• Village of Stouffville businesses raised concerns to Council over challenges tied to the transition to private waste collection services.
  • Redefined Finds owner Alison Jackson, speaking through a Jan. 21 deputation, cited by-law restrictions and early curbside timing requirements as key barriers.
  • The deputation requested permission for overnight curb placement for waste bins, and consideration of municipal subsidies for private pickup.
  • Jackson also warned that upcoming Main Street reconstruction pressures will intensify financial strain on small businesses.
  • Town officials reiterated that municipal waste collection no longer applies to commercial properties, and that use of municipal property for private collection is not permitted.
  • Public Works Staff will again consider waste collection services in the area and report back to Council following consultations with affected businesses.

 

Village businesses are once again raising concerns as they contend with the shift to private waste collection services. In the wake of Council’s decision not to establish a centralized garbage drop-off site, Redefined Finds owner Alison Jackson is pointing to restrictive Town by-laws that complicate collection, while also underscoring the need for added support as Main Street reconstruction approaches.

Jackson’s comments were delivered on her behalf by Aroon Baksh during a Jan. 21 deputation to Council, representing the Village of Stouffville Advisory Committee. The Council-appointed committee is mandated to promote and enhance the Downtown as “a vibrant place to live, work, and play,” and includes Jackson and Baksh, other Village business owners, and Councillors Sue Sherban and Richard Bartley.

“The businesses along Main Street are part of a heritage core… We have had waste removal service since I moved onto the street in 2016, and for many years before that,” the deputation stated. “We are supposed to be the heartbeat of a city, and yet I feel that we are at a severe disadvantage.”

At the centre of the issue, Jackson said, is the timing and logistics of putting out waste bins. Businesses have been told they are not permitted to place garbage at the curb the night before collection, prompting a request for greater flexibility. Residential properties, including units located above Main Street storefronts, are allowed to put garbage out after 5 p.m. the evening before pickup, a discrepancy Jackson said has added to local frustration.

Compounding the challenge, Jackson noted that private collection services such as GFL and Miller Waste Systems require bins to be placed at the curb by 6 a.m., a time when most business owners are not on site.

Ensuring someone is available to manage waste at such an early hour, Jackson argued, would create additional costs on top of new private collection fees. She added that the issue is particularly acute for business owners who live outside the community, as well as for those whose properties offer limited or no rear access for waste storage and pickup.

“There are many businesses along the street who have to have garbage pickup on the street, because their parking lots or back access are not large enough for a garbage truck to enter,” Jackson explained. “Some, like myself, don’t have back access at all.”

Beyond immediate collection concerns, the deputation also revisited a broader, long-standing issue for Village businesses. With macroeconomic pressures continuing to weigh on small businesses nationwide, Jackson warned that the upcoming reconstruction of Main Street will pose significant challenges.

“That is going to cost our businesses dearly,” she said, “and we will have to find ways to survive a potential 2- to 3-year hit to our bottom lines and to foot traffic.”

Against that backdrop, Jackson questioned the timing of the Town’s decision to end municipal garbage collection for Downtown businesses, particularly as Ontario’s new Blue Box Regulation has already eliminated their recycling services.

“It seems, to the businesses on Main Street that I have spoken to, and I have canvassed many, that the choice to cut off our waste disposal at this time—and to have us outsource it at a further cost to us—lacks empathy or true rationale,” Jackson said. “We struggle to understand this decision, and I feel it has lent to a distrust in the system as a whole, [one] that claims to support small business.”

The deputation concluded with two specific requests: that Village businesses be permitted to place their garbage at the curb the night before collection, and that the Town explore options to subsidize private waste pickup.

“This really is a double or triple hit to the Main Street merchants,” Jackson said. “We hope that you will consider these items for the betterment of the Village, and the health of the businesses in the downtown core.”

Reinvestigation Ahead

In comments to Bullet Point News, Commissioner of Engineering and Public Works Jack Graziosi said Stouffville by-laws permit residents to place waste at the curb after 5 p.m. for next-day collection, but the allowance applies only to eligible sources.

“As the Town no longer collects waste from industrial, commercial, and institutional properties, use of municipal property for private collection is not permitted,” he said.

Graziosi added that the Town will work with Village business owners to help identify a solution “that is in compliance with all municipal bylaws.” With Jackson’s deputation now referred to Staff, the Public Works team will “reconsider waste collection services” and prepare a report for a future Council meeting.

“There currently is no forecasted date for this report,” Graziosi said. “Timelines will be dependent on discussions with the businesses.”

How We Got Here

Stouffville eliminated municipal waste collection for newly established businesses in 2017, and applicants submitting site plan proposals are now advised that private collection services will be required.

While Ontario municipalities generally do not provide curbside waste collection to commercial properties, some maintain limited programs. In Toronto, for example, municipal waste collection is available to commercial buildings under four storeys with a ground-floor area of less than 500 square metres, or where at least one-third of the building is used for residential purposes.

Last year, Council began the process of phasing out waste collection for the remaining estimated 700 ineligible sources that had been grandfathered following the 2017 change. At the time, Council also directed Staff to explore whether continued collection services for the Village could be supported.

A February 2025 Staff report cautioned that maintaining service exclusively for the Downtown would effectively see residents subsidizing waste collection for a select group of businesses, an arrangement some might view as inequitable. A subsequent June 2025 report added that providing targeted assistance could prompt similar requests from other non-eligible properties across the municipality.

Stouffville proceeded to examine shared-cost options with Village businesses, including independent curbside bins and a centralized garbage drop-off program funded through the Downtown Stouffville Special Service Levy, which applies only to businesses operating within the core.

In an October decision last year, however, Council sided with Staff’s recommendation to require private collection, concluding that a solution could not be identified that was both feasible and equitable for all levy-paying businesses. As a result, Main Street merchants became fully responsible for their own waste services beginning this year.