Vancouver cup fee to be repealed
February 22, 2023Vancouver’s City Council has decided to repeal the controversial single-use cup fee at some point in the upcoming months. Council set a deadline of June 2023 for staff to prepare a bylaw repealing the fee. Vancouver’s cup fee set a national precedent. The principal factors that convinced Vancouver council to repeal the fee are:
- The available evidence was that the number of single-use cups distributed to Vancouver consumers continued to increase in the 14 months since the cup fee was introduced.
- Vancouver has 675,000 residents. The residents and visitors to the City paid between $20 and $25 million in cup fees in 2022.
- Consumer unhappiness with the cup fee was most frequently borne by front-line retail and quick-service restaurant workers.
- Council’s view (with which RCC agrees) is now that harmonized action at a national or provincial level would be more effective.
RCC will provide members updates when the bylaw to remove the cup fee comes to Vancouver Council.
![](https://www.retailcouncil.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/gregwilson-1.jpg)
For questions or more information contact
Greg Wilson
Director, Government Relations and Regulatory Affairs
gwilson@retailcouncil.org