Environmental noise control in Canada

Environmental noise-a quality of life and public health issue-is regulated by different levels of government with distinct responsibilities depending on states and parts of the world. In Canada, the federal government, provinces and municipalities (as well as regional and local entities) share responsibility for noise generated by different sources (transport, leisure and industrial activities, neighbourhood noises, etc.) The review shared here, based on policies and regulations developed since the '70s by all these governmental authorities, shows a fragmented and uneven portrait by provinces, as well as a multiplicity of stakeholders and measures that should be better integrated and harmonized. The study is based on a wider international review that contextualizes the Canadian situation and allows comparisons with other models. The current framework, often focused on a posteriori redress, cannot in itself address every noise issue. This action framework, which mostly centres on controlling noise levels, could be widened and enriched by approaches such as (i) a qualitative analysis of the various sensibilities of citizens in regard to types of noise and their context, and (ii) planning tools that would fully account for noise and, on a wider scale, for soundscapes when it comes to land development. Thus improved, noise regulations would be better able to respond to the economic and social costs of this environmental pollutant in Canada and to the desire to reduce inequalities in population noise exposures.