Responsibility Hierarchy

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An obligated producer/steward is a brand holder/owner and/or a first importer into the province, and/or a retailer who supplies packaging and paper products to a consumer for their personal, family or household use. Franchisors and marketplace facilitators can also be obligated producers/stewards in certain provinces they supply designated packaging and paper products to consumers.

Determining the correct obligated party for designated materials in each province is based on a responsibility hierarchy. While there are some differences in the hierarchy from province to province, the resident brand holder/owner assumes the obligation for their packaging and paper products (PPP) across all jurisdictions. When the brand holder/owner does not meet the residency requirements in the province, the obligation moves down the hierarchy to the resident first importer. The first importer into the province could be the importer/distributor/retailer or marketplace facilitator in certain jurisdictions. The franchisor is obligated for all packaging and paper generated by their franchisees regardless of whether the head office is located inside or outside of Canada, or in a particular province within Canada.

The information below will assist you in understanding the producer/steward hierarchy for each province where Circular Materials currently operates as a producer responsibility organization (PRO) and supports extended producer responsibility (EPR) programs. If you have questions with respect to responsibility, please contact our Customer Relations producer onboarding team at 1-877-667-2626.

Producer determination

To determine if your business or organization is the obligated producer for the packaging and/or paper product (PPP) supplied to consumers in Nova Scotia, you will need to identify if it is the responsible brand holder, first importer, retailer, or franchisor of the materials in the province.

As set out in the Extended Producer Responsibility for Packaging, Paper Products and Packaging-Like Products Regulations, the obligated party for the designated materials supplied in the province is based on the following hierarchy:

Brand holder: The brand holder, if resident in Canada, is responsible for the PPP associated with its brands of products supplied either directly or indirectly to consumers in the province.
Importer: If the brand holder is not resident in Canada, the first importer of the brand into the province, with residence in Nova Scotia, is the responsible party.
Retailer: If there is no resident brand holder or resident importer, the retailer who supplies the designated materials to consumers in the province becomes the producer.
Franchisor: If a franchisor has franchisees located in Nova Scotia, the franchisor is the producer.

Brand holder

A brand holder is an organization or company that is the registrant of a trademark. If the brand/trademark is unregistered, then the organization or company that owns the intellectual property rights to the brand/trademark is the “brand holder”.

If a brand holder is resident in Canada, then it is the producer of the PPP associated with its brands supplied to residential consumers in the province (whether or not the products are supplied by a licensee of the brand holder or a distributor or retailer or supplied directly by the brand holder to the residential consumer).

First importer

A first importer is a company that is the first to take possession or control of products entering Nova Scotia from outside of the province. The first importer of a brand becomes the obligated producer of PPP associated with imported goods if the brand holder is not resident in Canada.

It is important that first importers identify all the brands for which they are the obligated party because the brand holder is not resident in Canada. This means excluding the brands for which the Canadian resident brand holders do exist. For guidance on how first importers can identify brands they’re obligated for accurately, please visit our Reporting page.

Retailer

A retailer is a company who supplies packaging, paper products or packaging-like products to a consumer in Nova Scotia, whether online or at a physical location.

Franchisor

A franchisor is the producer for PPP supplied by its franchisees. This applies to franchisors with headquarters located inside or outside of the respective province and applies to franchise locations corporately owned or independently owned by franchisees. Franchisors are responsible for reporting and paying fees for the PPP supplied by their franchise systems to consumers in Nova Scotia.

Producer determination

The final step in determining whether a company is an obligated producer is to apply the producer hierarchy. While similar, there are separate producer hierarchies used to determine the obligated producer for:

Paper and packaging-like products that are supplied to consumers for their personal, family or household purposes.
Packaging that is supplied to consumers for their personal, family or household purposes.

Producer hierarchies work to ensure that the business actor with the closest connection to the designated packaging and paper is the responsible party and that only one party is obligated.

Both hierarchies prioritize responsibility on:

The brand holder/owner who is resident in Canada whose packaging and/or paper is supplied to New Brunswick consumers as the first person who would be responsible.
Where no brand holder/owner is resident in Canada, then the importer who supplied the packaging and/or paper who is resident in New Brunswick would be responsible.
Where no importer is resident in New Brunswick, then the retailer who supplied Blue Box materials to consumers in New Brunswick would be responsible.

In instances where the brand holder or importer is exempt from the obligations of a Producer because it does not meet the revenue or tonnage thresholds, the exempt Producer’s Designated Material should not be reported by the entity next in the hierarchy (e.g., the importer or the retailer, as would be otherwise applicable). In other words, an Exempt Producer’s Designated Material would not be reported by any one of the brand holder, the importer or the retailer.

