The Canadian provinces and two of the territories have their own deposit refund systems (the territory of
Nunavut is the only jurisdiction in Canada with no deposit refund system in place). Deposits range from 5¢ to 40¢ per unit depending on the material and size of the container and whether the beverage originally contained within is alcoholic or non-alcoholic.
Ontario's system of deposit refunds for beer bottles, through "The Beer Store" (The Beer Store is owned by three Ontario brewers: Labatt, Molson and Sleeman), has close to a 100% return rate. The bottles can be cleaned and reused 15 to 20 times. Effective February 5, 2007, Ontario's container deposit applies to wine and spirit, in addition to beer containers. However, even though spirits may only be purchased at government run stores (LCBO) and wine may only be purchased there and at specialty wine shops and directly from wineries, these bottles may only be returned for deposit refund at The Beer Store. Ontario's system does not extend to non-alcoholic beverages.
The programs in other provinces:
- Manitoba: only beer containers are charged a deposit (10¢). Other non-dairy containers are charged a non-refundable 2¢ per unit levy and may be recycled in municipal curbside recycling programs.
- Quebec: beer and carbonated soft drink containers are charged deposits (5¢–20¢ depending on the size, material and content of the container)
- Alberta: all beverage containers (glass bottles, metallic cans, TetraPaks, gable-top cartons, bags-in-boxes, plastic bottles and jugs, drink pouches), including milk containers, are charged deposits at the point of sale; 10¢ for containers 1 L or less, 25¢ for containers larger than 1 L.
- all other provinces charge deposits on beverage containers, except for milk and other dairy products