What does packaging EPR actually cost a small food brand?
There is no single flat total. A small brand's yearly cost is program fees (which change with every jurisdiction, every kg, and every material) plus the NorthEPR subscription plus the producer's own internal time. As an illustration from the worked examples below, one province can come to about CAD 5,148 in known costs, while adding provinces or a US state pushes known costs to about CAD 9,690 or more plus any unknown PRO fees, before internal time. These are illustrations from stated assumptions, not quotes.
This is general information, not legal, tax, or accounting advice. NorthEPR prepares filings; producers file and pay program fees themselves in each program portal.
The three cost buckets
- PRO and program fees by jurisdiction. Charged per kg by material, by each program you are obligated in.
- NorthEPR subscription. CAD 2,500 per year for a single province, CAD 7,500 per year for Canada multi (up to 7 jurisdictions), CAD 12,000 per year for cross-border, matching the live pricing page, plus a one-time onboarding and data setup fee typically CAD 500 to CAD 2,500 scoped to the catalogue.
- Internal hours. The producer's own staff time to gather packaging data and review filings. This is real cost but is not a program fee, so we show it as time to budget, not as a dollar figure we assert.
Conditions that move the total
- The number of jurisdictions you sell into.
- The kg you supply into each jurisdiction.
- Your material mix.
- The recyclability and design of your packaging.
Rates used in the worked examples
These are the rates behind the examples below, not a full schedule. Every rate carries its dated source in the sources section. Any rate we could not source is shown as unknown and never appears in a total.
| Material | Rate |
|---|---|
| Corrugated cardboard | CAD 539.67 per tonne |
| PET bottles | CAD 1,006.09 per tonne |
| Clear glass | CAD 559.78 per tonne |
| Material | Rate |
|---|---|
| Corrugated cardboard | 65 cents per kg |
| PET containers | 128 cents per kg |
| HDPE containers | 75 cents per kg |
| LDPE/HDPE film | 187 cents per kg |
| Aluminum food containers | 93 cents per kg |
| Other steel containers | 82 cents per kg |
| Clear glass | 46 cents per kg |
| Supply | Oversight fee |
|---|---|
| Under 25,000 kg | Flat CAD 250 |
| At or above 25,000 kg | CAD 250 plus CAD 0.02373 per kg |
This is the oversight fee, not the full Nova Scotia PRO material fee. Nova Scotia PRO material fees are unknown on this page: they are not published openly in a source we verified for this page, so they are shown as unknown in every example and are never treated as zero.
| Material | Rate |
|---|---|
| Corrugated cardboard | USD 176 per metric ton |
| Clear PET bottles | USD 551 per metric ton |
| Aluminum cans | USD 132 per metric ton |
| Steel containers | USD 220 per metric ton |
| Glass bottles | USD 220 per metric ton |
Ontario PRO material fees are not published openly in a source we verified for this page, so they are shown as unknown in every example and are never treated as zero.
Worked Example A: one province only (Quebec)
Assumptions: 3,000 kg corrugated cardboard, 800 kg PET bottles, 400 kg clear glass, all supplied into Quebec.
| Line | Amount |
|---|---|
| 3.0 tonnes corrugated cardboard x CAD 539.67 | CAD 1,619.01 |
| 0.8 tonnes PET bottles x CAD 1,006.09 | CAD 804.87 |
| 0.4 tonnes clear glass x CAD 559.78 | CAD 223.91 |
| Program fees | CAD 2,647.79 |
| NorthEPR single province | CAD 2,500 |
| Known total per year | CAD 5,147.79 |
Plus internal time and any onboarding fee in the typical CAD 500 to CAD 2,500 range.
Worked Example B: Atlantic Canada plus Ontario
Assumptions: 4,000 kg total supplied into Nova Scotia; 2,000 kg corrugated cardboard and 500 kg PET containers supplied into New Brunswick; Ontario supply of the same brand, with Ontario PRO material fees unknown.
| Line | Amount |
|---|---|
| Nova Scotia Divert NS oversight fee (under 25,000 kg) | CAD 250 flat |
| New Brunswick: 2,000 kg x CAD 0.65 | CAD 1,300 |
| New Brunswick: 500 kg x CAD 1.28 | CAD 640 |
| New Brunswick program fees | CAD 1,940 |
| NorthEPR Canada multi | CAD 7,500 per year |
| Known subtotal per year | CAD 9,690 |
CAD 9,690 is not the full total. Add unknown Nova Scotia PRO material fees, plus unknown Ontario PRO material fees, plus internal time.
