Leaf and Yard Waste Collection in the GTA: Who Actually Picks It Up
In half the GTA the collector is not your city. And in two places there are two separate programs running at once.
In short
There is no single leaf collection date for your city, and any article that publishes one is guessing. Every GTA municipality sets collection by address, not by city, and in the two-tier regions the truck belongs to the region, not the municipality you live in.
That is why so many people end up on the wrong website. If you live in Mississauga or Brampton, your yard waste is collected by the Region of Peel. In Oakville it is Halton Region. In Toronto and Vaughan the city does it itself.
And in Mississauga and Oakville two different services run in the same autumn: a vacuum truck for loose leaves raked to the curb, and a regional truck for bagged yard waste. They have different rules, different eligibility and different weeks.
Who collects yard waste where?
Start here, because getting this wrong is the reason a pile sits at the curb for three weeks.
| Where you live | Who collects | How often | Loose-leaf vacuum too? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Toronto | City of Toronto | Every other week, roughly mid-March to mid-December | No |
| Mississauga | Region of Peel | Weekly in the urban area | Yes — City of Mississauga, eligible streets only |
| Brampton | Region of Peel | Weekly in the urban area | No |
| Vaughan | City of Vaughan | Weekly, through early December | No |
| Oakville | Halton Region | About the first week of April to the second week of December | Yes — Town of Oakville, by zone in late autumn |
Markham and the rest of York Region work like Vaughan: collection is run by the local municipality, not by York Region, which operates drop-off depots instead. Caledon is on Peel collection but every other week rather than weekly in its urban areas.
Why are there two different leaf programs?
Because raked leaves and bagged leaves are handled by different equipment, and in some municipalities by different levels of government.
Bagged yard waste is the universal one. Leaves, plant trimmings and garden waste go into paper yard-waste bags or a labelled bin, out at the curb on your collection day, picked up by the same operation that takes your garbage. Everyone in the GTA has access to this.
Vacuum loose-leaf collection is the one people assume they have and often do not. A truck with a large hose drives the route and sucks up leaves raked into a pile at the edge of the boulevard. No bags at all. It exists because some streets shed more leaves in a fortnight than a household could ever bag.
The catch is eligibility. In Mississauga the vacuum service runs only on streets more than 35 years old with many large mature trees, and whether yours qualifies is set by a route map, not by asking. A new subdivision with young trees will never be on it, however many leaves fall.
How do I find my own collection date?
Enter your address on your collector’s calendar. Not your city’s general page — the address lookup, because that is where the real answer lives.
What gets your pile left behind
The rules that matter are the same almost everywhere, and every one of them exists because of something that went wrong.
What if the schedule slips or you miss it?
Rain and early snowfall move loose-leaf routes, and municipalities say so plainly rather than pretending otherwise. Mississauga tells residents to call 311 to find out whether their street is affected. That is the right move everywhere: the published route is a plan, and November weather outranks it.
If you miss the vacuum week, or the last of the leaves come down afterwards, the fallback is the same in every municipality: bag them for regular yard waste collection, or take them to a drop-off depot, where fees may apply.
The third option costs nothing and is better for the garden. Mulch the leaves with the mower and leave them on the lawn, or spread them around the base of trees and shrubs. Mississauga recommends this outright, and it saves the bagging entirely.
When to actually do the work
Late October to mid-November, once the leaves have finished falling — the same window as clearing the eavestrough, which is why it makes sense to do both in one weekend.
Both services wind down in the first half of December, and by then the pile is frozen to the boulevard anyway. If you are hiring someone rather than raking yourself, book before the first frost forecast, because that week is when every crew in the GTA is full.
What to do next
Two minutes, once a year. Find out who collects at your address — your city or your region — put the address into their calendar, and sign up for the reminder emails. If you are in Mississauga or Oakville, check the loose-leaf route map separately, because it is a different program from the one you just looked at.
If raking a mature lot is not realistic, compare home services in Ontario on Ontario24 and contact lawn and yard companies directly. Ontario24 is a classified directory — we help you find and compare businesses, and we do not vet them; our safety tips cover what to check first.
While you are booking autumn work: our eavestrough cleaning guide covers the same weekend’s other job, our lawn care and landscaping prices cover what yard work costs, and the snow removal guide covers the contracts that get signed in exactly these weeks.
Before you call anyone, it helps to know what this job should cost and what the next one will. What things cost in Ontario in 2026 puts 75 service prices in one table.
Frequently asked questions
The Region of Peel, not the city. Peel collects bagged and bin yard waste at the curb on your collection day. The City of Mississauga separately runs a vacuum loose-leaf service on eligible streets, which is a different program with different rules — so residents often search the wrong website.
Only on some streets. The City of Mississauga provides vacuum leaf pickup on streets more than 35 years old with many large mature trees. Eligibility is set by a route map, not by request. If your street is not on it, bag your leaves for Region of Peel yard waste collection instead.
Every other week, on your regular garbage collection day, from roughly mid-March to mid-December. The exact weeks depend on your address, so check your collection calendar rather than assuming your neighbour’s schedule matches yours.
Yes. The City of Vaughan collects leaf and yard waste weekly on your scheduled collection day through early December. Vaughan runs its own collection — York Region operates depots where yard waste can also be dropped off for a fee.
Halton Region collects yard waste at the curb on your garbage day from about the first week of April to the second week of December. The Town of Oakville separately runs a loose-leaf program by zone in late autumn, so two different services apply at different times.
Because collection dates are set by address, not by city. Every GTA municipality uses an address-based calendar, and in two-tier regions the collector is the region rather than your city. Any article publishing one date per city is guessing.
Anything that is not plant material. Wood, bricks and construction debris damage equipment and injure workers, and mixing them in is the most common reason a pile is left behind. Keep leaves clear of the road and storm drains, and do not set bags or bins on top of a loose leaf pile.
Sources
Collection arrangements above come from the municipalities and regions themselves: the City of Toronto, the Region of Peel and the City of Mississauga (whose fall leaf pickup page sets out the 35-year street eligibility, the route map and the 311 weather line), the City of Vaughan, York Region and Halton Region. Checked on 17 September 2026. No specific collection dates are published here on purpose — every municipality assigns them by address and adjusts loose-leaf routes for weather, so the only accurate date is the one on your own calendar. Ontario24 is a classified directory and does not collect waste or operate any municipal program.