FAQs

The Community Standards Bylaw is a new initiative funded by the provincial government to address minor anti-social behaviors outside of the criminal justice system. It empowers the RCMP and Community Peace Officers to manage offenses like public disturbances, vandalism, graffiti, fighting, aggressive panhandling, and public disorder at the municipal level and outside of the criminal justice system alone.  

Historically, minor offenses like public disturbances and vandalism were handled solely by the RCMP, which often led to delays, resource strain and reliance on an overburdened justice system. This bylaw helps reduce that burden, offering a more efficient, local response while allowing the RCMP to focus on more serious criminal offenses.

The bylaw consolidates and updates several older bylaws and provides a more efficient way of managing minor social offenses like public disturbances, vandalism, graffiti, fighting, aggressive panhandling, and public disorder.  Additionally, the bylaw proposes reducing the permitted hours for construction activities on both weekdays and weekends. The recommended hours would maintain robust building activity in our community while demonstrating responsiveness to citizen feedback about the impact of construction noise

The bylaw will continue to addresses nuisances such as unsightly properties, littering, graffiti and noise control in residential and non-residential areas. Additionally, the bylaw supports Cochrane’s long-term vision, which includes maintaining clean and safe public spaces, enhancing traffic safety, preserving natural areas and preserving the town’s small-town character.

RCMP and Community Peace Officers will be responsible for enforcing the new bylaw. They will have the authority to issue tickets and penalties for violations related to noise, vandalism and other social disorder offenses.

The bylaw specifies a penalty schedule for each offense, including public disturbances, vandalism, graffiti and noise violations. The fines associated with these offenses are outlined in the bylaw under Schedule A. You can find the bylaw on our main page under 'documents.'

No. The new bylaw affects how complaints related to construction noise are enforced, not how you submit a complaint. The only change in the bylaw regarding noise pertains to construction hours, which have been shortened by 1 hour on weekdays (Mon-Sat) and 2 hours on Sundays. The process for submitting a complaint remains the same.

There is no change to this process. Residents can submit a complaint through the Town of Cochrane app, our website, by email or by phone:

• Website: https://www.cochrane.ca/town-services/public-safety/municipal-enforcement. 
• Phone: 403-851-2532
• Email:peace.officers@cochrane.ca

The public will have a two-week period to comment on the proposed changes. Feedback gathered from the public will be summarized into themes and presented to Council for their consideration.