Noise from Microsoft Montreal Lab keeps Mile-Ex residents up at night

Marine Agogu was enjoying dinner with her family on her third-floor balcony in Montreal's Mile-Ex neighbourhood one evening in late May, when they were interrupted by what sounded like a helicopter overhead.

Agogu soon realized that the strange, obtrusive noise was coming from the ventilation system of a building that had recently gone up about a five-minute walk from her house Microsoft Research Montreal's new lab, located at 6795 Marconi Street.

The building is still unoccupied, but Agogu and her neighbours have been plagued by the noise, round the clock, since the ventilation system kicked in on May 25.

The recent hot weather has made things even worse, Agogu said.

"We couldn't open the window at night because of the noise," Agogu said. "Our two bedrooms face the building, and during last week's heat wave, it was 29 degrees in my kid's room. She's 15 months old."

She and her neighbours have launched a petition, calling for the building's owner, Canderel, to do something about the noise. They've already collected more than 500 signatures. They've also gone to the RosemontLa Petite-Patrie borough to complain.

"It's really hard on people's well-being, their mental health," said Paul Litherland, who lives a block and a half away from the new building. "It's already a stressful time."

"I think it's pretty crazy that a company selling to a high-end client would install a poorly functioning system," he said.

"This is not new technology."

Elana Wright, who's lived in the neighbourhood for 15 years, was excited about the lab's arrival, at first. But now, she says she is desperate to escape the noise.

"You just can't relax," Wright said. "Whenever one person says 'I'm leaving for the day,' we all say, 'You're so lucky to be leaving the sound.'"

In a statement, Canderel told CBC News it's aware of the noise issue and the community concerns, and it is working with the building's construction team and engineers to correct the problem.

"We are optimistic that a satisfactory solution" will be found soon, Canderel said.

The borough has checked the noise levels and confirmed they're higher than what's allowed. A spokesperson told CBC News the borough has raised the issue with Canderel and will remain in talks with the building owner until the problem is resolved.