Frequently Asked Questions

You should use the address where you carry on business. If you carry on business in more than one location in Ontario, use the main address for your business in Ontario. If you do not have an Ontario address, use the address that relates to the activities you carry out in Ontario.

For regulatory purposes, we need to know your legal name — the name you are incorporated under.  We also need to know your business operating name if it is different from your legal business name to add to our published list of registrants. The list of registrants will be available on our website to allow registrants to interact with one another and to provide information to the public.

Resident in Ontario means a person having a permanent establishment in Ontario within the meaning of the Corporations Tax Act. A permanent establishment is usually a fixed place of business such as an office, factory, branch, warehouse, workshop, etc. In some cases, a corporation will be deemed to operate a permanent establishment in Ontario. These include cases where:

• The corporation produced, grew, mined, created, manufactured, fabricated, improved, packed, preserved or constructed anything in the province, in whole or in part;
• The corporation carries on business through an employee or agent in the province who has general authority to contract for the corporation; or
• The corporation carries on business through an employee or agent in the province who has a stock of merchandise owned by the corporation from which they regularly fill orders that they receive.
• A corporation will also have a permanent establishment in Ontario if it uses substantial machinery or equipment in the province, or if it is has a permanent establishment elsewhere in Canada and owns land in the province.

For more details about what constitutes a permanent establishment, see the definition of “permanent establishment” in the Corporations Tax Act.

To create a Registry account with RPRA, you will need to provide:

• CRA Business Number (BN)
• Legal Business Name
• Business address and phone number
• Address of where you work (if different from the main office)
• Contact information for your billing contact (this may also be added later)

Business hours are taken from Google Maps. If the information on Google Maps is incorrect, update your Google account information by following these steps. Note: there may be a delay between the time you update your information in Google and it showing on RPRA’s map.

If the information on Google Maps is correct and not showing on the Where to Recycle map, request to change it through the map directly by:

• looking up the location,
• clicking the location,
• clicking the ‘Report an issue for this location’ link, and
• filling out the form by providing the correct business hours.

Note: In October 2026, the Where to Recycle map moved from rpra.ca to OntarioRecycles.ca, RPRA’s website to keep the public informed about the circular economy and recycling in Ontario.

Businesses have the choice to recover the cost of recycling their products by incorporating those costs into the overall cost of their product (as they do with other costs, such as materials, labour, other regulatory compliance costs, etc.) or by charging it as a separate fee to consumers.

Environmental fees are not mandatory and are applied at the discretion of the business charging them, including the amount of the fee.

We encourage anybody who believes an entity is a free rider to contact RPRA’s Compliance and Registry Team at 1-833-600-0530 or by emailing [email protected] with information about that entity. RPRA reviews every free rider allegation that is referred to us.

We do not share information about our inspections or progress on specific free rider cases.

See our FAQ to understand “What is a free rider?” and “What is RPRA’s approach to free riders?”

No. An environmental fee is not a government tax and cannot be represented as mandatory, a regulatory charge, or a RPRA fee. It is a fee charged at the discretion of a business to recover their costs related to recycling the product.

Consumers who believe the purpose of an environmental fee is being misrepresented can contact the Ministry of Public and Business Service Delivery directly at 1-800-889-9768.

Under the Batteries, EEE, HSP, and Tire Regulations, a consumer is any end user of a product. A consumer includes an individual who obtains the product for the individual’s own use and a business that obtains the product for the business’s own use.

See our FAQ to understand “Who is a consumer under the Blue Box Regulation?”

Producers of ITT/AV equipment need to provide the following information when registering in RPRA’s Registry:

• Business information (e.g. business name, contact information)
• The year you began marketing or selling ITT/AV equipment into Ontario
• Any PROs you are contracted with
• Your annual ITT/AV Supply Report

Brand holders and producers that supply products and packaging are required by legislation to meet individual mandatory collection and resource recovery requirements and may face compliance and enforcement consequences for failing to do so. The executive attestation ensures that executives responsible for managing the brand holder’s or producer’s business are aware of these requirements and can ensure that appropriate measures are put in place to achieve compliance with the regulations.

RPRA recognizes the commercially sensitive nature of the information that parties submit to the registry. RPRA is committed to protecting the commercially sensitive information and personal information it receives or creates in the course of conducting its regulatory functions. In recognition of this commitment, RPRA, in addition to the regulatory requirements of confidentiality set out in the Resource Recovery and Circular Economy Act 2016 (section 57), has created an Access and Privacy Code that applies to its day-to-day operations, including the regulatory functions that it carries out.

Obligated material supply, collection, and resource recovery data will only be made public in aggregate form, to protect the confidentiality of commercially sensitive information.

RPRA will publish the names and contact information of all registered businesses – producers, service providers (collectors, haulers, processors, etc.), and producer responsibility organizations. The public will also have access to a list or method to locate any obligated material collection sites, as this information becomes available.

As part of its regulatory mandate, the Registrar will provide information to the public related to compliance and enforcement activities that have been undertaken.

