Toronto Pesticide By-law
Update: In April 2009, the Ontario government followed Toronto's lead and passed the Cosmetic Pesticides Ban as an amendment to the Ontario Pesticides Act. This Ban overrides all municipal pesticide by-laws and prohibits the use of cosmetic pesticides across Ontario. Learn more about homeowner's responsibilities and resources on the Ministry of Environment's webpage here.
Read the City of Toronto Medical Officer of Health report on the impact of the Ontario ban, and the effectiveness of the Toronto pesticide by law here: http://www.toronto.ca/health/pesticides/pdf/bylaw.pdf
History of Toronto's Pesticide Bylaw campaign - Choosing Kids' Health over Chemical Lawns
The term "pesticides" refers to substances designed to kill "pests" whether they be plant, insect, or fungus. Environmental and health experts agree that some common lawn and garden pesticides harm our health and environment. Children are especially vulnerable to health impacts of pesticides.
TEA and other environmental, health and labour organizations partnered together to call on Toronto to protect our health and environment by adopting a pesticide bylaw. In 2003, we were successful - the City of Toronto joined over 50 other Canadian municipalities by passing a by-law banning the cosmetic use of chemical pesticides on all outdoor properties (including golf courses). This prohibition came into effect April 2004. As with other successful by-laws, Toronto's exempts least-toxic pest control products from the prohibition.
Non-exempt pesticides can still be used in public health situations (such as for West Nile Virus and allergens), for infestations that will result in significant loss or damage to property, to control termites and carpenter ants, and in closed bait situationsCity Council plans to phase in warnings and fines for non-compliance in the following manner:
- 2005-2006: Warnings for all non-compliance, and fines for infractions by professional lawncare and landscape maintenance companies starting September 2005.
- 2007: Continued warnings, and fines for infractions by homeowners starting September 2007.
Position Statements on Pesticide Use
Many organizations and coalitions support prohibiting cosmetic pesticide use to protect human health and the environment. Read their position statements below:
- Partnership for Pesticide Bylaws
- Canadian Cancer Society
- Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment
- Ontario Public Health Association
- Ontario College of Family Physicians
- Registered Nurses Association of Ontario
Pesticide Bylaw Resources
- Canadian Environmental Law Association - Pesticide Related Publication
- Toronto Public Health - Pesticide Related Resources and Publications
- Pesticide Bylaws in Canada - Population Statistics by Municipality. Mike Christie, 2005.
- Myth vs. Reality: A Bylaw to Control Cosmetic Use of Pesticides. Partnership for Pesticide Bylaws, 2004.
- Pesticide literature Review. Ontario College of Family Physicians 2004.
- Breaking the Law: Pesticide Advertising and Public Deception. Toronto Environmental Alliance 2002.
- Pesticides Used in Our Communities - Human Health and Environmental Impacts. Partnership for Pesticide Bylaws, 2002.
- Ontario-Wide Support for Municipal By-laws Restricting Pesticides : key findings of Ontario-wide public survey. Oracle Poll, commissioned by Toronto Environmental Alliance 2001.