City of Ottawa considering cutting idling bylaw limit from 3 minutes to 1

A stock photo of exhaust coming from a vehicle's tailpipe. (Matt Boitor/Unsplash)

Seventeen years after enacting its idling control bylaw, the City of Ottawa is looking at making it tougher and staff are seeking input from the public.

The current bylaw prohibits drivers from idling their vehicles for more than three minutes per hour when the temperature is between 5 and 27 C. There is no time limit when the temperature is outside of that range.

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According to a public survey, the City is considering reducing the idling limit under the bylaw from three minutes per hour to one, citing Natural Resources Canada, which recommends turning off your engine if you're going to be stopped for more than 60 seconds.

The survey is also asking whether the temperature range during which the bylaw applies should be broadened, or whether idling restrictions should also be in place below 5 C and/or above 27 C.

Under the city's bylaw, exemptions are in place for select vehicles such as emergency vehicles, farm equipment, and buses, and for drivers who have to idle because of an emergency or another reason outside of their control. The goal of the bylaw is to cut down on greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution. 

Ottawa city council declared a climate emergency in 2019.

The bylaw is complaint-based and rarely enforced. According to City statistics, bylaw officers issued just 10 tickets and 33 verbal warnings between 2019 and 2021. There were 314 complaints about idling in 2022 and 261 in 2023, but the city could not immediately provide figures for how many resulted in tickets or warnings. 

"Much like many of the City's bylaws, enforcement of the Idling Control Bylaw is conducted on a complaint-basis," said public information officer Ncole LeBlanc in a statement to CTV News Ottawa. "The fine for contravening the bylaw is $500."

The survey will be available on Engage Ottawa until March 15. Responses will be presented to city council in the fall.

Individuals or business owners who identify their vehicles as a mobile workshop, an armoured vehicle, a private transit vehicle, or as engaging in normal farm practices, can consult further with the City by contacting [e-mail] for additional information.

--With files from CTV News Ottawa's Josh Pringle.