Gas Leaf Blower Bans in Canada

The short answer

No province or territory bans gas leaf blowers, and neither does the federal government. The bans are municipal: 7 places in Quebec, all in the Montreal area, restrict gas or two-stroke blowers in the table below. Toronto has no gas blower ban. Its noise bylaw limits every power device, gas or electric, to 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekends and holidays, with a $500 ticket for using one outside those hours.

Three things hold up across every source below:

1. Federal rules set emission standards for new small engines, not where you can use them. Environment and Climate Change Canada's Off-Road Small Spark-Ignition Engine Emission Regulations apply to engines sold in Canada and do not ban gas blowers.¹
2. A ban in one Montreal borough does not cover the next one. Montreal sets these rules borough by borough, and the City said in October 2024 that gas blowers were banned in Ville-Marie, Outremont and Côte-des-Neiges-Notre-Dame-de-Grâce.²
3. Most large cities regulate blowers through their noise bylaws, by the hour and sometimes by decibel level, without treating gas and electric differently.

Toronto: no gas blower ban, but hours and a $500 ticket

The rule today. Toronto Municipal Code Chapter 591, Noise, treats a leaf blower as a "power device": equipment not driven by muscle power that is used to maintain property or lawns. Section 591-2.6 bars sound from a power device from 7 p.m. until 8 a.m. the next day, except until 9 a.m. on Saturdays, Sundays and statutory holidays. It applies to gas, electric and battery equipment alike. The 8 a.m. weekday start has applied since September 1, 2022, when By-law 1102-2022 moved it from 7 a.m.^{3, 4}

Who is charged and how much. The bylaw reaches anyone who emits the sound or causes or permits it, which covers the operator and can cover the company or property owner who has the work done. The City's set fine for using a power device during the prohibited hours is $500. A conviction in court can bring a fine of up to $100,000, plus up to $10,000 for each day an offence continues. Toronto does not use administrative penalties for noise.^{3, 5}

The exemptions. The hours do not apply to a power device used to maintain a golf course or a public park, or to carry out City operations, including services the City contracts out. A crew working a City contract is under that exemption; the same crew on a private lawn next door is not.³

How council got here. Toronto has looked at a gas or two-stroke ban several times and has not adopted one:

• September 2020 (2020.IE15.8): council asked staff to report on the health and environmental effects of two-stroke leaf blowers, including a year-round or May to September ban.
• December 2021 (2021.IE26.16): in its net zero plan, council supported a ban on two-stroke leaf blowers, lawn mowers and other small engine equipment and asked for a report on how to do it.
• July 2022 (2022.EC31.4): council moved the weekday start for power devices to 8 a.m., exempted City operations and contracted services, and asked Parks, Forestry and Recreation for a plan to phase out its gas equipment.
• July 2023 (2023.IE5.1): staff found the evidence was not enough to recommend a ban. Council voted to support a two-stroke ban anyway, with bylaw work to start only if the 2024 budget funded it. No bylaw followed.
• May 21, 2025 (2025.IE21.4): staff offered a phased ban, with small two-stroke equipment banned from January 1, 2030, two-stroke leaf blowers from January 1, 2031 (with a fall leaf exemption) and all two-stroke equipment from January 1, 2033, and the property owner responsible. Council chose the other option instead: lead by example and educate. It directed that new City landscaping contracts say two-stroke gas engines may not be used where zero-emission equipment is available, and asked for a progress report in 2027.⁶

What that means if you work in Toronto. On private property you can run a gas blower within the hours, and the hours are the same for battery equipment. On new City landscaping contracts, expect a clause against two-stroke gas engines where electric equipment can do the job. The 2027 report is the next point where a ban could come back, so if you bid multi-year work in Toronto, put a change-in-law clause in the contract (wording under what it means for a landscaping business).

Map and reference table: 7 places checked October 2026

Jump to a province: Quebec (7) · All provinces and territories

Last checked: October 30, 2026. Each row was read from the municipality's bylaw, an official notice, or the City of Montreal's own page for the borough, and links to that source. Quebec bylaws are in French; the rows give the facts in English and the sources link to the French text. Fines are in Canadian dollars. "Not stated" means the official page we read did not say.

A row marked "Electric limited too" means electric blowers also face a seasonal or similar limit beyond ordinary hours, so a battery crew can still be cited there.

