Crowcery
Two kinds of extra charges show up on Canadian grocery receipts: refundable container deposits and non-refundable environmental fees. They look alike on paper, but one comes back to you and the other never does, and the amounts depend entirely on your province. Here is the map, as of August 2026.
A deposit prints as its own line under the drink that triggered it, grouped when several units rang in together (real Loblaws-family lines):
Walmart prints one deposit line per container instead (NS DEPOSIT $0.10 repeated after each drink). Either way the deposits are added into the subtotal, so a case of pop can add a dollar or two that is not the price of the pop.
The deposit is set by your province's container program, and, in a few provinces, so is a surprise: you do not always get the whole deposit back. Non-alcoholic ready-to-drink containers, typical single-serve sizes, as of August 2026:
| Province | You pay | You get back |
|---|---|---|
| British Columbia | 10¢ | 10¢ |
| Alberta | 10¢ (over 1 L: 25¢) | Full deposit |
| Saskatchewan | Deposit (10¢ typical) plus a small non-refundable environmental handling charge | The full deposit, at SARCAN depots; the environmental charge is not refunded |
| Manitoba | No deposit on non-alcoholic drinks | - |
| Ontario | No deposit on non-alcoholic drinks (alcohol containers carry 10-20¢ through the separate deposit-return program) | - |
| Quebec | 10¢ on most ready-to-drink containers (the program is being expanded in phases) | 10¢, at retailers and return points |
| New Brunswick | 10¢ | 10¢ (full refund since the 2023 reform; it used to be half) |
| Nova Scotia | 10¢ | 5¢: the famous "half-back" system. Refillable beer bottles refund in full. |
| Prince Edward Island | 10¢ | Moving from 5¢ to the full 10¢ under the announced reform |
| Newfoundland and Labrador | 8¢ | 5¢ (the program keeps 3¢ for recycling costs; alcohol: pay 20¢, get 10¢) |
Milk and milk-substitute containers are included in some provinces and excluded in others, alcohol containers usually carry different amounts, and these programs are being reformed across the country, so check your province's program site for the current fine print.
An environmental handling fee (eco fee, EHF) funds the recycling program for the product that carries it: electronics, batteries, tires, sometimes milk containers. It is not a deposit and not a government tax; the amount is set per product category and province by the recycling program, and you do not get it back. A real example, printed right after a pack of batteries at a Nova Scotia Walmart:
Note the J: the eco fee itself was taxed at the full HST rate, which is normal (eco fees are subject to GST/HST). Also note that not every retailer prints eco fees as separate lines; many simply build them into the shelf price, so their absence on a receipt does not mean they were not charged.
When you reconcile a receipt, count deposits and printed eco fees as their own additions before the subtotal. Whether tax applies to a deposit varies by province and product; on the Nova Scotia receipts behind these guides the bottle deposits were untaxed while the eco fee was taxed. The full line-by-line reconciliation walkthrough is in the discounts and promo math guide.
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Grocery receipt discounts and promo math
Weighed items: kg prices, Gross/Tare/Net
How to read a Superstore or Loblaws receipt
How to read a Walmart Canada receipt