Calgary has become the first city in Canada to repeal a single-use item bylaw that will eliminate takeaway bag charges.
The changes will come into effect immediately and means that “businesses will no longer be required to charge a minimum fee for new paper and reusable shopping bags and provide shopping bags or foodware accessories by request only,” according to a City of Calgary press release.
While the change does mean that it’s no longer mandatory for businesses to enforce the regulations that were outlined in the single-use item bylaw, businesses can still choose how they’d like to pursue reducing operational waste.
The bylaw was implemented in January 2024 and included regulations such as 15-cent charges for paper shopping bags, with the intention of increasing that number to 25 cents by 2025, minimum $1 fees for other reusable shopping bags, and mandating that all fees gathered must be kept by the business to help offset the cost of purchasing new paper and reusable bags.
It has been controversial since it was implemented, with both locals and politicians taking jabs at the policies during ongoing debates.
The City is also reminding Calgarians that the vote only impacts the municipal bylaw and the Government of Canada’s Single-use Plastics Prohibition Regulations is still in effect, which impacts business use of plastic shopping bags, cutlery and straws.
It’s not the first city to have pivoted from similar policies, though. Last year Vancouver repealed a controversial bylaw that had customers pay a $0.25 single-use cup fee.