Gas leaf blower rules in Quebec (7 places)

No Quebec law on gas leaf blowers that we found. Rules are set by each municipality and, in Montreal, by each borough, so they can change from one street to the next.

Place	The rule	Who is cited	Penalty
Côte-des-Neiges-Notre-Dame-de-Grâce (Montreal) Year-round Electric limited too	Leaf blowers and leaf vacuums with two-stroke gas engines are banned at all times. All other leaf blowers are banned June 1 to September 30. From October 1 to May 31 they may run 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays and 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturdays, never on Sundays or holidays. Equipment, exemptions and details Equipment: Leaf blowers and leaf vacuums with a two-stroke gasoline engine. Four-stroke gas, corded and battery blowers are allowed only in the October to May hours. Bylaw: RCA23 17389, Règlement sur le bruit (Côte-des-Neiges-Notre-Dame-de-Grâce) Borough of Côte-des-Neiges-Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, Règlement sur le bruit (RCA23 17389), Article 44, adopted October 10, 2023 and in force October 12, 2023 per the borough's promulgation notice, which reproduces the bylaw text. The City says the borough first adopted the two-stroke ban and summer ban as an amendment to its noise bylaw on June 7, 2022; the date that amendment took effect was not found, so in_effect is null. The bylaw page on montreal.ca/reglements-municipaux could not be fetched (robots blocked). Sources: Ville de Montréal, Arrondissement de Côte-des-Neiges-Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, Avis public, promulgation, RCA23 17389 Règlement sur le bruit (October 12, 2023); Ville de Montréal, Restriction de l'usage des souffleurs à feuilles à CDN-NDG (updated September 19, 2023). Checked October 30, 2026.	Any person who creates, lets continue or permits the noise (Article 4). The person making the noise can be prosecuted, and so can any owner or person who occupies or operates the place and permits it or lets it continue (Article 5).	Individuals, $675 to $2,000 for a first offence and $1,350 to $4,000 for a repeat. Companies, $2,000 to $10,000 for a first offence and $4,000 to $20,000 for a repeat (Article 46).
Hampstead Seasonal	Gas leaf blowers cannot be used from June 1 to September 30. The rest of the year, gas landscaping equipment may run 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekends, and not on the non-work days listed in the bylaw. Equipment, exemptions and details Equipment: Leaf blowers with gasoline engines. Electric and other motorized equipment may not run between 7 p.m. and 7 a.m., with no summer ban. Bylaw: By-law 795-2, Règlement concernant les nuisances Town of Hampstead By-law 795-2, Règlement concernant les nuisances, Article 4.4 e), definition in Article 1.14. Checked in the unofficial consolidation of September 30, 2025 (through amendment 795-2-20); the same text is in the January 10, 2023 consolidation. The amendment notes on Article 4.4 cite 795-5 and 795-6 (2015), 795-9 (in force November 16, 2020) and 795-10 (in force June 7, 2021), but do not say which one added the June to September gas blower ban, so the start date is unknown. Non-work days are listed in Annex 1-B. Sources: Town of Hampstead, Règlement concernant les nuisances 795-2, consolidation through 795-2-20 (September 30, 2025), Règlement concernant les nuisances 795-2, consolidation through 795-2-15 (January 10, 2023). Checked October 30, 2026.	Any person who breaks the rule or permits it to be broken (Article 12.1). Town employees, public utilities and private contractors hired by the Town are exempt (Article 4.7).	Individuals, $150 to $1,000 for a first offence and $300 to $2,000 for a repeat. Companies, $300 to $1,000 for a first offence and $600 to $2,000 for a repeat (Article 12.1).
Montreal West Year-round Electric limited too	Gas-powered leaf blowers and leaf vacuums are banned at all times from November 1, 2023. Electric blowers are allowed only April 15 to May 1 and November 1 to November 30, on weekdays 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturdays 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., never on Sundays or holidays. In effect: November 1, 2023 Equipment, exemptions and details Equipment: Gas-powered leaf blowers and leaf vacuums. Other blowers are allowed only in the spring and fall windows, must not exceed 65 dBA at 15.24 metres (50 feet), and may not blow leaves onto curbs, sidewalks, streets or other public property, or onto other private property. Bylaw: By-law No. 456, Concerning nuisance, noise and public security Town of Montreal West By-law No. 456, Concerning nuisance, noise and public security, Article 8.2 (gas ban in paragraph f), administrative consolidation dated May 3, 2023. The consolidation cites By-law 456-9 among the amendments to Article 8.2. Council passed the change in late September 2022 (The Suburban). The Town's own use of blowers is exempt. Sources: Town of Montreal West, By-law No. 456 concerning nuisance, noise and public security (administrative consolidation, May 3, 2023); The Suburban (secondary), MoWest prohibits gas-powered leaf blowers in 2023 (October 12, 2022). Checked October 30, 2026.	The proprietor, tenant or occupant of a building who uses or permits the use of the blower (Article 8). The penalty article also reaches anyone who commits the prohibited act.	First offence, $300 to $1,000 for an individual and $600 to $2,000 for a company. Repeat offence, $500 to $2,000 for an individual and $1,000 to $4,000 for a company. Each day the offence continues can be fined (Article 27).
