Expansion of Ontario’s Deposit Return Program

The Public Gallery wrote no story on this item. What follows is the city’s own record of what happened to it, as filed: nothing on this page is summarised or scored by us.

The decision

2026-06-24 · Toronto City Council · adopted

As filed

City Council on June 24 and 25, 2026, adopted the following: 1. City Council request the City Manager to send a letter of support to the Province of Ontario, asking to immediately implement a deposit-return program for non-alcoholic beverage containers. 2. City Council request the City Manager to send a copy of this item to the Honourable Doug Ford, Premier of Ontario, the Honourable Todd McCarthy, Minister of the Environment,

Show the rest of As filed, 127 more characters as filed

Conservation, and Parks, the Association of Municipalities of Ontario, and all Region of Peel Members of Provincial Parliament.

The vote

Adopt Item · Carried, 18-3

For (18)Alejandra Bravo, Amber Morley, Ausma Malik, Dianne Saxe, Frances Nunziata, Gord Perks, Jamaal Myers, Jon Burnside, Josh Matlow, Lily Cheng, Michael Thompson, Mike Colle, Neethan Shan, Nick Mantas, Olivia Chow, Parthi Kandavel, Paul Ainslie, Shelley Carroll

Against (3)Brad Bradford, James Pasternak, Stephen Holyday

Absent (5)Anthony Perruzza, Chris Moise, Paula Fletcher, Rachel Chernos Lin, Vincent Crisanti

The whole record, all 26 members

Every name opens that member’s record.

On the agenda

As the city filed it

Ontario operates a successful deposit return system for alcohol, seeing an average of 75 percent of all empties returned to Beer Stores each year. The deposit return provides a consumer incentive to consciously recycle. This system must be expanded to include all beverage containers. Ontario is one of Canada's only provinces without a deposit-return program for non-alcoholic beverages. As a result, Ontario has the lowest beverage container recovery rate in Canada - at roughly 50 percent of containers being recycled.

Show the rest of As the city filed it, 584 more characters as filed

Other provinces such as Alberta, British Columbia, and Nova Scotia have an expanded deposit return program and see recovery rates 50 percent higher than Ontario. The Ontario government proposed expanding the deposit return program to include non-alcoholic containers in 2023 but has yet to do so. The City of Toronto must join Peel Region, the City of Waterloo, the Association of Municipalities of Ontario, and the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative in urging the Ontario government to immediately implement a deposit-return program for non-alcoholic beverage containers.

Staff recommended

Councillor Gord Perks recommends that: 1. City Council request the City Manager to send a letter of support to the Province of Ontario, asking to immediately implement a deposit-return program for non-alcoholic beverage containers. 2. City Council request the City Manager to send a copy of this letter to the Honourable Doug Ford, Premier of Ontario, the Honourable Todd McCarthy, Minister of the Environment, Conservation, and Parks, and all Region of Peel Members of Provincial Parliament.

Considered

2026-06-10 · Infrastructure and Environment Committee · amended
Decision as filed
The Infrastructure and Environment Committee recommends that: 1. City Council request the City Manager to send a letter of support to the Province of Ontario, asking to immediately implement a deposit-return program for non-alcoholic beverage containers. 2. City Council request the City Manager to send a copy of this letter to the Honourable Doug Ford, Premier of Ontario, the Honourable Todd McCarthy, Minister of the
Show the rest of Decision as filed, 140 more characters as filed
Environment, Conservation, and Parks, the Association of Municipalities of Ontario, and all Region of Peel Members of Provincial Parliament.
2026-06-24 · Toronto City Council · adopted

On the record

The item as the City filed it

More from this meeting

The whole meeting