The information that is submitted to the Registry will be used by the Registrar to confirm compliance and to track overall collection and management system performance. It will also be used by RPRA to update its policies and procedures and by the Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks for policy development.

The regulations do not set an environmental fee for any product. The amount of the fee charged is decided by the business.

RPRA does not vet PROs before listing them on the website. Any business that registers as a PRO will be listed. Producers should do their own due diligence when determining which PRO to work with.

Free riders are obligated parties that:

• Have not registered or reported to RPRA
• Have not established a collection and management system (if they are so required to), or;
• Are not operating a collection and management system (if they are so required to).

See our FAQs to understand “What is RPRA’s approach to free riders?”, and “What do I do if I think a business is a free rider?”

To note:

• Some producers only have requirements to register and report. Please refer to your specific program page on our website to understand producer obligations.
• Collection and management systems may be accomplished by a producer responsibility organization (PRO) on behalf of a producer through contractual arrangements between the producer and PRO. If a PRO is managing a producer’s collection and management requirements, producers must identify that PRO to RPRA.

RPRA takes a risk-based and proportional approach to compliance. This approach focuses on the potential risks that arise from non-compliance and assessing those risks to guide the use of compliance tools and the deployment of resources to minimize risk and maximize compliance. Learn more about RPRA’s Risk-Based Compliance Framework.

As a provincial regulator, we have the following powers to bring non-compliant parties into compliance:

• Broad inquiry powers including authority to compel documents and data
• Inspections and investigations
• Audits
• Compliance Orders and Administrative Penalty Orders (amounts to be set in regulation once finalized)
• Prosecution

RPRA’s primary approach to compliance is through communications (C4C – Communicating for Compliance). RPRA communicates directly with obligated parties and informs them of their requirements and when and how they must be completed. A high degree of compliance is achieved with this approach.

RPRA considers free riders a high priority to the programs we administer and focuses compliance efforts on bringing free riders into compliance with the regulations.

See our FAQ to understand “What is a free rider?”, and “What do I do if I think a business is a free rider?”

A Verifier can be an individual, either an employee of the business or a hired third-party (including a PRO), who has one of the following designations and is not the same person who prepared the supply report:

• CPA (Chartered Professional Accountants) in Canada or CPA (Certified Public Accountant) in the US
• ACCA (Association of Chartered Certified Accounts) Qualification
• CIA (Certified Internal Auditor)
• CPB (Certified Professional Bookkeeper) in Canada
• RPA (Registered Professional Accountant) in Canada

The recycling locations that appear on the map are reported to RPRA by businesses that run the recycling systems in Ontario.

A collection site is required to:

• accept all used materials that are designated under the program the collection site operates under*,
• accept materials dropped off free of charge, and
• accept materials dropped off during regular business hours.

The amount and type of materials a collection site must accept varies by which program they operate under.

*More information on what materials must be accepted for each recycling program can be found here.

Note: In October 2026, the Where to Recycle map moved from rpra.ca to OntarioRecycles.ca, RPRA’s website to keep the public informed about the circular economy and recycling in Ontario.

Collection sites for batteries, electronics, household hazardous waste, lighting, and tires that are reported by producers, or PROs on their behalf, appear on the map.

Collection sites that are considered private (e.g. a recycling bin inside a business that is not accessible to the public) do not appear on the map.

Note: In October 2026, the Where to Recycle map moved from rpra.ca to OntarioRecycles.ca, RPRA’s website to keep the public informed about the circular economy and recycling in Ontario.

A public collection site must be readily accessible to the public and accept designated used materials during regular business hours. Publicly accessible collection sites and events appear on the Where to Recycle map. Note: In October 2026, the Where to Recycle map moved from rpra.ca to OntarioRecycles.ca, RPRA’s website to keep the public informed about the circular economy and recycling in Ontario.

A private collection site (e.g. office or school that collects designated materials) does not need to be publicly accessible. Private collection sites do not appear on the map.

Read this related FAQ: What does it mean for a collection site to be readily accessible to the public?

Battery, electronics, lighting and tire collection sites must be operated during regular business hours throughout the calendar year.

Household hazardous waste collection sites may open seasonally. The Where to Recycle map should reflect the time of the year when the collection site operates.

Note: In October 2026, the Where to Recycle map moved from rpra.ca to OntarioRecycles.ca, RPRA’s website to keep the public informed about the circular economy and recycling in Ontario.

Users must designate an accounts payable (AP) user during account set up.

To add an AP user during account set up, follow these steps:

1. After adding the Business information and address, click Next.
2. After entering the Account Admin information, scroll down.
3. Enter the Account Payables User information.
4. Check the box: ✅I hereby authorize this user to create/modify data. This confirms the AP User can modify data across all programs.
5. Click Next

If you want to assign the account admin as the AP user, check the box labeled:
The Account Admin listed above is the Accounts Payable (AP) User.

This will auto-fill the AP User section with the account admin’s information.

See FAQ: 7. What is an accounts payable (AP) user and what can they do in the registry?