8,300+ responses to our online noise survey

As our airport grows, we find new ways to collaborate with neighbouring communities and other stakeholders as we work to manage the effects of aircraft noise. While we can’t eliminate noise entirely, we’re learning that there are things we can do to provide relief and lessen impacts – through sustained consultation and collaboration with communities, industry partners and noise experts.

Growing responsibly

Growing Responsibly, our 2018–2022 Noise Management Action Plan, sets out a five-year strategy for improving how Toronto Pearson manages noise. Created following an international best practices study of 26 comparator airports around the world – and guided by input from more than 3,000 local residents – the plan includes a range of ambitious programs based on the 10 commitments we’ve made to our communities.

In 2018, we started tackling the short-term priorities outlined in the plan – notably the Quieter Fleet Incentive Program, which targets aircraft noise by encouraging airlines to bring the quietest planes in their fleets to Toronto Pearson. By 2020, we will offer carriers incentives to retrofit the A320 family of aircraft, whose engines produce a high-pitched whistling sound related to air intake. As a first step, we have engaged with carriers to advise them of our plans and ask for their support.

A better way to engage

Another key Action Plan initiative was a review of the Community Environment and Noise Advisory Committee (CENAC), which for many years has been the only regular forum through which community members and elected officials can suggest how we should work together to manage impacts.

It became apparent, through engaging with stakeholders and conducting extensive research, that our noise management strategy had outgrown a single committee. We needed to find another approach that was more inclusive and would better enable us to coordinate and pursue various noise-related initiatives. As a result of this analysis, we decided to replace CENAC with an expanded engagement platform: the Toronto Pearson Noise Management Forums.

The new forums will create opportunities for sustained, productive conversations about noise through more frequent political briefings and neighbourhood table discussions, as well as enhanced public meetings and more regular resident working groups and reference panels. In addition to incorporating many of the noise engagement practices we’ve implemented over the past few years, the forums will introduce two new elements: an independent panel of industry experts who will assess and respond to community proposals about noise management; and a biannual external audit to review and publicly report on our progress toward Noise Management Action Plan goals.

Six ideas to reduce noise

In 2015, the GTAA and NAV Canada, the national provider of civil air navigation services, began a series of conversations on the topic of noise mitigation in communities across the Greater Toronto Area. This was in direct response to neighbours asking that we do more to manage our airport’s impact – and telling us we needed to get better at addressing community concerns and suggestions.

These conversations informed a noise mitigation engagement plan that has become known as the Six Ideas. In 2018, following two years of technical analysis, we reported back to the community on our progress and gathered additional feedback.

Information about the Six Ideas and our consultations reached more than 2.9 million people over the past year via multiple communications channels, from online surveys and technical briefings to opportunities for one-on-one interactions with NAV Canada air traffic controllers about aircraft management. During a six-week period in March and April, 430 residents attended meetings across the region, and more than 900 people responded to our survey. The resulting Public Engagement Report, published in July 2018, outlined what we’d heard from community members about each idea and how we planned to respond.

From idea to action

Many of the Six Ideas were implemented by the end of 2018. While NAV Canada has primary responsibility for ideas 1 to 4, which relate to how airborne aircraft approach and depart Toronto Pearson, we have a major role to play in Idea 5.

For eight weekends in the summer, we tested a runway alternation program, providing scheduled relief from aircraft noise every other weekend to residents living under the final approach and initial departure paths of the east-west runways. Operational analysis showed that relief was possible in the early morning and late evening. At the same time, survey results indicated community support for the program. As a result, we are exploring the option of a full summer trial in 2019 with continued collaboration from airline partners and NAV Canada.

Why noise annoys

The GTAA is supporting research at the University of Windsor analyzing the effects of aircraft noise on airport-neighbouring communities. The researchers, citing several decades of study in this area, hypothesize that to manage noise effectively, we need to consider the annoyance factor alongside decibel levels.