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Tire Eco-Fees in Canada: Who Sets, Collects and Remits Them

Tire tread disposal fees in Canada are provincial eco-fees: the program that sets each one, how shops collect it at first sale, and how to remit and reconcile.

Editorial responsibility: Mason C. Morgan · · 6 min read

This is an editorial pen name used by the publication, not a claim of an independently verified personal identity. Original editorial credit: Analysis Desk.

What to take away

  • Provincial eco-fees are per-tire charges set by a stewardship program and collected at the first sale of a new tire.
  • Passenger and light truck fees typically run about $3 to $7 per tire; heavier classes pay more.
  • The fee is not shop revenue. It is remitted on the cycle in the retailer agreement, usually monthly or quarterly.
  • Quebec handles it differently: an environmental duty set by regulation, often built into the wholesale price.
  • Rates reset with the program year, so the counter price list needs a dated annual update.

Who sets the fee, who collects it, who remits it

Each province runs a tire stewardship program under extended producer responsibility rules. The program publishes the rates. The retailer charges the customer at the point of sale and remits the money.

These are advance disposal fees. The program charges them on a new tire at its first sale, not on a worn tire when it is scrapped, and the money returns as collection, processing and recycling at the end of the tire's life.

Who sets the fee

  • British ColumbiaTire Stewardship BC. Alberta: Alberta Recycling Management Authority.
  • SaskatchewanSaskatchewan Scrap Tire Corporation. Manitoba: Tire Stewardship Manitoba.
  • OntarioResource Productivity and Recovery Authority, with producer-set fees.
  • Quebecenvironmental duty administered through Recyc-Quebec.
  • New BrunswickRecycle NB. Nova Scotia: Divert NS.
  • Prince Edward IslandIsland Waste Management Corporation. Newfoundland and Labrador: Multi-Materials Stewardship Board.

The revenue pays for collection, transport and processing. Scrap tire management covers shredding, crumb rubber, and civil engineering uses such as playground surfaces and asphalt.

In British Columbia, 100% of fees collected are used for the operation of the scrap tire recycling program. The fee is charged on a new tire at its first sale, and the money returns as collection, processing and recycling at the end of the tire's life, so the full amount collected goes back into running the program.

Ontario restructured in 2019, when Ontario Tire Stewardship wound down and producers took on the obligation. The rule now sits in Ontario Regulation 225/18, Tires, made under the Resource Recovery and Circular Economy Act, 2016, which puts tire collection on producers and lets them retain a producer responsibility organization to carry it out. Fees there vary by producer, so two shops can charge different amounts for the same tire.

Fee ranges by province and tire class

Fee ranges by province

ProvinceProgramTypical range per tire, passenger and light truckNotes
British ColumbiaTire Stewardship BCabout $4 to $5bicycle tires exempt
AlbertaAlberta Recycling Management Authorityabout $4 to $5separate invoice line
SaskatchewanSaskatchewan Scrap Tire Corporationabout $4 to $5farm exemptions
ManitobaTire Stewardship Manitobaabout $4 to $5charged at retail
OntarioRPRA, producer-runabout $4 to $7varies by brand
Quebecenvironmental dutyabout $3 to $5often inside wholesale price
New BrunswickRecycle NBabout $4 to $5
Nova ScotiaDivert NSabout $4 to $6
Prince Edward IslandIsland Waste Management Corporationabout $4 to $5
Newfoundland and LabradorMulti-Materials Stewardship Boardabout $4 to $6

The binding figure is always the one the program publishes. Each program sets its own schedule and revises it for the program year, so the table is a planning range: load the current published rate into the point-of-sale system before you print a price list. Most territories do not run a tire-specific program.

Medium truck, agricultural and off-the-road tires pay more because they carry more steel. Tire construction explains part of the processing cost.

Alberta shops can see where the fee sits on a worked invoice in Tire recycling fees in Alberta.

Collecting and remitting: a five-step cycle

Collecting and remitting

  1. Load the current rate table into the point-of-sale system for each province and tire class you sell.
  2. Charge the fee on every new tire at first sale, and apply bicycle and qualifying farm exemptions.
  3. Report units sold and fees collected on the program cycle, usually monthly or quarterly.
  4. Remit the collected total by the deadline in your retailer agreement.
  5. Reconcile collected against remitted each period and file the evidence.

Deadlines differ by province, and most programs bill monthly or quarterly.

Volume makes the float visible. A shop selling 40 passenger tires a week at $5.00 per tire collects about $200 that belongs to the program, not the till.

Ontario Weekly Remittance Example

$200 weekly remittance

40 passenger tires sold per week

$5.00 fee per tire

Before credits for returned used tires

Tax treatment of the fee line is a separate question. How GST and HST change tire pricing sets out the treatment province by province.

Example: four tires quoted at $189.00

A shop quotes four tires at $189.00 each with a $5.00 eco-fee per tire. Tires come to $756.00 and fees to $20.00.

Four tires quoted at $189.00

Alberta

Four tires at $189.00
$756.00
Eco-fee at $5.00 per tire
$20.00
Tax on $776.00
$38.80 GST
Total at payment
$814.80

Ontario

Four tires at $189.00
$756.00
Eco-fee at $5.00 per tire
$20.00
Tax on $776.00
$100.88 HST
Total at payment
$876.88

A quote showing only $756.00 invites an argument at the counter. Fee and tax lines belong in a staff training checklist before the season starts.

What changes the number each program year

Tire class sets the base rate, and heavier tires sit higher on the schedule. Province sets the amount, so the same SKU can carry two different fees. The program year resets rates, often in January. Exemptions reduce or remove the charge on bicycle and some farm tires.

Four Eco-Fee Drivers

  • Tire size and type
  • Province
  • Program year updates
  • Exemptions

A stale point-of-sale table is the common error. If a province lowers its passenger fee and the shop keeps the old rate, the shop has over-collected from customers. That difference is owed back to the program. Keep records that support each remittance, since provincial and federal record-keeping rules set what to retain.

Common questions

How much is the tire eco-fee per tire in my province?
Passenger and light truck fees typically fall between about $3 and $7 per tire, and heavier classes cost more. Use the table above as a range, then confirm the published rate for the current program year.
Is the eco-fee taxable?
In HST provinces the fee is normally taxed as part of the sale. Alberta has no provincial sales tax, so only GST applies. Check Canada Revenue Agency guidance or your provincial tax guide.
Who remits the fee, and by when?
The retailer collects and remits on the cycle in its retailer agreement, usually monthly or quarterly, with some small sellers filing annually.
Do used tires carry the fee?
Normally no. The fee applies to a new tire at first sale. Take-off and used tires held for resale fall outside it, and tire maintenance covers the inspection routine that stock still needs.
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