Worked Example C: one US state (Oregon) plus Ontario
Assumptions: the brand does NOT meet either Oregon exemption test (see thresholds below), and supplies into Oregon 2,000 kg corrugated cardboard, 1,000 kg clear PET bottles, and 500 kg aluminum cans; Ontario supply with Ontario PRO material fees unknown.
| Line | Amount |
|---|---|
| 2.0 tonnes corrugated cardboard x USD 176 | USD 352 |
| 1.0 tonne clear PET bottles x USD 551 | USD 551 |
| 0.5 tonnes aluminum cans x USD 132 | USD 66 |
| Oregon program fees per year | USD 969 |
NorthEPR cross-border is CAD 12,000 per year, shown separately because it is a different currency: we never add USD and CAD into one total. Known costs are USD 969 plus CAD 12,000, PLUS unknown Ontario PRO material fees, plus internal time.
Small producer thresholds and exemptions
- Oregon. Exempt if global gross revenue is under USD 5 million OR if under 1 metric ton of covered products is supplied into Oregon in the prior year. Meeting either test is enough. Separately, Oregon's 2026 intermediate flat-fee tiers for producers between the exemption and full per-weight fees are USD 1,200 for 1 to 2.5 metric tons, USD 2,500 for 2.5 to 5 metric tons, USD 4,100 for 5 to 7.5 metric tons, and USD 5,800 for 7.5 to 10 metric tons.
- California. Relief is by application, not automatic. Producers with less than USD 1 million in California gross sales in the most recent calendar year may apply to CalRecycle for a small producer exemption; CalRecycle can refuse it, an approved exemption lasts two years, and registration must still be kept current. See the California page for the fee detail.
- New Brunswick. An exempt producer is one with under CAD 2 million in gross annual revenue in New Brunswick OR under 1 tonne of packaging and paper supplied annually in New Brunswick.
- Nova Scotia. The small-producer threshold is unknown on this page. We do not guess it; confirm it with Divert NS.
- Ontario regulator fee. Separate from PRO material fees: the Resource Productivity and Recovery Authority 2026 final small producer fee is CAD 95. This is a regulator fee, not a PRO material fee.
Fee reduction levers
- Use fewer kg (lightweighting). Fewer kg means fewer kg multiplied by the rate.
- Use a single recyclable material instead of a multi-material laminate. A widely recycled mono-material generally sits in a lower-rate category than a hard-to-recycle laminate: compare New Brunswick corrugated cardboard at 65 cents per kg with LDPE/HDPE film at 187 cents per kg.
- Use recycled content where the program rewards it. Eco-modulation in California adjusts the 2027 preliminary rates by plus or minus 5 percent (see /california).
No lever removes the reporting obligation itself.
What is not included
Consultant fees, legal advice, and late penalties are not included in any total on this page, and their amounts are unknown here.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a flat fee for EPR?
This is general information, not advice about your company. Programs change their rules, rates, and deadlines, so confirm with the program or your PRO before acting. NorthEPR does not give legal, tax, or accounting advice. No, not in general. Program fees are kg multiplied by the rate for each material in each jurisdiction, so they change with what you sell and where. The exceptions on this page are narrow and named: the Nova Scotia Divert NS oversight fee (flat CAD 250 under 25,000 kg), Oregon's intermediate flat-fee tiers, and Ontario's CAD 95 regulator small producer fee; none of those replaces per-material PRO fees where those apply.
Does software replace program fees?
This is general information, not advice about your company. Programs change their rules, rates, and deadlines, so confirm with the program or your PRO before acting. NorthEPR does not give legal, tax, or accounting advice. No. The NorthEPR subscription is separate from program fees, and program fees are paid by the producer directly to the program or PRO. NorthEPR prepares filings; producers file and pay themselves.
Sources
- Eco Entreprises Quebec 2026 fee schedule (PFP rates)
- Circular Materials Report to Producers 2025, New Brunswick 2026 fee rates
- Divert NS 2026 Final EPR Oversight Fees
- Circular Action Alliance 2026 Oregon Producer Fee Schedule
- Resource Productivity and Recovery Authority 2026 program fees
- NorthEPR pricing page for subscription prices
- CalRecycle small producer exemption regulation 14 CCR 18980.5.2
See the math on your own data
The examples above use stated assumptions. Your catalogue, your kg, and your jurisdictions will produce different numbers. Start with the free check and we estimate your 2026 fees line by line.
Claim your free 2026 packaging fee check