Summary of recent amendments to Ontario’s Tires Regulation

The Ontario Government has made amendments to the Tires Regulation which may impact registered tire producers, PROs, haulers, processors and retreaders. RPRA has summarized the regulatory changes made in December 2022, and more recently in March 2023, including what this means for affected parties.

Canadian brand holders now obligated instead of Ontario brand holders

Producer hierarchies were revised to replace Ontario resident brand holders with Canadian resident brand holders. This means that Ontario importers and retailers of tires are no longer required to report and manage tires when the brand holder has residency in Canada.

Canadian brand holders who are newly obligated under the amended regulation should register with RPRA via the online Registry, but they will not have to report historic supply data in their 2023 Supply Report.

The revised producer hierarchy will also result in some tire importers and retailers adjusting their previous years’ supply data, which was used to calculate their 2023 collection requirement, to remove the weight of tires they are no longer obligated for. This would include supply data reported in producers’ 2020, 2021, and 2022 Supply Reports. RPRA will be providing further guidance regarding its approach to these data adjustments.

Small producers are now exempt from registration and reporting

Producers with a collection requirement under 1000 kg are exempt from registering and reporting to RPRA in that calendar year. Producers who meet this exemption are required to retain records for five years. Producers with a 2023 collection requirement under 1000 kg should email RPRA at registry@rpra.ca to determine if their registration should be deactivated.

Promotion and education requirements for visible fees removed

Businesses will continue to have discretion over whether they charge a fee to recover the cost of recycling their products. However, with this amendment, if they charge a fee, they are no longer required to provide information about who is charging the visible fee and what it will be used for. RPRA has therefore revoked the compliance bulletin Charging Fees to Consumers, and the verification requirements for charging visible fees, as outlined in the registry procedure Visible Resource Recovery Fee Verification for Producers, are no longer applicable.

Removal and revision of audit requirements

The CPA audit requirements for supply data verification have been removed. However, supply data submitted annually must still be verified by a Qualified Individual, as defined in the Tire Supply Audit Procedure.

Additionally, the frequency of performance audits has been reduced from annually to once every three years. The Tire Performance Audit Procedure has been revised to reflect this change.

Other key amendments

• Definition of a “hauler” now includes parties that arrange for transport.
• Definition of “reuse” now includes reuse with modification.
• Introduction of Volunteer Organizations who can now register and report on behalf of producers.
• Expanded collection requirements for municipalities with populations under 1000 and First Nations reserves.

For more information about Ontario’s Tires Regulation, visit our Tires Program webpage.