Effective January 1, 2022, a minimum fee of $0.25 must be charged for each single-use beverage cup distributed. Free drinks are exempted from the cup fee as of March 29, 2022. Businesses must accept customers’ clean reusable cups for drinks ordered in-store as of July 1, 2022.
Businesses keep the cups fees and are encouraged to provide reusable alternatives. Revenue from cup fees is not remitted to the City.
Starting with 2023 business licence renewals, Licence By-law No. 4450 (section 15.8) PDF file (643 KB) requires food vendors to report the number of single-use cups distributed in the past 12 months at each license location when they renew their business licence each year. Businesses are not required to report the number of single-use cups for any location participating in a reusable cup-share program for customers.
Get a single-use item by-law toolkit
Educational toolkits are available for businesses, charities, and not-for-profits to inform staff and customers of the by-law requirements.
Complying with the by-law
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By-law overview
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Cup fees and revenue
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Proving free drinks to customers
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Accepting customers’ clean reusable cups
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Implementing written procedures for accepting reusable cups
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Report single-use cups
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Reusable cup-share programs and cup reporting
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Who the by-law applies to
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Food delivery services
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Exemptions
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Enforcing the rules
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Your turn: prepare for the cup by-law