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Mississauga noise bylaw: quiet hours, decibel limits and how to complain
Mississauga's Noise Control By-law 0360-1979 bans amplified music, lawn mowers and household tools, and persistently barking pets clearly audible in a residential area from 7 p.m. to 9 a.m., and construction from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. and all day Sundays and holidays. By day, amplified sound may not exceed 55 dB(A) as a ten-minute average. Complaints go to 311.
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Quiet hours by type of noise
Schedule 2 of Mississauga's Noise Control By-law (By-law 0360-1979) gives each kind of noise its own prohibited period. Under § 4 the ban applies when the sound is "clearly audible at a point of reception" in a residential area or a Quiet Zone. A point of reception is "any point on the premises of a person where sound or vibration originating from other than those premises is received". Quiet Zones are areas mapped in Schedule 4 "where quiet is of particular importance", and there most of these sounds are banned at any time. The times below are for residential areas.
| Noise | Schedule 2 item | Not allowed in a residential area |
|---|---|---|
| Amplified sound (speakers, radios, TVs, stereos) | 3 | 7 p.m. to 9 a.m. |
| Amplified live music | 16 | 7 p.m. to 9 a.m. |
| Acoustic live music and musical instruments | 17, 18 | 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. (to 9 a.m. on Sundays) |
| Yelling, shouting, hooting, whistling or singing, including noise from sports | 15 | 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. (to 9 a.m. on Sundays) |
| Persistent barking, calling or whining by a pet | 11 | 7 p.m. to 9 a.m. |
| Powered or non-powered tools for domestic purposes, such as lawn mowers (snow removal excepted) | 12 | 7 p.m. to 9 a.m. |
| Construction equipment | 5 | 7 p.m. to 7 a.m., and all day on Sundays and statutory holidays |
| Loading, unloading, delivering or handling containers, products, materials or refuse | 4 | 7 p.m. to 7 a.m., and all day on Sundays and statutory holidays |
| Garbage trucks (solid waste bulk lift and refuse compacting equipment) | 13 | 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. (to 9 a.m. on Sundays) |
| Fireworks not used in construction | 6 | 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. (to 9 a.m. on Sundays), unless the Fireworks By-law allows them |
| Bells, horns and other signalling devices (except whistles at organized sports) | 1 | 7 p.m. to 9 a.m. |
The loading rule does not cover work "necessary for the maintenance of essential services or the moving of private household effects", or deliveries to the businesses listed in section 130(1) of the Municipal Act, 2001. Statutory holidays are defined in § 1: New Year's Day, Family Day, Good Friday, Victoria Day, Canada Day, Civic Day, Labour Day, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, Boxing Day and any other day proclaimed a public holiday in Ontario.
The City's Report excessive noise page gives the same hours in everyday terms, with one difference: it says yelling, shouting and other recreational noise may start at 9 a.m. on Sundays and statutory holidays, while Schedule 2 of the by-law names only Sundays for the later start. Where they differ, the by-law controls.
Decibel limits
Section 3.2 limits "continuous amplified sound" measured with a sound level meter at a point of reception, as an Leq (an energy average) over a ten-minute period. It applies anywhere in the city, alongside the hours above, except live music in a Cultural District during its set hours (§ 4.1).
| Source and where measured | Section | Limit | When | Averaged over |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Continuous amplified sound, at a point of reception | § 3.2(a) | 55 dB(A) or 70 dB(C) | 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. | 10-minute Leq |
| Continuous amplified sound, at a point of reception | § 3.2(a) | 50 dB(A) or 65 dB(C) | 7 p.m. to 9 a.m. | 10-minute Leq |
| Live music indoors at a licensed restaurant, night club or banquet hall in a Cultural District, at a point of reception | Sch. 2A, item 1 | 55 dB(A) or 70 dB(C) | 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. Sundays to Wednesdays; 11 p.m. to 2 a.m. Thursdays to Saturdays | 10-minute Leq |
| Amplified sound under an exemption, at the lot line of the property it comes from | § 7(4) | A permit condition of up to 85 dB(A) or 105 dB(C) | As the exemption sets | Not stated |
Where the background ("ambient") level at your property is already above the limit, amplified sound may not equal or exceed that background level (§ 3.2(b)). The dB(C) figures catch bass, which A-weighting discounts; see dBA vs dBC. In a residential area the hours usually bite first: after 7 p.m., amplified sound that is clearly audible at your home breaks Schedule 2 whatever its level.
Seven Cultural Districts (Clarkson, Cooksville, Downtown Core, Lakeview, Malton, Port Credit and Streetsville) have their own live music hours (§ 4.1, Schedule 2A). Indoors at a licensed restaurant, night club or banquet hall, live music is allowed from noon to 11 p.m. Sunday to Wednesday and from noon to 2 a.m. Thursday to Saturday. On City-approved patios and at permitted events in parks or public spaces, it is allowed from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. on Thursdays and Fridays, noon to 11 p.m. on Saturdays, and noon to 9 p.m. on Sundays and statutory holidays. Live music clearly audible in a Quiet Zone inside a Cultural District is not allowed at any time (§ 4.3).
Persistent and disturbing noise
Two rules apply at any hour. Section 3.1 bans "persistent sound" that "is likely to disturb a reasonable person in the City"; persistent sound is "a noise that is continuously heard for a period of at least ten consecutive minutes or intermittently over a period of at least one hour". Section 3 and Schedule 1 ban, when likely to disturb a reasonable person, unnecessary or unreasonable vehicle noise (horns, engines and mufflers, squealing tires, car stereos), leaving a parked vehicle's engine running for more than ten minutes in a residential area or Quiet Zone, construction equipment without working mufflers, and amplified sound or signalling devices used "for the purpose of reaching persons outside of the property from which the sound is originating".
