{"id":533432,"date":"2026-03-13T09:50:11","date_gmt":"2026-03-13T09:50:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/533432\/"},"modified":"2026-03-13T09:50:11","modified_gmt":"2026-03-13T09:50:11","slug":"some-ottawa-residents-may-go-more-than-three-weeks-without-garbage-pickup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/533432\/","title":{"rendered":"Some Ottawa residents may go more than three weeks without garbage pickup"},"content":{"rendered":"

Some Ottawa residents are bracing for a nearly month-long gap between garbage collection days in March and April as the city transitions to its new waste collection schedule<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Approximately 80,000 households across the city will experience a one-time increase in the number of days between garbage collection days throughout the transition, according to the city.<\/p>\n

Under the city\u2019s new curbside collection contract, garbage collection days will be changing for about half of all Ottawa residents as of March 30. Changes are being made to \u201creflect current service needs and growth across the city.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe new contract balances collection days with the number of households and required service levels to ensure reliable and efficient waste collection for residents,\u201d Andrea Gay Farley, the city\u2019s program manager of waste collections, wrote in a statement.<\/p>\n

For some households in neighbourhoods including Vanier and Sandy Hill, the transition means they\u2019ll experience a one-time 26-day gap between garbage collections \u2014 that\u2019s 12 days longer than the current schedule gap, where the city collects garbage every two weeks.<\/p>\n

For example, in parts of Vanier where garbage collection day traditionally fell on Mondays, the last collection day under the current contract is scheduled for March 16. Collection days will then be shifted to Fridays under the new contract, with the next garbage collection scheduled for April 11 (it\u2019s been moved back to a Saturday due to the holiday \u201cpush day\u201d in effect for Easter Monday).<\/p>\n

To help residents accommodate the transition, the city says residents may place up to six items at the curb on scheduled garbage collection days any time between March 30 and April 24 without the need to purchase yellow bags. Usually, residents are limited to a three-item maximum.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cWe know that changes to collection schedules can be an adjustment. A letter was sent to all households that receive curbside collection to provide details about the new schedule and to help residents know what to expect during the transition,\u201d Gay Farley wrote.<\/p>\n

The city did not indicate if it would consider amending collection schedules for residents experiencing the prolonged gap.<\/p>\n

However, for Rideau-Vanier Coun. St\u00e9phanie Plante, the city\u2019s accommodation of allowing extra items on the curb is not enough of a solution for the three-week interruption some residents will experience.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis does not address the reality that many residents simply do not have the space to store garbage for three weeks while it accumulates,\u201d Plante wrote in an email to the Ottawa Citizen.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have asked staff to explore a temporary solution, such as placing large garbage bins at central locations like community centres so residents would have a place to drop off waste during this period,\u201d she added. \u201cI am currently waiting to hear back from staff about whether this can be arranged.\u201d<\/p>\n

For some residents planning to travel during March break, the gap between garbage collection days may be even longer.<\/p>\n

For Vanier resident Stephanie Hyde, the last garbage day under the current collection schedule falls while her family plans to be out of town. As a result, garbage bags may pile up in her household for more than a month.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just a big pain,\u201d she told the Ottawa Citizen. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t make sense why they would do this over March break, because I\u2019m sure several people go away, making (the gap between collections) even longer.\u201d<\/p>\n

One silver lining about the timing, she said, is that temperatures won\u2019t yet be warm enough for the garbage to start smelling and attract animals, as it would during the summer.<\/p>\n

Throughout the transition, Plante encourages residents to make use of the city\u2019s composting program to collect food waste.<\/p>\n

\u201cOrganic waste is often what causes garbage to smell the most, and green bin collection will continue weekly during this transition,\u201d she wrote.<\/p>\n

While garbage and recycling pickup are now managed by different contracts, the city previously confirmed garbage and green bin collection would continue to align with recycling pickup<\/a>, so residents will only have one day per week when they will put out their waste.<\/p>\n

This will also be the last year that residents will receive paper-based collection calendars by mail. As of 2027, the city will implement a digital model where residents can receive email or telephone reminders and access a calendar through a mobile app.<\/p>\n

Related<\/p>\n

Our website is your destination for up-to-the-minute news, so make sure to bookmark our homepage<\/a> and sign up for our newsletters<\/a>\u00a0so we can keep you informed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Some Ottawa residents are bracing for a nearly month-long gap between garbage collection days in March and April…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":533433,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194295],"tags":[49,48,6631,208994,208991,208992,208990,208995,20739,208993],"class_list":["post-533432","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ottawa","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-collection","tag-collection-days","tag-curbside-collection","tag-garbage-bags","tag-garbage-collection","tag-garbage-collections","tag-ottawa","tag-waste-collection"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/533432","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=533432"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/533432\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/533433"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=533432"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=533432"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=533432"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}