Cambridge council could ban sale of fireworks in the city

The City of Cambridge is considering following in the footsteps of Kitchener and Waterloo by implementing a ban on the sale of fireworks.

City council was presented with a report this week, outlining changes to the fireworks bylaw that are a near carbon copy of the adjustments made by councils in Kitchener and Waterloo last month.

The report was created by a regional working group made up of representatives from all three cities and four municipalities in Waterloo Region.

The group conducted public surveys and looked at recent fireworks bylaw changes across other municipalities including Woodstock, Caledon, Brampton and Vancouver.

Those policies, along with the results of the surveys, helped inform the working groups recommendations.

Those recommendations include:

• Further restricting the time to display fireworks to a two-hour window between 9 p.m. and 11 p.m. For Diwali that window is between 8 p.m. and 10 p.m.
• Increasing administrative penalties from $250 per violation, with $100 for a second and $200 for a third, to $1,000 for a first offence with increasing fines for subsequent offences.
• Fully ban the sale of fireworks in city limits. That would come into effect January 2026.

The cities of Kitchener and Waterloo banned fireworks sales in May.

The report from staff also included data showing a major increase in complaints about fireworks use in Cambridge. There were 79 complaints logged in 2024. That is up from just 17 in 2023. There were 39 in 2022.

Council will vote to adopt the recommendations at a meeting on June 17.