How to complain
Report noise online through the City's Report excessive noise page, or call 311 within Mississauga (905-615-4311 from outside the city, TTY 905-896-5151). The 311 line answers Monday to Friday, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., and is closed on holidays; for urgent City issues outside those hours, the City lists an after-hours dispatch line, 905-615-3000. The City asks for reports of "excessive, persistent and recurring noises" and says it reviews and prioritizes each one by how likely the noise is to recur and its impact on residents, then decides whether an officer needs to investigate on site. A single loud night carries less weight than a pattern. For domestic disputes, yelling or moving vehicles, the City says to call Peel Regional Police at 905-453-3311, or 911 in an emergency. Noise from the Peter Gilgan Mississauga Hospital construction is under an exemption, and the City directs concerns about it to Trillium Health Partners (ask@thp.ca, 416-594-2157).
A reading helps that record but is not the evidence; § 3.2 limits are measured with a sound level meter at a point of reception. The free online decibel meter runs in your browser and records nothing. It is an uncalibrated estimate of about ±10 dB, enough to tell 50 from 70 but not to settle whether 55 was crossed. Turn A-weighting on, let it run for ten minutes and note the session average; the by-law's figure is a ten-minute average too, though the meter's is not a certified Leq. After 7 p.m. in a residential area, music only has to be clearly audible, so the time and what you heard matter more than a number. The noise complaints guide covers what to log.
Fines
Every breach is an offence and a continuing offence (§ 9(1), (2)). Where charges are laid in court under Part III of the Provincial Offences Act and the person is found guilty, § 9(3) sets "a minimum fine of $500 and a maximum fine not exceeding $100,000", and for a continuing offence a minimum of $500 and a maximum of $10,000 for each day or part of a day, with the total of the daily fines "not limited to $100,000". A court may add a special fine to remove any economic gain from the breach, which may exceed $100,000 (§ 9(4)). The City's noise page says a breach can bring "a fine of up to $100,000". The by-law itself lists no ticket amount.
Emergency work is exempt from sections 3, 3.1 and 4 (§ 5), and the activities in Schedule 3 from sections 3 and 4 (§ 6); the decibel limit in section 3.2 still applies to both. Schedule 3 activities include filming with a City film permit, events on Mississauga Celebration Square, permitted events in City parks and facilities, and named festivals such as Canada Day celebrations and the Southside Shuffle. Anyone may apply for an exemption of up to six months (§ 7; construction on a City highway has no six-month cap), and the City can attach conditions, including a sound limit for amplified sound of up to 85 dB(A) or 105 dB(C) at the lot line.
Sources
City of Mississauga Noise Control By-law 0360-1979, finally passed January 28, 1980, as amended up to By-law 0092-2026, read from the City's consolidated PDF, linked from the by-law's publication page with a posting date of June 29, 2026, on 2026-10-27. No newer by-law has replaced it; the publication page says it "refers to residential noise complaints within the City of Mississauga". Complaint channels and the City's plain-language hours from the Report excessive noise page (modified October 1, 2026) and the How to use 311 page (modified June 26, 2026), read the same day. This page is a plain-language summary, not legal advice; the by-law controls. Other Ontario cities have their own bylaws, such as the Toronto noise bylaw, and the rules on this page apply only within the City of Mississauga.
What are the Mississauga noise bylaw hours?
In a residential area, amplified music, household tools such as lawn mowers, and persistent pet barking are banned from 7 p.m. to 9 a.m. if clearly audible at a neighbour's home. Construction equipment and loading are banned from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. and all day on Sundays and statutory holidays. Shouting, singing, acoustic music and instruments are banned from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m., and until 9 a.m. on Sundays.
What is the residential noise bylaw in Mississauga?
The Noise Control By-law 0360-1979 covers residential noise. The City sums up its residential rules this way: music from radios, speakers, TVs and stereos, domestic tools such as lawn mowers and grass trimmers, and pets barking, whining or calling are permitted from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. every day. At any hour, persistent sound likely to disturb a reasonable person is banned, and daytime amplified sound may not exceed 55 dB(A) as a ten-minute average.
What is the decibel limit for noise in Mississauga?
For continuous amplified sound measured at a point of reception, section 3.2 sets a ten-minute average (Leq) of 55 dB(A) or 70 dB(C) from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., and 50 dB(A) or 65 dB(C) from 7 p.m. to 9 a.m. If the background level is already higher, the sound may not equal or exceed it. In a residential area, amplified sound clearly audible at a home after 7 p.m. is banned whatever its level.
How do I report a noise complaint in Mississauga?
Use the online form on the City's Report excessive noise page, or call 311 within Mississauga (905-615-4311 from outside the city, TTY 905-896-5151). 311 answers Monday to Friday, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. The City reviews each report by how likely the noise is to recur and its impact on residents, so a dated record of repeated noise helps. For domestic disputes, yelling or moving vehicles, call Peel Regional Police at 905-453-3311.
What time can construction start in Mississauga?
In a residential area, construction equipment may run from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday to Saturday, and not at all on Sundays or statutory holidays (Schedule 2, item 5). In a Quiet Zone the evening cut-off is earlier, 5 p.m. The City can grant an exemption for construction, and the applicant must then deliver a notice to homes within 120 metres at least a week before work starts (§ 7.3); for construction on a City highway it is homes within 500 metres, at least two weeks before (§ 7(8)).
