Item - 2026.IE30.12
Tracking Status
- City Council adopted this item on June 24 and 25, 2026 without amendments.
- This item was considered by Infrastructure and Environment Committee on June 10, 2026 and was adopted with amendments. It will be considered by City Council on June 24 and 25, 2026.
IE30.12 - Expansion of Ontario’s Deposit Return Program
- Decision Type:
- ACTION
- Status:
- Adopted
- Wards:
- All
Caution: Preliminary decisions, motions and votes are shown below. Any decisions, motions or votes should not be considered final until the meeting is complete, and the decisions for this meeting have been confirmed.
City Council Decision
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 letter to the Honourable Doug Ford, Premier of Ontario, the Honourable Todd McCarthy, Minister of the Environment, Conservation, and Parks, the Association of Municipalities of Ontario, and all Region of Peel Members of Provincial Parliament.
Background Information (Committee)
https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2026/ie/bgrd/backgroundfile-287749.pdf
Communications (Committee)
https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2026/ie/comm/communicationfile-213932.pdf
(June 10, 2026) E-mail from Nicole Corrado (IE.New)
Motions (City Council)
Vote (Adopt Item) Jun-25-2026 4:27 PM
| Result: Carried | Majority Required |
|---|---|
| Total members that voted Yes: 18 | Members that voted Yes are Paul Ainslie, Alejandra Bravo, Jon Burnside, Shelley Carroll, Lily Cheng, Olivia Chow, Mike Colle, Parthi Kandavel, Ausma Malik, Nick Mantas, Josh Matlow, Amber Morley, Jamaal Myers, Frances Nunziata (Chair), Gord Perks, Dianne Saxe, Neethan Shan, Michael Thompson |
| Total members that voted No: 3 | Members that voted No are Brad Bradford, Stephen Holyday, James Pasternak |
| Total members that were Absent: 5 | Members that were absent are Rachel Chernos Lin, Vincent Crisanti, Paula Fletcher, Chris Moise, Anthony Perruzza |
IE30.12 - Expansion of Ontario’s Deposit Return Program
- Decision Type:
- ACTION
- Status:
- Amended
- Wards:
- All
Committee Recommendations
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 Environment, Conservation, and Parks, the Association of Municipalities of Ontario, and all Region of Peel Members of Provincial Parliament.
Origin
Summary
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.
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.
Background Information
https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2026/ie/bgrd/backgroundfile-287749.pdf
Communications
https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2026/ie/comm/communicationfile-213932.pdf
(June 10, 2026) E-mail from Nicole Corrado (IE.New)
Speakers
Councillor Gord Perks
Motions
That Infrastructure and Environment Committee amend Recommendation 2 by adding the words "the Association of Municipalities of Ontario" so the recommendation reads as follows:
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, the Association of Municipalities of Ontario, and all Region of Peel Members of Provincial Parliament.