Bill 32 explained in plain English
Resource Recovery and Circular Economy Amendment Act (Beverage Container Deposit Program), 2025
Ontario legislature bill summary, status, timeline, sponsor, votes, and official sources.
At a glance
Official Legislative Assembly of Ontario snapshot for 44th Parliament, 1st Session. Representative vote breakdowns appear when the Assembly publishes an Ayes and Nays page for the bill.
Our plain-language take, written for civic education.
Source: By PoliticalData.ca
Bill 32 establishes a beverage container deposit program in Ontario and requires grocery stores and Brewers Retail Inc. stores to accept container returns and refund deposits.
Bill 32 amends Ontario's Resource Recovery and Circular Economy Act, 2016 to create a beverage container deposit program. The bill gives the government power to establish rules for a deposit system where people pay a deposit on beverage containers and get it back when they return them. It requires grocery stores (defined as stores larger than 4,000 square feet with specific food sections) and stores operated by Brewers Retail Inc. to accept returned beverage containers and refund the deposits. The minimum deposits would be 10 cents for containers holding 1 litre or less, and 25 cents for containers holding more than 1 litre. The bill also expands the government's power to require and govern collection depots for blue box materials (recycling). The act comes into force one year after it receives Royal Assent.
- Amends the Resource Recovery and Circular Economy Act, 2016 to allow Cabinet to establish and govern a beverage container deposit program
- Defines 'grocery store' as a store with more than 4,000 square feet of retail floor space that sells various categories of food products and is not primarily a pharmacy
- Requires minimum beverage container deposits of 10 cents for containers 1 litre or less, and 25 cents for containers larger than 1 litre
- Requires grocery stores and Brewers Retail Inc. stores to act as collection depots where customers can return beverage containers
- Requires grocery stores and Brewers Retail Inc. stores to refund the beverage container deposit to customers who return containers
- Makes it an offence for Brewers Retail Inc. and grocery store owners to fail to comply with deposit refund requirements
- Expands government power to require and govern collection depots for blue box materials (recycling)
- Sets the commencement date as one year after Royal Assent
- Grocery stores (stores larger than 4,000 square feet with specified food departments)
- Brewers Retail Inc. and its stores
- Consumers who purchase beverages in containers
- The provincial government (which gains power to establish the deposit program)
- Grocery store and Brewers Retail Inc. owners (who must ensure compliance)
- Grocery stores and Brewers Retail Inc. stores must act as collection depots for beverage containers
- Grocery stores and Brewers Retail Inc. stores must refund beverage container deposits to customers
- Grocery store and Brewers Retail Inc. owners must ensure their stores comply with deposit refund requirements
- Cabinet has the power to establish regulations governing the beverage container deposit program
- Cabinet has the power to define which beverage containers are included in the program
- Cabinet has the power to require and govern blue box material collection depots
- The Act comes into force one year after the day it receives Royal Assent
- It is an offence for Brewers Retail Inc. and grocery store owners to fail to comply with subsection 107.1(5.2) regarding deposit refund requirements. The bill does not specify the penalty amounts, which would be governed by the existing penalty provisions of the Resource Recovery and Circular Economy Act, 2016.
- The bill does not specify which types of beverages or container materials will be included in the deposit program; this will be determined by future regulations
- The bill does not specify the maximum amount of deposits or any other deposit amounts beyond the minimums stated
- The bill does not specify what procedures will be followed for returning containers or how disputes will be resolved
- The bill does not specify what penalties apply for non-compliance, referring to existing penalty provisions in the Act
- The bill does not address online sales of beverages or whether the deposit program applies to them
- The bill does not clarify whether smaller retailers that do not meet the 'grocery store' definition have any obligations
- The bill does not specify the definition of 'prepared food products' that are excluded from the grocery store definition
The Act is amended to add new powers to establish a beverage container deposit program and collection depot requirements. A new definition of 'grocery store' is added. New requirements are added that grocery stores and Brewers Retail Inc. stores must act as collection depots and refund beverage container deposits.
Source: Sections 1, 2, and 3
Expanded to allow Cabinet to establish and govern a beverage container deposit program and to require and govern collection depots for blue box materials. New subsections added that set minimum deposit amounts (10 cents for containers 1 litre or less, 25 cents for larger), require grocery stores and Brewers Retail Inc. stores to refund deposits, and make non-compliance an offence.
Source: Section 3
Generated using AI from official bill text. Not legal advice. It is written by PoliticalData.ca for civic education, automatically checked and spot-reviewed before publishing.
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Vote Summary
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No published representative vote breakdown
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Official sources
Status, sponsor, votes, and timeline on this page are drawn from these official legislative sources and public records. Each summary above is attributed to its own source.
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