My neighbour's activities are making my Ontario property unusable — what legal options do I have?

In Ontario, a landowner has the right to reasonable use and enjoyment of their property. When a neighbour's activities — loud noise, vibrations, noxious odours, excessive light, or other interference — substantially and unreasonably interfere with your use and enjoyment, you may have a claim in private nuisance at common law.

To succeed in a nuisance claim, the interference must be more than a minor annoyance. Courts apply a reasonableness standard that considers the nature of the neighbourhood, the duration and frequency of the interference, and the sensitivity of the affected party. An occasional lawn mower is not nuisance; a commercial compressor running day and night in a residential neighbourhood likely is.

Your options include a letter of demand asking the neighbour to reduce or stop the interference, a complaint to the local municipality (which may have noise by-laws, zoning requirements, or property standards by-laws that apply), and, if those steps fail, an application to the Superior Court of Justice for an injunction requiring the neighbour to stop, and/or a damages claim for losses you have suffered.

In some situations, the municipality or an environmental regulator (such as the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks) may also have authority to require compliance. Collecting evidence — recordings, logs, photos, complaints filed — before and during any legal process is important.