‘Freeways in the sky’: Burnaby residents, mayor push for independent review of flight paths

A plane is silhouetted as it takes off from Vancouver International Airport in Richmond, B.C., Monday, May 13, 2019. One in five immigrants who come to Canada ultimately leave within 25 years, with about one third of those people going elsewhere within the first five years. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward)

Some Burnaby, B.C., residents want an independent review of the newly implemented flight paths due to airplane noise levels.

Stanis Smith lives in the Capitol Hill area and said he hears them fly overhead every two minutes. He added that when Nav Canada introduced the changes, the organization also provided a prediction that the noise levels would be around 55 dB.

“In actual fact, the noise that we’ve measured has doubled what they predicted,” he said.

“So, that’s why we, I and many other residents are asking for an independent review of these flight path changes, which have significantly impacted this neighbourhood.”

Referring to Nav Canada’s decision as “freeways in the sky,” Smith said, the organization has not been accountable to neighbours.

Burnaby Mayor Mike Hurley agrees and said residents are continually contacting him to share their concerns.

“People are seeing real, you know, big noisy effects for their communities, disturbing their sleep patterns, disturbing their quality of life,” he said.

Hurley wrote a letter to Nav Canada in June.

“So that our people can feel like they’re being heard,” he said.

“And up until this point, they haven’t been heard.”

Nav Canada response

In a statement to CTV News, Nav Canada said, “Given the local geography of the region, it is not possible to create new routes that completely avoid residential areas; however, Nav Canada attempted to place the new routes over industrial and commercial areas, park areas, bodies of water, and less populated areas where technically feasible and consistent with safe operations.”

The federal organization added that it has committed to a post-implementation review, is collecting resident feedback, and that a permanent noise monitor installed in North Burnaby in March is measuring aircraft noise.

Nav Canada added that it is considering Hurley’s request.

“We share the Mayor’s interest in ensuring any review activities support public confidence,” the statement concluded.

Tri-Cities mayors’ concerned

This isn’t the first time the new routes have drawn the ire of municipalities.

In 2023, the mayors of Port Coquitlam and Port Moody wanted Nav Canada to pause the plans, citing “inadequate notification of the project.”