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No statewide law

Ontario

Last checked October 29, 2026

By Peter Benes and Adrienne Kmetz, editors. Updated October 29, 2026.

Ontario has no province-wide dark-sky statute, so rules are municipal. Windsor By-law 146-2025 requires full cut-off fixtures and caps pathway lights at 20 lumens. Huntsville (2016) requires full cut-off fixtures, with existing lights due by January 2026. Muskoka Lakes requires full cut-off fixtures and advises 2,700 K or less. Mississauga's 2012 by-law bans glaring floodlights. Torrance Barrens (1999) is among many RASC preserves.

StatuteCitationYear
Nuisance Indoor and Outdoor Illumination By-lawBy-law 146-2025, City of Windsor (passed September 8, 2025)2025
Outdoor Lighting By-lawTown of Huntsville (passed January 2016; by-law number not stated on the town page)2016
Dark Sky By-lawTownship of Muskoka Lakes (original By-law 2014-029, passed April 17, 2014; current version in force)2014
Nuisance Lighting By-lawBy-law 262-12, City of Mississauga (December 12, 2012)2012

Municipal codes

  • Windsor: By-law 146-2025: full cut-off or fully shielded luminaires, pathway lights 20 lumens or less, dock lights 10 lumens, landscape lighting 350 lumens, architectural and landscape lighting off 11 p.m. to sunrise, and sport courts capped at 250 lux. No color temperature limit.
  • Huntsville: Outdoor Lighting By-law (January 2016): full cut-off fixtures aimed downward, immediate compliance for new developments, existing fixtures by January 2026. The town advises 2,700 K or lower and fixtures under 1,000 lumens; open-water ice lights may not be white or red.
  • Muskoka Lakes: Dark Sky By-law: full cut-off fixtures, 2,700 K or less advised, dock lights 10 lumens, pathway lights 20 lumens, and architectural and landscape lighting off 11 p.m. to sunrise in residential and waterfront zones, with compliance there by June 1, 2027.
  • Seguin Township: Council adopted a dark-sky outdoor lighting by-law on June 1, 2026 with a nightly curfew on outdoor and festive lighting; dock and pathway lights are exempt. See seguin.ca for the full text.
  • Mississauga: Nuisance Lighting By-law 262-12 (December 12, 2012) bans laser, flood, spot, and flashing lights that project onto neighbours and lighting causing glare or trespass. Fines reach $10,000 for individuals and $50,000 for corporations on a first offence.
  • North Frontenac: On August 3, 2013 the township became the first municipality in Canada to receive RASC Dark-Sky Preserve status, for the North Frontenac Astronomy Park. The township also has an Outdoor Lighting Policy.
  • Toronto: No dedicated lighting by-law. The Property Standards Bylaw requires owners to reduce impacts on neighbours, such as shielding lights and headlights from shining directly into homes; complaints go to 311.

Certified dark sky places in Ontario

Bringing your own outdoor lighting up to the same standard? See Dark-Sky Friendly Outdoor Lighting.

Sources