Nova Scotia Packaging EPR: Your 2026 Divert NS Invoice Guide

Nova Scotia Packaging EPR: Your 2026 Divert NS Invoice Guide

If you sell packaged food or beverages in Nova Scotia, your 2026 EPR oversight invoice is sitting in the Divert NS EPR Portal right now. Invoices went out on October 1, 2026, they are due net 60 days, and they carry 1.5 percent monthly interest on overdue accounts. Here is what the program is, what the two-tier fee structure means for you, and what to do before the payment clock runs out.

What Divert NS is and why it invoices you

Nova Scotia approved its Extended Producer Responsibility regulations for packaging, paper products, and packaging-like products (PPP) in August 2023. Divert NS serves as the program Administrator: it oversees compliance, enforces the obligations of producers, processors, and producer responsibility organizations, and is authorized by the regulations to recover its oversight costs from producers.

That last part is what the invoice is for. The oversight fee does not fund recycling operations directly. It funds the administration of the system itself: the portal, the fee consultations, compliance work, and enforcement against free riders. You are paying for the governance layer that makes sure everyone plays by the same rules.

The program is now fully implemented as of January 1, 2026, and municipalities are expected to save an estimated $20 to $25 million a year from the transition. The first round of invoices went out October 1, 2025, and 94 percent of producers paid up. This year's invoice is the second round.

If you are new to the framework behind all of this, our complete guide to packaging EPR explains how producer responsibility works across the 16 jurisdictions we track.

The 2026 fee structure: two tiers

Divert NS consulted producers through spring 2026 and finalized the rates this summer. There are two tiers:

1. Tier 1: under 25,000 kg. Producers that supplied less than 25,000 kilograms of PPP into Nova Scotia pay a flat fee of $250.
2. Tier 2: at or above 25,000 kg. Larger producers pay the $250 flat fee plus a variable rate of $0.02373 per kilogram of supplied material.

Two things are worth noticing. First, the variable rate dropped from last year's $0.0289 per kilogram, because the costs being recovered this year are lower. Second, this is not the only payment you make in Nova Scotia. The oversight fee sits on top of your PRO fees for collection and recycling, which run through Circular Materials as the producer responsibility organization. Do not confuse the two invoices.

Do you even owe it? Check the exemptions

The PPP regulations exempt small producers. You are not obligated if your business has less than $1 million in sales in Nova Scotia, or if you supply less than one tonne of designated material into the province. Below either threshold, no obligation and no oversight fee.

If you are above both thresholds and sell into the province, you should be registered. Registration in the Divert NS EPR Portal is free, and it is separate from Divert NS's beverage recycling program: if you only registered for beverages, that does not cover you for PPP. Our explainer on who counts as an EPR producer walks through the producer hierarchy in detail.

The deadlines and the paperwork

Invoices are due net 60 days, which puts this year's due date at November 30, 2026. Invoices must be paid directly to Divert NS by EFT, cheque, or bill payment. Divert NS asks producers to forward the invoice to their accounting department, or better, add an accounting contact to the EPR Portal so finance sees it directly.

Beyond the invoice, the reporting cadence continues. Producers report their supply data annually, with the expected deadline of May 31 each calendar year, to both Circular Materials and the Administrator. The 2026 invoice is based on costs allocated from the supply data you already reported. If your data was wrong, the fee may be wrong too, and Divert NS adjusts discrepancies in the following fee-setting period.

For the mechanics of how fees get built from packaging data, see our explainer on how EPR packaging fees are calculated.

Your Nova Scotia checklist before November 30

1. Log in to the Divert NS EPR Portal and download your invoice. Do not wait for a paper copy. The email notification may already be buried in your inbox.
2. Confirm which tier you are in. If you are near the 25,000 kg line, make sure your reported supply weight is right. A reporting error near the threshold can swing you between tiers.
3. Forward it to accounting now. Net 60 terms with 1.5 percent monthly interest on overdue balances reward the organized. Set the calendar reminder today.
4. Check your PRO fees too. Circular Materials runs the collection side of the program. Your oversight invoice is only half the cost picture in Nova Scotia.
5. Keep your SKU-level packaging data current. Every kilogram you report shapes next year's invoice, and sloppy data compounds across jurisdictions.

Nova Scotia is one of the smaller programs in North America by cost, but it is one of the tightest on process: a single portal, a published consultation record, and hard payment terms. Get the data right here and the same discipline carries everywhere else you sell.

We built NorthEPR for exactly this problem: software that shows food and beverage producers where they have to report, what they owe, and gets their filings ready on time across Canada and the US. We are opening 3 free pilot spots for a 2026 packaging-data health check plus first filing support. If Atlantic Canada is on your map, take a look at the pilot.