Outremont (Montreal) Year-round	Gas leaf blowers are banned in Outremont. Only electric blowers are allowed, and they may not run before 8:30 a.m. or after 7 p.m. on weekdays, before 10 a.m. or after 5 p.m. on Saturdays, or at any time on Sundays and holidays, except for emergency work. In effect: 2023 Equipment, exemptions and details Equipment: Gas-powered leaf blowers and leaf vacuums. Electric blowers are allowed within the hours above, which also apply to motorized garden equipment. Bylaw: AO-269, Règlement relatif à l'utilisation des souffleurs-aspirateurs à feuilles et aux appareils de jardinage motorisés, as amended (amending bylaw number not found) The City page (updated July 29, 2024) says the ban took effect in 2023 but gives no day, and names no bylaw. The borough's September 6, 2022 council agenda (items 40.03 and 40.04) lists a notice of motion and draft bylaw amending the Règlement relatif à l'utilisation des souffleurs-aspirateurs à feuilles et aux appareils de jardinage motorisés (AO-269) to ban gas-powered leaf blowers. The number of the adopted amending bylaw was not found. The bylaw text itself was not opened. Sources: Ville de Montréal, Arrondissement d'Outremont, Seuls les souffleurs à feuilles électriques sont autorisés à Outremont (updated July 29, 2024), Ordre du jour, séance ordinaire du conseil d'arrondissement, September 6, 2022. Checked October 30, 2026.	The user of the gas blower, per the City page. The page does not say whether a property owner can also be cited.	A ticket of $300 for a first offence and $500 for a repeat for an individual, and $600 and $1,000 for a company, per the City page. The same amounts apply to using equipment outside the allowed hours.
Saint-Lambert Year-round	Gas leaf blowers are banned at all times since May 1, 2022. All leaf blowers are limited to Monday to Friday 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturdays and holidays 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and are banned on Sundays. Gas lawn mowers and other gas yard tools are banned from May 1, 2028. May 1, 2022: Gas leaf blowers banned at all times May 1, 2028: Gas lawn mowers, and gas hedge trimmers, edgers, pressure washers and similar devices, banned at all times Equipment, exemptions and details Equipment: Leaf blowers and similar devices powered by a gasoline engine. Electric and battery blowers are allowed within the bylaw's hours. Bylaw: By-law 2006-19, Règlement concernant les nuisances (Nuisances By-law), article 5.13, as amended by By-laws 2020-19-4 and 2021-19-5 Article 5.13 b) also bans gas blowers June 1 to September 30; the date that seasonal ban first applied was not confirmed. City installations and work by municipal or public utility services are exempt (section 5). By-law 2025-19-6, adopted May 20, 2025, adds a ban on gas lawn mowers and on gas hedge trimmers, edgers, pressure washers and similar devices from May 1, 2028, and limits all mowers to Monday to Saturday, 7 a.m. to 9 p.m., with no Sunday use. The consolidated bylaw is an administrative version dated May 22, 2025. Sources: Ville de Saint-Lambert, Règlement concernant les nuisances (2006-19), codification administrative 2025-05-22, Règlement 2025-19-6 modifiant le règlement concernant les nuisances, Avis d'entrée en vigueur, Règlement 2025-19-6. Checked October 30, 2026.	Anyone who breaks the bylaw. Article 8.2 names the owner, tenant, occupant or contractor, whether a person or a company.	First offence, $100 to $1,000 for an individual and $200 to $2,000 for a company. Repeat offence, $200 to $2,000 for an individual and $400 to $4,000 for a company. Court costs are added, and each day an offence continues is a separate offence (article 8.2).
Verdun (Montreal) Year-round Electric limited too	Leaf blowers with a two-stroke engine are banned in Verdun. All leaf blowers are banned December 1 to March 31 and June 1 to September 30, and from 9 p.m. to 7 a.m. on weekdays and 9 p.m. to 9 a.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. Equipment, exemptions and details Equipment: Leaf blowers with a two-stroke engine. Other blowers, including electric ones, are limited to April 1 to May 31 and October 1 to November 30, within the hours above. Bylaw: RCA10 210012, Règlement modificateur portant sur le Règlement sur la propreté, les nuisances et les parcs de l'arrondissement de Verdun City page updated October 15, 2025. The two-stroke ban is in RCA10 210012, an amending bylaw to the Règlement sur la propreté, les nuisances et les parcs de l'arrondissement de Verdun. The page gives no effective date. The bylaw text itself was not opened (montreal.ca/reglements-municipaux is robots blocked). Source: Ville de Montréal, Arrondissement de Verdun, Entretien de son terrain, règlements à respecter à Verdun (updated October 15, 2025). Checked October 30, 2026.	Not stated. The City page names no responsible party.	Not stated. The City page gives no fines.
Ville-Marie (Montreal) Year-round	Leaf blowers and leaf vacuums with a two-stroke gas engine are banned in Ville-Marie. Electric and battery blowers may not be used at all on Sundays and holidays, or after 7 p.m. on other days. Equipment, exemptions and details Equipment: Leaf blowers or leaf vacuums with a two-stroke gasoline engine. The page does not address four-stroke gas blowers. Electric and battery blowers are allowed within the hours above. Bylaw: Règlement sur le civisme, le respect et la propreté (Ville-Marie), number not stated City page updated November 7, 2025. Its regulation section lists the Règlement sur le civisme, le respect et la propreté as the main applicable bylaw but gives no bylaw number, article or effective date. The bylaw text itself was not opened. Source: Ville de Montréal, Arrondissement de Ville-Marie, Les souffleurs à feuilles... à proscrire! (updated November 7, 2025). Checked October 30, 2026.	Not stated. The City page does not say whether the user, the contractor or the property owner is cited.	The City page says a fine of $250 to $2,000 could apply. It does not split the amount by individual or company, or by first or repeat offence.