Producer for paper and packaging-like products

Section 2(b.2) of Part 5.3 of the Designated Materials Regulation states that the “brand holder/owner” with respect to packaging, packaging- like products and paper sold, offered for sale or distributed in or into the province, is a person who:

is a manufacturer of packaging or paper,
is a distributor of packaging or paper,
is an owner or licensee of a registered or unregistered trademark under which packaging or paper is sold, offered for sale or distributed, or
if packaging or paper is imported into the Province, is the first person to sell the packaging or paper.”

Consistent with section 2(b.2), the Stewardship Plan defines the obligated producer of a paper product or packaging-like product using the following hierarchy:

the brand holder/owner of the paper product or packaging-like product, if the brand holder/owner is resident in Canada.
if there is no person described in clause A, the importer of the paper product or packaging-like product, if the importer is resident in New Brunswick.
if there is no person described in clauses A or B, the retailer (whether online or at a physical location) who supplied the paper product or packaging-like product to the consumer, regardless of the retailer’s residency.

Producer for packaging

Consistent with section 2(b.2) of Part 5.3 of the Designated Materials Regulation, the Stewardship Plan defines the obligated producer of packaging using the following hierarchy:

A: For the portion of the packaging of a product that a brand holder/owner added to the product, the producer is:

the brand holder/owner of the product, if the brand holder/owner is resident in Canada.
If there is no person described in subparagraph a), the importer of the product, if the importer is resident in New Brunswick.
If there is no person described in subparagraphs a) or b), the retailer who supplied the product to the consumer.

B: For the portion of the packaging of a product that an importer of the product into New Brunswick added to the product, the producer is:

the importer of the product into New Brunswick, if the importer is a person who is resident in New Brunswick.
if there is no person described in subparagraph a), the retailer who supplied the product to the consumer.
For any portion of the packaging not described in A or B above, the producer is the retailer (whether online or at a physical location) who supplied the product to the consumer, regardless of the retailer’s residency.

Brand holder/owner resident in Canada

The Stewardship Plan defines the following:

Brand: any mark, word, name, symbol, design, device or graphical element, or a combination thereof, including a registered or unregistered trademark which identifies a product and distinguishes it from other products.
Brand holder/owner: a person who owns or licenses a brand or who otherwise has rights to market a product under the brand.
Resident in Canada: having a permanent establishment in Canada. “Permanent establishment” has the meaning assigned in subsections 400 (2) and 2600 (200) of the Income Tax Regulations (Canada) in the case of a corporation and an individual, respectively.

If a company meets the criteria of a brand holder/owner resident in Canada and the packaging from products, packaging-like products or paper products is supplied to consumers for their personal, family or household purposes, that company is the obligated producer.

Obligated producers are responsible for reporting the total quantities of these materials supplied to consumers in New Brunswick for which they are the brand holder/owner, including supplies of branded products that have been brought into New Brunswick through distributors, wholesalers and retailers which are subsequently supplied to consumers for their personal, family or household purposes.

Franchisor

Consistent with section 50.52(2) of Part 5.3 of the Designated Materials Regulation, where the producer determined in accordance with the section is a business operated wholly or in part as a franchise, the producer is the franchisor if that franchisor has franchisees that are resident in New Brunswick. Franchisor has the same meaning as in the Franchises Act.

Importer resident in New Brunswick

The Stewardship Plan defines “importer” as a person resident in New Brunswick who imports designated packaging and paper into New Brunswick or is the first to take possession or control of packaging and paper in New Brunswick for which a brand holder/owner resident in Canada does not exist.

If a company meets the criteria of an importer resident in New Brunswick and the packaging from their products, packaging-like products or paper products are supplied to consumers in New Brunswick for their personal, family or household purposes, that company is the obligated producer.

A company is not the obligated producer if it purchases products, packaging-like products or paper from an obligated brand holder/owner resident in Canada or from other parties that have purchased these materials from an obligated brand holder/owner, as long as the brand holder/owner resident in Canada is not exempt from the Regulation.

Where the brand holder/owner resident in Canada has an exemption from an obligation as per section 50.52(1) of Part 5.3 of the Designated Materials Regulation, they may have an obligation as an importer resident in New Brunswick for the packaging and paper associated with those products.

If a company adds any packaging to a product that it imports into New Brunswick from a brand holder/owner resident in another province or territory, which they subsequently supply to a consumer in New Brunswick for their personal, family or household purposes, that company is the producer for that added packaging.

