The City is no longer providing the Mechanical Vacuum Leaf Collection Program which enabled residents to rake leaves that had fallen on their property to the roadside for mechanical vaccum collection. The program was only available to a limited number of residents in Etobicoke, York and Scarborough. By aligning the service level to other parts of the city, this change will result in an estimated savings of $2.3 million per year, which will be redirected to other critical road maintenance activities such as pothole repairs and street sweeping.
Raking, blowing, placing or dumping leaves onto the sidewalk, ditches or roadway can create dangerous conditions, cause flooding on the roadway and could delay emergency services. Raking leaves onto sidewalks and the roadway is an offence under the City of Toronto Streets and Sidewalks by-law Chapter #743 (section 9) and could result in a $200 fine.
The City will continue to collect fallen leaves in the public right-of-way, such as those that fall on roads, in ditches or accumulate in culverts.