When Is My Garbage Day in Toronto?

Your Toronto garbage day is a set weekday — Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday or Friday — decided by your address. Green bin goes out every week; garbage and recycling alternate every other week. Enter your postal code below to see your exact collection day and next pickup dates.

enter your toronto postal code to see your collection day.

How Toronto Collection Works

toronto splits the city into 8 daytime collection zones.
each zone has a day: tue, wed, thu, or fri.

there are two calendars per day (e.g. Tuesday1, Tuesday2).
this determines which weeks you get garbage pickup.

(some downtown buildings have overnight collection instead.)

Every single week, you put out:

  🟢 Green Bin (food scraps, organics)

Every other week, you put out:

  🗑️  Garbage (whatever's left)
  ♻️  Recycling (blue bin — paper, containers, glass)

Seasonally:

  🌿 Yard Waste ........... March through December
  🎄 Christmas Trees ...... January only

Find Your Collection Day

Two ways to find your collection day:

  1. look up your postal code above → see your
     exact schedule with dates and items

  2. sign up for SMS reminders → get a text
     the night before every collection day
     (free, no app, works on any phone)

How do I know which week is garbage week?

Garbage goes out every other week in Toronto. The tricky part is knowing which week is yours — it depends on your calendar number (1 or 2). The easiest way to never think about it again is to sign up for a reminder. We text you exactly what to put out.

What time should I put my bins out?

Bins must be out by 7:00 AM on your collection day, and no earlier than 8:00 PM the night before. Place them at the curb — not blocking the sidewalk or on the road. Bring them back in by the end of collection day or you might get a friendly bylaw notice. A few downtown areas have overnight collection instead, with a set-out window after 6 PM and before 9 PM.

What happens to garbage collection on holidays?

Toronto collects on almost every statutory holiday — Family Day, Victoria Day, Canada Day, the Civic Holiday, Labour Day and Thanksgiving all run on your normal day. The only two holidays with no pickup are Christmas Day and New Year's Day, when collection shifts forward one day for that week. See our holiday schedule for the exact dates.

My garbage wasn't picked up. What do I do?

First, check if there was a holiday that week (your day may have shifted). If not, make sure your items were set out by 7 AM and sorted correctly. Who to report it to depends on the bin — see our full missed pickup guide (garbage and green bin go through 311, but blue bin recycling changed providers in 2026).

How many garbage bags can I put out?

Most Toronto households are allowed 3 items of garbage per bi-weekly collection. This includes bags, bins, and containers. Extra items need a city garbage tag ($4.19 each, available at most convenience stores and City counters). There's no limit on green bin, and recycling has no item cap either.