1.8 What is a voluntary steward?

A voluntary steward is a non–resident brand owner who supplies PPP into a regulated jurisdiction (BC, SK, MB, ON) and who has elected to assume responsibility for reporting and payment of stewardship fees for their designated PPP materials.

An organization can become a voluntary steward if it is:

• Not resident in a provincial jurisdiction for which it is applying for voluntary steward status
• Resident in Canada
• A supplier of the equivalent or more than the de minimis tonnage threshold for each program (i.e. 15 tonnes in Ontario, one tonne in British Columbia, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba)
• Willing to execute a Voluntary Steward Agreement
• Willing to sign a Membership Agreement in the applicable provinces
• Agrees to provide a list of all its brand names as a schedule to the Voluntary Steward Agreement
• Agrees to provide a list of names of all its first importer customers in each applicable province for which it is assuming responsibility as a schedule to the Voluntary Steward Agreement (voluntary stewards are not allowed to volunteer for some customers and not others)
• Able to satisfy all of the above and complete and return Membership Agreement(s) by the published voluntary steward registration deadline in order to become a voluntary steward for that reporting year. (Thereafter, membership will be rolled over annually unless the steward completes an exit procedure.)

For further information on the Voluntary Steward Policy and Voluntary Steward Agreements, please see the Voluntary Steward Policy on the Circular Materials website.