By-laws and Enforcement

In the Municipality of Trent Lakes, we issue a variety of by-laws to keep our community clean and safe for all residents and visitors to enjoy. Review our by-laws and learn how to submit a by-law complaint. By-law Enforcement Officers work with property owners to ensure Municipal by-laws are adhered to.

If you have an emergency, please call 911 immediately.

Submit a By-law Complaint

All formal complaints must be submitted in writing using our online fillable by-law complaint form by clicking the button below. You may also download our By-law Complaint Form to submit at the office or via email.

Anonymous complaints will not be investigated.

 Submit a By-law Complaint Form

When Submitting a Complaint, You Must Provide:

• Your name, address and phone number (information about a complainant is confidential)
• The address of the property with the violation
• Details about the concern

The complaint will be sent to the Municipal By-law Enforcement Officer or, the Peterborough Humane Society. They will begin their investigation shortly after receiving the complaint form.

We may contact you during the investigation process for more information.

Please note that the Municipality will not provide status updates on active or closed investigations to the complainant or other parties.

After Hours Complaints

The Municipality of Trent Lakes offers an after hours complaint line, provided by TAS-Page Communication Services.

If the complaint is time sensitive, such as noise, fire and fireworks, TAS-Page will dispatch Maxama Protection Inc. to investigate the call within 24 hours.

If your complaint is not time sensitive, TAS-Page will direct you to fill out an online form, which will be investigated by Municipal staff during office hours.

Wondering what types of complaints Maxama Protection Inc. will investigate? Take a look at our after hours reference guide.

If you wish to use this service, you may call 1-705-738-3800 or 1-800-374-4009 extension 311 to be connected.

If you have an emergency, please call 911 immediately.

For all non-emergency OPP inquiries you may call 1-888-310-1122.

*After hours are defined as 4:30 PM to 8:30 AM, weekends, and statutory holidays. 

Administrative Monetary Penalty System (AMPS)

An Administrative Monetary Penalty (AMP) is a penalty imposed directly by the Municipality to an offender. Every person who contravenes a provision of a by-law listed in the AMPS By-law shall be issued a Penalty Notice by an Officer appointed by the Municipality and will be required to pay the Municipality an Administrative Penalty in an amount specified. A Penalty Notice is very much the same as a parking “ticket”, except it requires payment of a penalty instead of a fine.

The person may either pay the Administrative Penalty within 15 days of the Penalty Notice or may request the Administrative Penalty be reviewed by a Screening Officer. If payment is paid, the file is closed. If a person wishes to have his or her Penalty Notice reviewed by a Screening Officer, please follow the steps below.

• The offender shall email or submit in person the AMPS Screening Form to the Municipality within 15 days of the Penalty Notice.  
• A Screening Officer will contact the offender about their AMPS penalty and setup a hearing date either in person, or virtually.
• If a resolution cannot be reached, the person can request that the matter be further appealed and heard by an independent Hearing Officer for a more formal review by completing the AMPS Hearing Appeal Form.
• If fines are not paid and a Screening Form has not been received within 15 days of the date of Penalty issuance, the penalty can be added to municipal taxes.

All forms can be downloaded from our Licenses, Applications and Permits page.

Types of By-laws

View our By-law Enforcement Guide for quick reference to the most common by-law questions.