The Region supports measures…

The Region supports measures to allow all day, off-peak delivery of goods to certain businesses and also through regulation give municipalities the authority to prohibit and control noise related to deliveries in specified areas. Off-peak delivery ensured that shelves were stocked with essential goods as the COVID emergency took hold in March 2020.

Peel has a significant goods movement, which contributes $49 billion to Peel's Region Gross Domestic
Product (GDP) per year and accounts for 21 per cent of Ontario’s goods movement related
GDP. However, the industry faces the key challenges of traffic congestion and emissions.

To address these challenges, the Region through the Smart Freight Centre partnership launched an Off-Peak Delivery (OPD) pilot, led by the University of Toronto. Major retailers (the LCBO, Loblaws and Walmart Canada) participated in the pilot and with the Region selected 14 stores based on locations with lower potential neighbourhood impacts and expected operational benefits. Peel's local municipalities (Brampton, Caledon and Mississauga) exempted the pilot from their noise by-laws so deliveries could be made in the evening. The pilot ran from February 2019 to August 2019.

Data collected from Peel’s Off-Peak Delivery Pilot have shown that:

 Average truck speed improved by 18.1 per cent and travel times were 15.3 per cent lower
during off-peak hours
 GHG emission factors (grams/km) decreased 10.6 per cent during off peak hours
 Air pollutants (CO, NOx, PM 10, PM 2.5) decreased, ranging from 11 to 15 per cent
 No noise complaints were reported

Peel’s OPD Pilot was a success and points to the benefits associated with off-peak delivery.
Moving deliveries to off-peak periods makes better use of available road capacity and reduces congestion for transit and other road users during peak travel time. Faster average truck speeds means lower levels of noxious air pollutants and lower GHG emissions. From a business perspective, the improvements in travel speed reduce costs and improve fuel efficiency, making businesses more competitive. Off peak deliveries do not appear to result in any noise-related complaints, which may be attributable to the design of the pilot to minimize noise impacts on the community.

Although the pilot did not result in any noise complaints, it is important that municipalities have the power to regulate any noise related to OPD so that residential areas and other noise sensitive locations are not negatively impacted. Regulations authorizing municipalities to prohibit and regulate noise related deliveries in specified areas is a solid step in the right direction.

For detailed commentary on ERO #019-2514 - Limiting municipalities from regulating noise related to the delivery of goods to certain businesses, please see the attached written submission from the Region of Peel.