As of December 20th, 2022, the importation in Canada of checkout bags, cutlery, foodservice ware, stir sticks and straws (i.e., straight straws) will be prohibited.
The Single-use Plastics Prohibition Regulations (SUPPR) will be effective as of December 20th, 2022, and will be phased-in various staged timeline.
The Regulations prohibit the manufacture, import and sale of single-use plastic checkout bags, cutlery, foodservice ware made from or containing problematic plastics, ring carriers, stir sticks, and straws. An exception in the Regulations allow single-use plastic flexible straws to remain available, under certain conditions.
There are 6 categories of single-use plastics and variable enforcement dates based on prohibition on import, sale and export ranging from December 20th, 2022, to December 20th, 2025.
Prohibition timelines
To enable industry to adapt to the changes, this will be implemented on a phased-in approach timeline.
| Coming into force of the prohibitions | |||
| Item | Manufacture and import for sale in Canada | Sale | Manufacture, import and sale for export |
| Checkout bags, cutlery, foodservice ware, stir sticks, straws* | December 20, 2022 | December 20, 2023 | December 20, 2025 |
| Ring carriers | June 20, 2023 | June 20, 2024 | December 20, 2025 |
| Flexible straws packaged with beverage containers | Not applicable | June 20, 2024 | December 20, 2025 |
*Single-use plastic flexible straws that are not packaged with beverage containers are excluded from the prohibitions under certain conditions.
For more information the guidance document is available on the ECCC website.