Retailer

A retailer is defined in the Stewardship Plan as a business that supplies products to consumers, whether online or at a physical location.

A company is not the obligated producer if it purchases products, packaging-like products or paper from either an obligated brand holder/owner that is resident in Canada or from obligated importers resident in New Brunswick.

If a company adds any packaging to a brand holder/owner or importer’s product that is supplied to consumers in New Brunswick, that company is considered the producer for the added packaging. This includes packaging items that are used when supplying food and beverage products to consumers to contain the product and facilitate its consumption such as cups, bowls, boxes, bags and other packaging formats that are filled at the point of sale.

Producer determination

Under the Blue Box Regulation, companies that supply designated packaging, paper products and packaging-like products to Ontario consumers are obligated to collect the materials from consumers and then manage the materials to achieve recycling performance targets.

Obligated companies are:

Brand holders resident in Canada;
If there is no brand holder under a), then the importers resident in Ontario,
If there is no importer under b), then retailers.
Where packaging, paper products and packaging-like products are provided to Ontario consumers through an online consumer-facing marketplace or forum, the owner or operator of the marketplace.

For paper products and packaging-like products:

Based on a cascading hierarchy starting with brand holder resident in Canada.
If there is no brand holder resident Canada, the obligation falls to the importer resident in Ontario.
If there is no importer resident in Ontario, the obligation falls to the retailer.

For Blue Box packaging:

The same hierarchy applies but each of the identified actors is only obligated for the portion of the Blue Box packaging they added.
For example, if a retailer adds Blue Box packaging to a product for which there is a brand holder in Canada, the brand holder is only responsible for their portion of the Blue Box packaging and the retailer is responsible for the packaging they added.

Brand holder resident in Canada

Both “brand” and “brand holder” are defined terms in the Resource Recovery and Circular Economy Act (RRCEA). “Brand” is defined as any mark, word, name, symbol, design, device or graphical element, or a combination thereof, including a registered or unregistered trademark, which identifies a product and distinguishes it from other products. “Brand holder” is defined as a person who owns or licenses a brand or who otherwise has rights to market a product under the brand.

“Resident in Canada” is defined in the Blue Box Regulation as having a permanent establishment in Canada whereby “permanent establishment” has the meaning as assigned in subsections 400 (2) and 2600 (200) of the Income Tax Regulations (Canada), in the case of a corporation and an individual respectively.

Importer resident in Ontario

The importer is a company that is the first to take possession or control of products entering Ontario from outside of the province, whether from another province in Canada or another country.

Franchisor

Determined in accordance with section 9 or 10 in the Arthur Wishart Act (Franchise Disclosure), 2000, a franchisor is a business operated wholly or in part as a franchise, the producer is the franchisor, if that franchisor has franchisees that are resident in Ontario.

Retailer

A retailer is a business that supplies products to consumers, whether online or at a physical location.

Retailer/marketplace facilitator

If a retailer is determined to be the producer based on the hierarchy, but they are a marketplace seller, the marketplace facilitator is the obligated producer.

A marketplace facilitator is a person who contracts with a marketplace seller to facilitate the supply of the marketplace seller’s products by:

owning or operating an online consumer-facing marketplace or forum in which the marketplace seller’s products are listed or advertised for supply and where offer and acceptance are communicated between a marketplace seller and a buyer (e.g., a website), and
providing for the physical distribution of a marketplace seller’s products to the consumer (e.g. storage, preparation, shipping of products).

A marketplace seller is a person who contracts with a marketplace facilitator to supply its products.

Steward determination

To determine if your business or organization is responsible for the packaging and/or paper product (PPP) supplied to residential consumers in Manitoba, you will need to identify if it is the responsible brand owner, franchisor, or first importer of the PPP in the province.

The obligated party for the designated materials supplied to residential consumers in Manitoba is based on the following hierarchy:

Brand owner: The brand owner, if resident in Manitoba, is responsible for the PPP associated with its brands of products supplied either directly or indirectly to residential consumers.
First importer: If the brand owner is not resident in the province, the first importer of the brand into the province, with residence in Manitoba, is the responsible party.

A franchisor is an organization that is the registrant or licensee of a trademark or owns or is a licensee of intellectual property rights of a trademark. As of 2018, the Multi-Material Stewardship Manitoba (MMSM) Rules state that franchisors are responsible for reporting and paying fees for all materials supplied by its franchise systems to consumers in Manitoba, whether resident in the province or not.