Reported, but not in the table yet

Outremont, Ville-Marie and Verdun are in the table from the City of Montreal's own pages, because Montreal's bylaw site could not be read this month; their rows say so. Westmount and Le Sud-Ouest are reported to restrict gas blowers, but we could not confirm a current gas-specific rule, so they are not in the table yet. Beaconsfield and Baie-D'Urfé restrict every blower, not only gas (see the Montreal section).

Montreal: borough by borough

There is no city-wide gas blower ban in Montreal. Each borough sets its own rule, and so does each of the island's independent municipalities, which is why a crew can cross a street and change rules. In October 2024 the City said gas leaf blowers were banned in three boroughs: Ville-Marie, Outremont and Côte-des-Neiges-Notre-Dame-de-Grâce.² Verdun bans two-stroke blowers and bans every blower in winter and summer, and on-island towns such as Montreal West and Hampstead have their own bylaws. All of these are in the table.

Off the island, Saint-Lambert on the South Shore has banned gas leaf blowers at all times since May 1, 2022, and its bylaw adds gas lawn mowers, hedge trimmers and similar tools from May 1, 2028. It is in the table.

Some nearby rules cover every blower, not only gas, so they are not rows: Beaconsfield bans all leaf blowers from June 1 to September 30, Côte Saint-Luc allows them only from September 1 to May 31, Baie-D'Urfé limits them by the hour and requires a 65 dBA rating label, and Laval limits blower noise by the hour. Check them if your route crosses into them.⁷

Gas leaf blower rules by province

Every province and territory in one list: how many places on this page are in it and what we found. A province with no places in the table may still have municipalities with rules we have not confirmed, so treat a blank as "not checked yet", not as "allowed". For the United States, see gas leaf blower bans by city and state.

