Posted by: City of Ottawa
Starting in 2025, the maximum idling times for vehicles in Ottawa are changing to help make Ottawa’s air cleaner.
Idling times for vehicles on public and private property are set in the City’s Idling Control By-law. Earlier this fall, City Council approved the following by-law changes to take effect on Wednesday, January 1, 2025:
- Maximum idling time will be three minutes per hour when the outside temperature is between 0 C and 27 C for occupied vehicles.
- Maximum idling time will be 10 minutes per hour when the outside temperature is colder than 0 C or warmer than 27 C for occupied vehicles.
- For unoccupied vehicles, the maximum idling time limit is one minute per hour, regardless of the temperature.
Exceptions continue to exist for certain vehicles and situations including:
- Emergency vehicles
- Transit buses and vehicles, when picking up and discharging passengers
- Farm vehicles
- Vehicles required to remain motionless because of an emergency, traffic, weather condition or mechanical problem, over which the driver has no control
By reducing unnecessary vehicle idling, we are lowering greenhouse gas emissions and improving Ottawa’s air quality. If every Ottawa driver reduced daily idling in their vehicles by two minutes, carbon dioxide emissions would decrease by about 31.2 million kilograms a year – or, we estimate, the equivalent of removing 6,780 vehicles from our roads.
In 2007, the City of Ottawa took steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve air quality by enacting the Idling Control By-law. Throughout 2024, as directed by City Council, staff reviewed the Idling Control By-law and consulted with the community and industry partners to inform the proposed changes.