Brand owner

A brand owner is an organization or company that is the registrant of a trademark. If the brand/trademark is unregistered, then the organization or company that owns the intellectual property rights to the brand/trademark is the “brand owner”. If a brand owner is resident in Manitoba, then it is the steward of the PPP associated with its brands supplied to residential consumers in the province (whether or not the products are supplied by a licensee of the brand owner or a distributor or retailer or supplied directly by the brand owner to the residential consumer). Non-resident brand owners may be allowed to become voluntary stewards but are not obligated as stewards.

If a brand owner is not resident but the licensee of the brand is resident in Manitoba, the licensee of the brand is the brand owner of the PPP associated with the brand. If there is a licensee and a sub-licensee of the brand and both are resident in Manitoba, then the party more closely connected to the production or packaging of the PPP associated with the product will be the steward of the brand in the province.

First Importer

A first importer is a company that is the first to take possession or control of products entering Manitoba from outside of the province. The first importer of a brand becomes the obligated steward of PPP associated with imported goods if the brand owner is not resident in Manitoba and there is no voluntary steward for the brand in the province. To learn more about voluntary stewardship, please visit our Voluntary Stewardship page.

In the MMSM program, service packaging, which may or may not bear a brand and is supplied at the point of sale by retail, food service or other service providers to facilitate the delivery of goods, is the responsibility of the ‘filler’ or the party supplying the service packaging to the consumer at point of sale.

Franchisors obligated for franchise system

A franchisor is the steward for PPP supplied by its franchisees. This applies to franchisors with headquarters located inside or outside of Manitoba and applies to franchise locations corporately owned or independently owned by franchisees. Franchisors are responsible for reporting and paying fees for the PPP supplied by their franchise systems to consumers in Manitoba.

Producer determination

To determine if your business or organization is responsible for the packaging and/or paper product (PPP) supplied to residential consumers in Saskatchewan, you will need to identify if it is the responsible brand owner, franchisor, or first importer of the PPP in the province.

The obligated party for the designated materials supplied to residential consumers in Saskatchewan is based on the following hierarchy:

Brand owner: The brand owner, if resident in Saskatchewan, is responsible for the PPP associated with its brands of products supplied either directly or indirectly to residential consumers.
First importer: If the brand owner is not resident in the province, the first importer of the brand into the province, with residence in Saskatchewan, is the responsible party.

A franchisor is an organization that is the registrant or licensee of a trademark, or owns or is a licensee of intellectual property rights of a trademark. Franchisors are responsible to report and pay fees for all materials supplied by its franchise systems to consumers in Saskatchewan, whether resident in the province or not.

Brand owner

A brand owner is an organization or company that is the registrant of a trademark. If the brand/trademark is unregistered, then the organization or company that owns the intellectual property rights to the brand/ trademark is the “brand owner”. If a brand owner is resident in Saskatchewan, then it is the producer of the PPP associated with its brands supplied to residential consumers in the province (whether or not the products are supplied by a licensee of the brand owner or a distributor or retailer or supplied directly by the brand owner to the residential consumer). Non-resident brand owners may be allowed to become voluntary producers but are not obligated as producers.

If a brand owner is not resident but the licensee of the brand is resident in Saskatchewan, the licensee of the brand is the brand owner of the PPP associated with the brand. If there is a licensee and a sub-licensee of the brand and both are resident in Saskatchewan, then the party more closely connected to the production or packaging of the PPP associated with the product will be the producer of the brand in the province.

First importer

A first importer is a company that is the first to take possession or control of products entering Saskatchewan from outside of the province. The first importer of a brand becomes the obligated producer of PPP associated with imported goods if the brand owner is not resident in Saskatchewan and there is no voluntary producer for the brand in the province. To learn more about voluntary stewardship, please visit our Voluntary Stewardship page.

In the Multi-Material Stewardship Western (MMSW) program, service packaging, which may or may not bear a brand and is supplied at the point of sale by retail, food service or other service providers to facilitate the delivery of goods, is the responsibility of the ‘filler’ or the party supplying the service packaging to the consumer at point of sale.

Franchisors obligated for franchise system

A franchisor is the producer for PPP supplied by its franchisees. This applies to franchisors with headquarters located inside or outside of Saskatchewan and applies to franchise locations corporately owned or independently owned by franchisees. Franchisors are responsible for reporting and paying fees for the PPP supplied by their franchise systems to consumers in Saskatchewan.

Producer determination

To determine if your business or organization is responsible for the packaging and/or paper product (PPP) supplied to consumers in Alberta, you will need to identify if it is the responsible brand holder, first importer, retailer or franchisor of designated materials in the province.

