Guide
· 7 min read
Toronto yard waste runs about mid-March to mid-December, every other week. How to find your last pickup, bag leaves, and what to do after the season ends.
Toronto homeowners hit the same question every November: is this week's truck the last yard waste pickup, or is there one more? The City collects yard waste every other week, and the final date depends on your address. After that date, bags stay put until spring unless you take them to a depot or book a haul.
This guide covers the 2026 season close, how leaf weeks line up with branch weeks, which bags the truck takes, and what still works after curbside collection stops. Bundle lengths, the 7.5 cm diameter limit, and oversize logs are in our Toronto yard waste branch rules guide. Junk 'Of' Urs hauls leaves, brush, and branches already on the ground. We do not cut, trim, chip, or fell trees.
The City of Toronto picks up yard waste every other week on garbage day, from around mid-March to mid-December, plus Christmas trees in January. That range is on the City's yard waste page, which tells residents to confirm dates on their own schedule. Use the TOwaste app or the 2026 household calendar for your collection day. Those calendars are split into Day 1 and Day 2.
Day 1 and Day 2 are a week apart, so two houses with Thursday garbage can have yard waste on different Thursdays. The last date marked for yard waste on your address is your last curbside pickup. The next one is when the program resumes around mid-March.
Set-out time still decides whether the last load is taken. Daytime areas: at the curb by 7 a.m., and no earlier than 8 p.m. the night before. Night areas: between 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. on the collection date. Keep bags 0.5 m from the garbage bin, and store them on your property between collection days.
Late September is the week to start on a large lot, under maples and along ravines in places such as Lawrence Park and Forest Hill. One biweekly pickup rarely clears a deep yard. Spread bags across the October and November yard waste days, and keep a December date as a buffer when your calendar still shows one.
October and November are the leaf pickup weeks in Toronto. Leaves, twigs, hedge trimmings, pumpkins, gourds, and corn stalks are on the City's yard waste list. Branches that meet the curb rules can go out the same morning. Wood that is too thick is left behind even when the leaves are collected. Measure it against the branch rules guide before you stack it with the bags.
December is the wind-down. The City describes the end as around mid-December, and the date on your calendar is the one that counts. If your last yard waste mark is early in the month, later collection days are ordinary garbage weeks. Do the heavy raking in October and November, and use a December date when your schedule prints one.
January is for real Christmas trees on the designated days. Remove lights, tinsel, and the stand, and set the tree beside the garbage bin, clear of snow and ice, loose rather than bagged. Christmas trees do not have to be cut to the 1.2 m branch length. A missed tree waits for spring yard waste or goes to a Drop-Off Depot. An artificial tree is an oversized item on garbage day.
Kraft paper yard waste bags are what the City collects. A rigid open-top container also works when the outside height is at least 55 cm and no more than 95 cm. Blue and grey boxes that used to hold recycling are excluded. Plastic bags and cardboard boxes are left at the curb.
A few holes in the bottom of a rigid bin let rain drain, so you are not lifting a bin of water. Shake extra soil off weeds and roots before they go in.
Invasive plants go out as garbage in a tied plastic bag, so they stay out of the compost stream. The City's list includes giant hogweed, dog-strangling vine, garlic mustard, Norway maple, buckthorn, and Japanese knotweed.
If a landscaper does the fall work, you are still responsible for the set-out. Plastic leaf bags along a Bayview curb will be passed by the yard waste truck.
Grass clippings, sod, and soil are excluded in every month. The City asks residents to leave clippings on the lawn. Depots refuse sod, grass clippings, and soil as well, so a stack of sod cannot ride with the leaves.
We leave soil, sod, and grass clippings out of a yard-waste load. If that is what is in the yard, say so on the quote request so it can be declined or priced separately as heavy material.
The depots keep taking yard waste that meets the size rules all year. Pieces over 7.5 cm in diameter or 1.2 m long are refused, with Christmas trees as the exception. You need a motor vehicle and a secured load. The minimum deposit is $40. Yard waste under 20 kg is free. Heavier loads are charged on the full weight at the 2026 rate of $142.40 per tonne.
The City lists seven depots: Bermondsey, Commissioners, Disco, Dufferin, Ingram, Scarborough, and Victoria Park. Disco, at 120 Disco Road, is listed as closed until further notice, so use another site. Commissioners, Dufferin, and Victoria Park list general drop-off on weekdays. Bermondsey, Ingram, and Scarborough also list Saturday mornings. Sunday is closed for general drop-off at these sites. City trucks have priority from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and from 3 to 5 p.m. Check the locations page the day you go.
A depot run fits a few kraft bags that already meet the rules. It fits poorly when the leaves are in plastic, the pile is behind a ravine-lot gate, or the last City week has passed and the bags are wet.
Plastic bags have to be emptied before the leaves can be dumped as yard waste. Junk 'Of' Urs charges $20 per 10 bags for that emptying, all-in, HST included. Kraft bags skip the add-on. If the bags are already plastic, count them before you ask for a price.
Brush and bagged yard waste are priced by the load, all-in, HST included, and each load includes the dump trip and tip fee. A small curbside pile of a few bundles, up to about 1.5 cubic yards, is $149. A quarter brush load is $189. A half load is $269. Logs over the depot size limit are extra, which the branch rules guide explains. We haul the pile as it sits. We do not cut it to City spec, and we do not chip it.
Send two photos with something for scale, a rough length, width, and height, and a shot of the path from the street. The quote covers a set number of loads, and you pay less if it takes fewer.
Use any yard waste day still on your calendar for material that qualifies. For bags the City will leave, or for what remains after that date, send photos for a quote at junkofurs.com/quote.
Soft-strip, demo and junk removal
6 years GTA experience. Send a quote, get your price, then book the pickup. You pay after the job is done. We reply Monday to Saturday, usually within 30 to 60 minutes.