No places in the table yet: New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Prince Edward Island, Saskatchewan, Yukon. None of their municipalities are in the table yet, which does not mean none has a bylaw.

Vancouver, Ottawa, Calgary and other cities

Outside the Montreal area we found no gas-specific bylaw. Most large cities limit when any blower or power tool can run, gas or electric, and some add a noise limit. These are the rules as each city's own bylaw or bylaw page states them:

Two cities have looked at gas blowers and stopped short of a bylaw. In Vancouver, a December 13, 2023 staff memo did not recommend a City ban on gas landscaping equipment and pointed to a possible Metro Vancouver approach for the region. In Halifax, a July 5, 2023 staff report recommended against banning gas leaf blowers. We will add a city to the table if it adopts a gas-specific bylaw.

Recent changes and upcoming dates

The dates below come from the rows above and move as they pass. If you bid multi-year contracts, the rule at the end of the contract is not always the rule at the start of it.

Coming up

• May 1, 2028, Saint-Lambert, QC: Gas lawn mowers, and gas hedge trimmers, edgers, pressure washers and similar devices, banned at all times.

Change log

• October 30, 2026: First version: seven places in Quebec, the Toronto noise bylaw and council history, the leaf blower rules in other large cities, and the provinces map.

What it means for a landscaping business

Who gets the ticket decides who pays. Most Quebec bylaws in the table reach anyone who makes the noise or permits it, which covers your crew and the client. Where a client can be fined, a quote line for electric-only service is easy to explain. Where only the operator can be, the switch is your cost of working in that borough and belongs in your base rate there.

Hours cost time. In Toronto the weekday start moved from 7 a.m. to 8 a.m. in 2022, and weekend work cannot start before 9 a.m. On a route with an early first stop, that hour has to come from somewhere. Plan the first stop of the day around the strictest municipality on the route.

Put the rule in the contract. Two clauses cover most of it. Equipment: "Contractor will use electric equipment at properties where gas-powered leaf blowers are restricted by municipal bylaw." Change in law: "If a municipal bylaw adopted or taking effect during the term restricts equipment used under this agreement, the parties will adjust the scope or price in writing before the change takes effect." Adapt them with your own counsel. The commercial lawn maintenance contract guide shows where they fit, and the landscaping pricing guide covers building the cost into a rate.

How to check your own municipality

1. Search the municipality or borough name with "leaf blower bylaw" (or "souffleur à feuilles règlement" in Quebec) and open the result on the municipality's own site.
2. Find the bylaw itself, not only a news story or a summary page, and read how it defines the equipment: two-stroke, gas, or every blower.
3. Note the dates and hours, then put any start date on your calendar.
4. Find who can be charged and the fine schedule. If the bylaw does not say, email the bylaw enforcement office and keep the reply.

In Montreal, check the borough, not only the city. In Toronto, Chapter 591 of the Municipal Code is the place to look.

Questions people ask

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Sources and further reading

Every place in the table links to its own official source in its row. Other sources:

1. Environment and Climate Change Canada, Off-Road Small Spark-Ignition Engine Emission Regulations, questions and answers (emission standards for new engines; in French).
2. Ville de Montréal, news release on fall yard waste, October 30, 2024 (gas leaf blowers banned in Ville-Marie, Outremont and Côte-des-Neiges-Notre-Dame-de-Grâce; in French).
3. City of Toronto, Municipal Code Chapter 591, Noise (section 591-2.6, power devices; section 591-4.1, penalties).
4. City of Toronto, By-law 1102-2022 (8 a.m. weekday start from September 1, 2022).
5. City of Toronto, Noise, bylaw enforcement (set fines).
6. City of Toronto, 2025.IE21.4, Transitioning Towards Zero-Emission Outdoor Power Equipment (council decision, May 21, 2025), with the staff report of April 23, 2025. Earlier items: 2020.IE15.8, 2021.IE26.16, 2022.EC31.4, 2023.IE5.1.
7. Ville de Beaconsfield, Being a good neighbour (By-law BEAC-033); Ville de Côte Saint-Luc, By-law 2470-2 (leaf blowers allowed September 1 to May 31); Village of Baie-D'Urfé, By-law No. 969; Ville de Laval, By-law L-12423 (noise hours).

This page is a reference summary, not legal advice. Bylaws, dates and fines change. Confirm each rule with the municipality before you quote or sign.