As set out in Alberta’s Extended Producer Responsibility Regulation, the obligated party for the designated materials supplied in the province is based on the following hierarchy:

Brand holder: The brand holder, if resident in Canada, is responsible for the PPP associated with its brands of products supplied either directly or indirectly to consumers in the province.
Importer: If the brand holder is not resident in Canada, the first importer of the brand into the province, with residence in Alberta, is the responsible party.
Retailer: If there is no resident brand holder or resident importer, the retailer who supplies the designated materials to consumers in Alberta becomes the producer.
Franchisor: If a franchisor has franchisees located in Alberta, the franchisor is the producer.

Brand holder

If a brand holder is resident in Canada, then it is the producer of the PPP associated with its brands supplied to residential consumers in the province, (whether or not the products are supplied by a licensee of the brand holder or a distributor or retailer or supplied directly by the brand holder to the residential consumer).

First importer

A first importer is a company that is the first to take possession or control of products entering Alberta from outside of the province. The first importer of a brand becomes the obligated producer of PPP associated with imported goods if the brand holder is not resident in Canada.

Franchisors obligated for franchise system

A franchisor is the producer for PPP supplied by its franchisees. This applies to franchisors with headquarters located inside or outside of Alberta and applies to franchise locations corporately owned or independently owned by franchisees. Franchisors are responsible for reporting and paying fees for the PPP supplied by their franchise systems to consumers in Alberta.

Producer determination

To determine if your business or organization is responsible for the packaging and/or paper product (PPP) supplied to residential consumers in British Columbia, you will need to identify if it is the responsible brand owner, franchisor or first importer of the PPP in the province.

The obligated party for the designated materials supplied to residential consumers in British Columbia is based on the following hierarchy:

Brand owner: The brand owner, if resident in British Columbia, is responsible for the PPP associated with its brands of products supplied either directly or indirectly to residential consumers.
First importer: If the brand owner is not resident in the province, the first importer of the brand into the province, with residence in British Columbia, is the responsible party.

A franchisor is an organization that is the registrant or licensee of a trademark, or owns or is a licensee of intellectual property rights of a trademark. Franchisors are responsible to report and pay fees for all materials supplied by its franchise systems to consumers in British Columbia, whether resident in the province or not.

Brand owner

A brand owner is an organization or company that is the registrant of a trademark. If the brand/trademark is unregistered, then the organization or company that owns the intellectual property rights to the brand/trademark is the “brand owner”. If a brand owner is resident in British Columbia, then it is the producer of the PPP associated with its brands supplied to residential consumers in the province (whether or not the products are supplied by a licensee of the brand owner or a distributor or retailer or supplied directly by the brand owner to the residential consumer). Non-resident brand owners may be allowed to become voluntary producers but are not obligated as producers.

If a brand owner is not resident but the licensee of the brand is resident in British Columbia, the licensee of the brand is the brand owner of the PPP associated with the brand. If there is a licensee and a sub-licensee of the brand and both are resident in British Columbia, then the party more closely connected to the production or packaging of the PPP associated with the product will be the producer of the brand in the province.

First importer

A first importer is a company that is the first to take possession or control of products entering British Columbia from outside of the province. The first importer of a brand becomes the obligated producer of PPP associated with imported goods if the brand owner is not resident in British Columbia and there is no voluntary producer for the brand in the province. To learn more about voluntary stewardship, please visit our Voluntary Stewardship page.

In the Recycle BC program, service packaging, which may or may not bear a brand and is supplied at the point of sale by retail, food service or other service providers to facilitate the delivery of goods, is the responsibility of the ‘filler’ or the party supplying the service packaging to the consumer at point of sale.

Franchisors obligated for franchise system

A franchisor is the producer for PPP supplied by its franchisees. This applies to franchisors with headquarters located inside or outside of British Columbia and applies to franchise locations corporately owned or independently owned by franchisees. Franchisors are responsible for reporting and paying fees for the PPP supplied by their franchise systems to consumers in British Columbia.

Service packaging

Amendments to the BC Recycling Regulation announced in September 2020 designated Single Use-Products and Packaging-Like Products. Single use products can become service packaging as cups, plates, bowls, bags are used to package take-out items. As a result, there is a change in the obligated party required to report and pay fees for Service Packaging in British Columbia. The obligated party for service packaging shifts from the “filler” who previously reported such packaging supplied to consumers at point of sale, to either the brand owner, first importer or franchisor of the packaging that is ultimately supplied to consumers in British Columbia. If the service packaging carries a brand, it will remain the obligation of the brand owner.

Please refer to this Explanatory Note on the Recycle BC website for more information.