of aerodrome users and those of the residential community. This can be a challenging endeavour that is best managed by the aerodrome operator as they are most familiar with the operational demands and circumstances at the aerodrome. 

Many tools exist to manage noise such as aircraft and runway operational procedures and operating restrictions. Such procedures and restrictions exist at many aerodromes and are published in the aviation document entitled Canada Flight Supplement (CFS). Many of these procedures and restrictions have been made enforceable through the Canadian Aviation Regulations (CAR). There are specific procedures or restrictions that have been published for the Region of Waterloo International Airport (RWIA).  

The RWIA has a page on its website that allows people to submit noise concerns. Petitioners can propose to the operator of the RWIA to establish a venue for communication and discussion such as an on-going outreach committee or a noise management committee. In collaboration with the aerodrome management and its users, changes to the existing procedures or restrictions could be explored in a manner that could provide some relief. As experiences with such measures grows, they can be modified accordingly. 

For more information on the regulatory framework related to aircraft noise, please refer to: 

  1. Managing noise from aircraft: https://tc.canada.ca/en/aviation/operating-airports-aerodromes/managing-noise-aircraft 

  1. Advisory Circular (AC) 302-002. The purpose of this AC is to introduce the new?Noise Abatement Procedures and Restrictions Implementation Process, the completion of which is now required to implement new or amended noise abatement procedures and noise control measures made pursuant to CAR 602.105, at airports and aerodromes: https://tc.canada.ca/en/aviation/reference-centre/advisory-circulars/advisory-circular-ac-no-302-002 

 

Presented to the House of Commons
Mike Morrice (Kitchener Centre)
October 25, 2023 (Petition No. 441-01821)
Government response tabled
December 11, 2023
Photo - Mike Morrice
Kitchener Centre
Green Party Caucus
Ontario

Only validated signatures are counted towards the total number of signatures.