VANCOUVER — Vancouver City Council has voted to end the city’s 25-cent single-use cup fee after receiving resounding feedback from local businesses, consumers and associations that the fee has been ineffective in its initial goal of reducing the number of single-use cups being used. Instead, the fee made getting a warm beverage less affordable and disproportionately hurt small businesses and lower-income households more than any other demographic.
Restaurants Canada’s Mark von Schellwitz, vice-president of Western Canada, has worked since the fee was implemented on January 1, 2022, to advocate for local restaurateurs and communicate the challenges this fee presents.
“The cup fee has not resulted in a reduction of demand, and our members never want to pass along new fees to their value-conscious guests, especially at a time when inflation is already raising the costs of just about everything” says von Schellwitz. “Our members have expressed that not only have they been met with push back from customers to the mandatory cup fee, but it has also added even more costs and red tape to restaurants still struggling to recover from the pandemic.”
The City of Vancouver staff will now be obliged to draft a bylaw amendment by June 1, 2023 for the fee to be formally repealed.
