Minimum fees
A minimum fee of $0.25 must be charged on every disposable cup (this includes all types of disposable cups used for hot or cold drinks).
Receipts (if given) must include a separate line item to display the fees charged for disposable cups.
Displaying fees
Businesses must display the cost of disposable cups wherever customers place orders for drinks (such as menus, menu boards, and online ordering platforms).
If customers place orders with a phone call, food vendors must verbally inform customers how much they charge for a single-use beverage cup.
Reporting
When seeking a business license renewal, businesses must report to the Chief Licence Inspector the number of disposable cups distributed in the past 12 months.
The reporting requirement does not apply to businesses that participate in a reusable cup share program. This is intended to encourage businesses to participate in reusable cup share programs.
Reusable cup share program means customers:
- Are given the choice of receiving their drink in a reusable cup
- May leave the business premises with the reusable cup, and
- May return the reusable cup to the business, or a drop-off location, at a later time
Businesses keep the fees collected from disposable cups
Businesses do not remit cup fees to the City.
We encourage you to use the revenue collected from disposable cups to invest in reusable alternatives (like ceramic mugs), install or upgrade commercial dishwashing infrastructure, or other environmental initiatives, and demonstrate this to your customers.
