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October 19, 2021

Stewardship Ontario is proposing a significant change to how it sets fees that will eliminate the need for stewards to report supply-to-market data to Stewardship Ontario, reduce the administrative burden on stewards and reduce program management costs.

Under the proposed change, each steward’s fees would be determined by calculating their percentage share of Stewardship Ontario’s total costs over a recent period and applying that percentage to the total Stewardship Ontario budget for the following year.  The change, if approved, would impact fees beginning in 2023.

Stewardship Ontario is currently considering several key questions associated with the proposal, including:

  • Over what period should each steward’s percentage share of costs be calculated?
  • To what extent should the pandemic years be included in the calculation?
  • Should special mechanisms be considered for outlier stewards whose total fees have been trending differently than the general trend for other stewards?
  • How will departing and emerging stewards be addressed?
  • How will prior-year adjustments be addressed?
  • How will material recovery rates be determined?

Stewardship Ontario is currently reviewing these questions and will complete and distribute a discussion paper for consultation with stewards in November.  If generally supported by the steward community, our intention would be to implement the new Rules early in 2022.