Canada's Single-Use Plastics Ban: From 2019 Pledge to Law

Originally published 2019-07-03.

On 10 June 2019, standing at the Gault Nature Reserve in Mont-Saint-Hilaire, Quebec, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau promised that Canada would ban "harmful" single-use plastics as early as 2021. The items mentioned included shopping bags, straws, cutlery, plates and stir sticks, with the final list to be decided on scientific evidence.

The ban did happen, but later and in a narrower form than the headline suggested. Six categories of single-use plastic were outlawed under regulations published in June 2022, with sales ending from December 2023. The rules have also survived a long court fight that is now heading to the Supreme Court of Canada. Here is what was promised, what became law and what it means in everyday life.

What Trudeau announced in 2019

The 2019 announcement was a statement of intent rather than a finished law. Ottawa said it would study which products caused the most harm, look at what the European Union and other countries were doing, and only then decide what to prohibit. A second part of the plan was to work with provinces and territories so that companies making plastic products, or selling goods in plastic packaging, would be responsible for collecting and recycling that waste.

Trudeau promoted the plan on social media the same day:

Canadians are tired of seeing our beaches, parks, streets, and shorelines littered with plastic waste. Learn more about the action we’re taking to ban harmful single-use plastics: https://t.co/GZBt0K10Nt #BeatPlasticPollution pic.twitter.com/eZ0yT8ckY5

— Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) June 10, 2019

The government framed the move as both environmental and economic. Its news release argued that better handling of plastic waste could cut 1.8 million tonnes of carbon pollution and create about 42,000 jobs.

The numbers behind the decision

The figures Ottawa published in 2019 explain why plastics became a political priority:

• Fewer than one in ten pieces of plastic used in Canada were being recycled.
• Canadians were discarding more than 3 million tonnes of plastic every year, worth up to $8 billion in lost material.
• About a third of all plastic in the country went into single-use or short-lived products and packaging.
• Up to 15 billion plastic bags were used each year, and close to 57 million straws every day.

The release also cited global estimates that roughly one million birds and more than 100,000 marine mammals are injured or killed each year after swallowing plastic or becoming tangled in it. Those worldwide figures are widely quoted but hard to measure precisely; they are best read as an order of magnitude rather than an exact count. Canada has a particular stake in the issue: it has the longest coastline of any country and around a quarter of the world's fresh water.

What the ban actually covers

After consultations and a scientific review, the government published the Single-use Plastics Prohibition Regulations in the Canada Gazette on 22 June 2022. They target six product types:

1. Checkout bags
2. Cutlery, including knives, forks, spoons, sporks and chopsticks
3. Food-service ware made from or containing problematic plastics, such as clamshells, lidded containers, cups, plates and bowls
4. Ring carriers used to bundle drink cans
5. Stir sticks
6. Straight straws, plus flexible straws packaged with drinks

The rules came in stages. Making or importing most of these items for sale in Canada was banned from 20 December 2022, and selling them ended on 20 December 2023. Ring carriers followed six months later. A ban on making them for export took effect on 20 December 2025.

One sensible exception matters to many people: flexible plastic straws are still available for those who need them because of a disability or medical condition, as long as they are not packaged with a drink and are supplied under the conditions set out in the regulations.

The court battle over the word "toxic"

To regulate plastic, Ottawa added "plastic manufactured items" to the list of toxic substances under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act. Industry groups and several chemical companies challenged that step, arguing that not every plastic object harms people or nature.

In November 2023 the Federal Court agreed that the listing was too broad. The government appealed, and in January 2026 the Federal Court of Appeal unanimously reversed that ruling, finding the listing reasonable. On 15 October 2026 the Supreme Court of Canada agreed to hear a further appeal. Until it rules, the government says the ban on the six items stays in force.

How Canada compares with other countries

Canada was following a broad international trend rather than leading it. Several African countries, including Rwanda and Kenya, banned plastic bags well before 2019, and France prohibited disposable plastic cups, plates and cutlery under a 2016 law. The European Union adopted its own single-use plastics directive in 2019, which Ottawa explicitly looked to when designing its rules.

Internationally, Canada used its 2018 G7 presidency to launch the Ocean Plastics Charter, which commits signatories to reduce plastic waste reaching the sea. It was backed by France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom and the European Union; the United States and Japan did not sign at the time.

Do bans like this work?

Banning a handful of items will not solve plastic pollution on its own. The six banned categories are a small slice of all the plastic Canadians use, and some replacements, such as heavier reusable bags or paper, have their own environmental costs if they are used only once. The real gains come when people change habits and when producers are made responsible for what happens to packaging after it is thrown away.

What the ban does do well is remove some of the most common items found on beaches and riverbanks. Volunteers in the Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup have collected well over a million kilograms of litter over the years, and straws, cutlery and bags are frequent finds.

Simple ways to cut single-use plastic at home

• Keep a couple of reusable bags by the door or in the car, and use them for years.
• Carry a metal or bamboo cutlery set if you often eat on the go.
• Bring your own cup or container to cafés and take-out places that accept them.
• Choose products sold in refillable or minimal packaging when you have the option.
• Check your local recycling rules, since what is accepted varies widely between municipalities.

Sources: Prime Minister of Canada, 10 June 2019: Canada to ban harmful single-use plastics; Government of Canada: Single-use plastics prohibition regulations overview; CP24, 15 October 2026: Supreme Court will rule on Ottawa's single-use plastics ban.