Solid waste user fee study

Two big changes are happening to commercial and institutional waste collection in Guelph: the provincial Blue Box Transition and the Downtown Infrastructure Renewal Program, which includes a plan to install an underground waste collection system Downtown. While these changes are designed to make waste management better, they also cost the City more money to service commercial and institutional properties. In a 2024 report, City Council gave staff a mandate to look into how user fees could help control these costs in an equitable way while improving waste reduction and diversion as set out in our Solid Waste Management Master Plan.

Read more about these considerations and some frequently asked questions below.

Solid Waste Management Master Plan

Guelph's last Solid Waste Management Master Plan included two task reports that discuss Downtown waste collection and user fees, respectively:

Task 7 - Financial Analysis and User Pay - Solid Waste Management Master Plan.pdf

Task 8 - Downtown Services Review - Solid Waste Management Master Plan.pdf

These reports examine opportunities for Guelph to improve Downtown waste collection and to increase financial and environmental sustainability with user fees. They examine what comparator municipalities have done, and reflect community engagement done with the Guelph community, and analyze possibilities for the future.

Blue Box transition

While residential waste has been transitioned to a new nonprofit organization, Circular Materials, industrial, commercial, and institutional (IC&I) waste is regulated separately from residential waste in Ontario. This means that businesses and institutions will not be served by Circular Materials, as per the Government of Ontario’s Blue Box Regulation. Starting in 2026, IC&I recycling will need to be managed separately from residential and public space recycling, meaning changes will need to be made in how the commercial and institutional properties manage recycling.

Downtown Renewal Program

The City is undergoing a Downtown Renewal Program to transform how our downtown looks, feels, and functions while preserving its unique cultural heritage. As part of this program, we are planning to update the way we collect waste from downtown streetscapes and eligible properties. A plan that includes updated litter containers to serve pedestrians and new communal underground waste containers to serve downtown properties has been adopted by Council and will begin being implemented in coordination with the Downtown Infrastructure Renewal Program in 2026.

User fees

User fees for downtown waste collection were previously explored in the Council-adopted Solid Waste Management Master Plan and Service Rationalization Study. The timing of the Blue Box Transition and Downtown Infrastructure Renewal Program make now the ideal time to decide how a user fee can help sustain waste collection, improve waste reduction and diversion, create accountability and transparency around costs, and aligning tax-supported services inside and outside the downtown.

Frequently asked questions

Do other municipalities charge user fees for waste?

Yes, most municipalities charge user fees for parts of their waste management systems. For example:

• The City of Toronto in Ontario’s only fully user fee supported waste management system. Residents and businesses pay a monthly bill based on the type and frequency of collection they choose.
• The City of Guelph charges user fees for many waste services, such as dropping off waste at the public drop-off facility or exchanging a cart.
• The County of Wellington has a User Pay Garbage Bag System where residents purchase yellow garbage bags to fund part of the garbage collection and disposal.

What are the advantages over user fees versus taxes?

Some advantages of user fees include:

• Users choose how much they use the service and how much they pay, unlike tax which is automatically charged to everyone
• Incentives to minimize and divert waste are created
• Better reliability of revenue to support service delivery and long-term capital investment

Disadvantages include

• More complex and costly to administer than a tax
• New containers and collection methods are needed to ensure users only get charged for what they dispose of. The shared public space litter containers used by some in the Downtown now are not compatible. The communal underground containers approved and planned for during the Downtown Infrastructure Renewal will be able to measure usage by each user separately.

When can businesses expect to begin seeing charges for Downtown waste collection?

Council has only authorized downtown waste collection at the current budget until the end of 2025. Contingent on Council approval, new fees could apply as early as January 2026.

Do the user fees apply to just garbage, or recycling and organics too?

Where the fee will apply and how it should be set for different waste streams has not been decided yet. This will be a key topic discussed at the Working Group and then brought to the wider community for further input before making a recommendation to Council.

Who will coordinate the Downtown waste collection for businesses and institutions?

Who will coordinate downtown waste collection for businesses and institutions has not been decided yet either, this is another key topic to explore through the study. There may be a role for the City, for an organization representing downtown businesses and institutions, or it may be coordinated by individual properties, depending on community needs and preferences. Organizations interested in coordinating waste collection downtown are invited to connect with the Project Team to be included in the Working Group process using the information provided on the project’s Have Your Say.

Are residents in the downtown impacted by the user fees?

Downtown residents are not expected to pay additional fees. Because the downtown contains a mix of residential, commercial, and institutional uses, the collection system that is put in place following this study will need to encompass all users, including residents. However, subject to Council approval, the user fees associated with the collection system is intended to serve downtown residents at least the same level of service as those outside the downtown supported by tax.

This could be achieved, for example, by crediting each property owner a number of “free” (tax-supported) collections based on the number of residential units in the building and charging fees to the Property Owner only for additional use.

Where can I find more information about the earlier Downtown Waste study and the types of containers we will get?

More information can be found on the archived Downtown Waste Project Have Your Say page and in the Downtown Renewal update presentation plus accompanying report Downtown Collection Area Update (2024-350). Please contact the Project Team using the information provided on this page if you have additional questions.

Why are these changes happening just as the Downtown Infrastructure project is set to begin construction on Wyndham Street North?

• The user fee study was recommended to and approved by Council as a result of funding changes related to the Blue Box Transition, set on January 1, 2025 by the Ontario government for Guelph.
• However, this timing allows the City to have a user fee in place by the time the first underground communal containers are available for use on Wyndham Street North following the Downtown Infrastructure renewal construction.
• In turn, the underground container system supports the user fee system by its design, as each waste disposal can be linked to a specific user and billed back to them.

What is a “free rider” when it comes to waste collection and why is it important to stop free riders?

A free rider refers to someone who receives a service without paying for it themselves and thereby causing everyone else to pay more. Free riding is unfair to those paying for the system and undermines public trust and confidence. A key objective of the user fee study is to prevent free riders in order to have a fair, accountable, and transparent waste management system.