Transport Canada is looking at changes to regulations on noise from boat engines, and organizations in B.C. are urging people to report excessively loud engines to shape future enforcement.

“It is like a jet flying directly over you. That’s the level of sound that we’re trying to abate,” said Gary Milne, the chair of the Shuswap and Mara Lakes Decibel Coalition. 

The coalition is part of a national network of organizations advocating for quieter – but not silent – lakes, said Milne.

He said motorboats that use standard underwater exhausts – like the ones he and his friends own – make noise, but are not deafening.

But the society wants motorboats that exceed 88 decibels to be regulated.

“It’s ear piercing,” he said of noise from loud boats. “It will stop conversation on a beach.”

Milne said excessively loud boats are particularly an issue in the Shuswap region, in B.C.’s southern Interior, as the mountains that surround Shuswap and Mara lakes amplify noisy engines and above-water exhaust systems.

Milne said changes to small vessel regulations in the Canada Shipping Act targeting excessive noise are expected to be released in the next year.

Sau Sau Liu, senior communications adviser for Transport Canada, confirmed in a statement that the development of decibel-related requirements is underway as part of a broader modernization of small vessel regulations.

In the meantime, Milne said the federal government and RCMP are collecting data this summer on noise complaints to shape next year’s enforcement.

“There’s now something you can do. If you hear it, report it,” said Milne.

Milne said that RCMP typically only patrol Shuswap Lake for a handful of days each summer.

He said the coalition hopes that reporting excessively loud boats this summer will lead to an increased RCMP presence on Shuswap and Mara lakes after the updated regulations are released.

In March 2022, Transport Canada ran an online public survey on small vessel noise emission regulations. It found the majority of respondents felt engine noise regulation changes were long overdue and wanted action.

The department said most respondents also felt decibel limits for manufacturers and operators are needed, adding that people said the issue of noisy vessels is likely to worsen if no changes are made.

Some communities and regional districts across B.C. have implemented boat noise control bylaws, including the Okanagan Region and Kootenay National Park.

The Regional District of the Central Okanagan, which governs Okanagan Lake, passed a bylaw in 2004 prohibiting excessively loud motorboats, and requiring exhausts be muffled or underwater. In the Central Okanagan region, people found in violation of the noise bylaw can be fined, and police have the authority to impound offending boats.

Transport Canada said owners who think their boat’s engine is producing excessive noise should have their vessel serviced to ensure the engine is operating efficiently and that the exhaust system is functioning as intended.