The majority of Metro Vancouver’s 21 municipalities do not offer free large item pickup services, and the City of Vancouver said illegal dumping costs about $2 – $2.5 million annually.
Despite fines ranging from $100 to $500 per offence or prosecution leading to a fine of up to $10,000, the city said no monetary penalties were issued last year. However; one case is under active prosecution.
Many times there may be some indication of who may have been involved in illegal dumping but not enough evidence to issue a ticket or prosecute, the city of Vancouver said in an email.
Inspectors will instead educate the people involved on the appropriate way to get rid of items, and potential fines.
In 2024, the city said about 259 cases resulted in education.
When a source of the abandoned trash is identified, the city said it typically requires they clean it up themselves and that the vast majority of people comply.
In two cases last year, the city said it cleaned up the dumped material and billed the resident responsible.
“Don’t put a couch on the street with a sign that says ‘Free’ on it that no one else would ever want because it’s at the end of its life,” said ABC Vancouver Coun. Peter Meiszner. “We’re just really asking for people to act responsibly.”
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The City of Vancouver does not run a large item collection program for residents and said this service is provided by a number of private companies which specialize in removing junk or large items directly from homes.
Residents can also drop off certain materials for reuse and recycling, free of charge, at the Vancouver Zero Waste Centre.
Vancouver and 11 other Metro Vancouver municipalities – North Vancouver City, North Vancouver District, White Rock, Maple Ridge, Port Moody, Anmore, Lions Bay, West Vancouver, Bowen Island, Belcarra, and Pitt Meadows – do not have large item collection programs.
Surrey, Delta, Langley City, Langley Township, Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam, Richmond, and Burnaby provide some sort of large item pickup at no charge to residents who receive curbside garbage collection.
Still, household junk is being abandoned on sidewalks and public property across the region – including in cities which pick up the items for free.
In north Burnaby, the corner of Boundary Road and Albert Street has become such a hotbed for discarded mattresses, couches and furniture, the city has set up a mobile surveillance trailer in an effort to deter illegal dumping.
“We have captured images of illegal dumpers with this camera and we do follow up on those,” said Burnaby public works director Erik Schmidt.
Burnaby’s large item service allows houses and duplexes to schedule up to three items per pickup while apartments, condos, and townhomes can schedule up to six items per complex.
Schmidt said the Boundary Road dumping site is a staging area for the pickup program, and he believes some are taking advantage.
“Others are driving by and seeing that material placed for collection and adding more to it and that becomes a problem,” Schmidt told Global News in an interview Thursday.
Burnaby spends approximately $1.4 million per year on large item collection, while Schmidt said the cost of removing abandoned waste is under $400,000.
The city of New Westminster has a special pickup service on Thursdays where crews will collect large items for a fee.
The minimum fee for one item is $50. Each additional mattress is $30 while each extra box spring or bulky item such as an appliance or piece of furniture is $25.
Ultimately, taxpayers are taking out the trash as cities across the region end up dealing with garbage left on public and private property.
Langley Township said public works staff will pick up illegally dumped waste from public places like boulevards and parks.
If the junk is dumped on private property, staff will report the incidents to bylaw enforcement, which may contact property owners to educate them, provide a clean-up notice, warn them if it is not done, and if needed, impose fines for non-compliance.
In Vancouver, the city said if no evidence of illegal dumping is found, sanitation crews “will remove and dispose of the item appropriately”.
“Towards the end of the month and the first of the month, all kinds of stuff appears,” Mount Pleasant BIA executive director Neil Wyles told Global News. “Couches, mattresses, other bits of furniture – all over the place.”
Wyles said reports of illegal dumping to the city’s 3-1-1 service often take days to address – including when discarded items are blocking access to businesses.
“If it’s leaning up against the back door of your business, it’s never fast enough,” said Wyles.
The Mount Pleasant BIA now hires a private contractor to remove trash within 24 hours – at a cost of thousands of dollars a year.
“It’s become less frustrating because we’re getting such good service,” said Wyles.
