Nuisance Party Bylaw

The Nuisance Party Bylaw helps police and bylaw officers deal with problems caused by large gatherings in neighbourhoods by targeting party-related behaviour. It helps police to order groups to end and non-residents to leave. Similar bylaws exist in other Ontario cities, connecting the gap between existing regulations and charges under the Criminal Code. 

Information for those attending or hosting a party 

The bylaws ensure that those hosting parties are responsible if those events get out of control. The authorities have the power to ask everyone to leave if they are causing problems in the neighbourhood or to issue an Administrative Monetary Penalty. 

Hosting or attending a nuisance party could make you liable to pay fees to Kingston Fire and Rescue, Kingston Police, and or municipal bylaw officers for having to be there. The current rate is $90 per officer, per hour (or part thereof). Failure to pay these fees may result in civil court action or recovery through a collections agency. 

Information for landlords 

If you are a landlord, you can be charged under the existing Nuisance Party Bylaw. If there is evidence that you have allowed a nuisance party to take place on your property, you can face charges. 

The bylaw also allows for a warning notice to be issued to you and prohibits you from hosting another nuisance party within two years.

Landlords can demonstrate that they have not “permitted” or “allowed” a nuisance party to occur by taking several steps: 

  1. Obtaining references from prospective tenants. 
  2. Including a provision in the tenancy agreement requiring tenants to comply with our Nuisance Party Bylaw. 
  3. Providing tenants with a copy of our Nuisance Party Bylaw. 
  4. Sending an email or written communications to tenants educating them on their responsibilities and obligations under the Nuisance Party Bylaw. 
  5. Regularly monitoring the property in accordance with the Residential Tenancies Act. 
  6. Taking timely and reasonable action to address complaints regarding social gatherings at the property. 

You will not be charged under the Nuisance Party Bylaw. As a landlord, you do not have to initiate eviction proceedings to prove that you did not “permit” or “allow” a party to happen on your property. 

Contact

Bylaw Enforcement
bylawenforcement
@cityofkingston.ca
Phone: 613-546-0000

The City of Kingston acknowledges that we are on the traditional homeland of the Anishinaabe, Haudenosaunee and the Huron-Wendat, and thanks these nations for their care and stewardship over this shared land.

Today, the City is committed to working with Indigenous peoples and all residents to pursue a united path of reconciliation.

Learn more about the City's reconciliation initiatives.

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