Citing noise, neighbours of Montreal daycare seek injunction to limit outdoor play time

Some residents living next to a daycare in Montreal's Outremont borough are seeking a court injunction to limit the hours children can play outdoors in the small yard behind the building, citing unacceptable noise levels that prevent them from "enjoying the premises peacefully."

About 60 children between the age of 18 months and five years attend Le Pitchounet, a publicly funded daycare (CPE) on Bloomfield Avenue in a residential neighbourhood.

The plaintiffs say the sound of kids playing surpasses 80 decibels, according to their measurements, and even shutting the windows does not dampen the sound much.

"The courtyard is surrounded by duplexes, and the stone and brick environment only serves to reverberate the sound and make the volume worse," the injunction request reads. 

"Such volume exceeds what can be tolerated in a residential neighbourhood." 

The residents are asking the Quebec Superior Court to order the City of Montreal, which is representing the borough of Outremont in the case, to limit the use of the backyard for the CPE to no more than two hours a day and solely for children between the ages of 18 and 24 months. 

The plaintiffs and their lawyers refused to be interviewed by Radio-Canada. 

Outdoor time a 'fundamental need'

In 2021, after the neighbours raised concerns about the children's noise, daycare officials agreed to limit outdoor play time to one hour for children between 18 and 24 months, as the older ones could be taken to a nearby park, according to Nathalie Plante, general director of the CPE. 

But after a while, those hours were deemed insufficient and the daycare asked the borough for permission to use the yard without restrictions.

The borough ruled in the daycare's favour this past August. All children now benefit from outdoor playtime three to four hours a day, said Plante. 

"We want the children to use the yard as they see fit. It's a fundamental need to go outside," she said Wednesday. 

Councillor Caroline Braun for the Jeanne-Sauvé district says the borough tried to let residents and daycare officials come to an agreement before stepping in.

She says while the borough understood its decision would have an impact on the surrounding residents of the daycare, it wasn't taken lightly. 

"It's a decision that was well thought through, that was well analyzed," said Braun, and taken "for the well-being of the children."

Plante, for her part, says it's disheartening to see the situation being brought before the court by the residents. 

"It's very sad to try to prevent children from playing outside because, according to them, they make too much noise," she said.

Surveillance camera pointed at daycare

As the parties wait for the Quebec Superior Court to make a decision on the injunction request, the kids are still allowed to play in the backyard at all times. 

But the recent discovery of a surveillance camera installed on a neighbour's home and pointed toward the daycare's backyard is causing a stir among staff and parents. 

"I don't know if they installed them or if the cameras were already there, but there was a sign … facing us that said, 'you're under surveillance,'" Plante said.

In the injunction request obtained and reviewed by CBC, there are several black-and-white photo submissions of young children and educators playing in the backyard.

"I find that completely unacceptable to film people in the yard," said Ariane Villeneuve-Dumas, the mother of a three-year-old child who attends the daycare. 

"Educators feel spied on, they don't feel comfortable doing their own jobs … it's an attack on their private lives," she said.

After the lawyer representing the daycare in the case intervened, Plante says she received a letter from the plaintiffs' lawyer on Tuesday saying the neighbour's camera has been turned to face away from the backyard and the images have been deleted. 

But for Villeneuve-Dumas, the harm has already been done. She also sees the injunction request as "deplorable."

"We're talking about children that want to use the yard of a daycare. It's little children's noise in reasonable hours of the day. I can't understand what could be so disruptive about that."