Westmount keeps weekly garbage pickup through spring while Montreal moves to every two weeks

Westmount is keeping weekly garbage collection through April 2027, even as the City of Montreal and surrounding boroughs move toward biweekly pickup to meet provincial environmental targets.

Westmount's municipal council voted earlier this month to extend weekly collection for the next seven months after residents argued that delayed pickups increase odours and create inconvenience. Mayor Michael Stern said the population "is having a hard time with a reduced collection schedule."

Meanwhile, the rest of the metro area is accelerating the transition. The Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal (CMM) has set December 2027 as the deadline for all municipalities to comply with a maximum of 26 household garbage collections per year — effectively biweekly pickup. Montreal's target for all 19 boroughs is 2029.

So far, the boroughs of Saint-Laurent, Verdun, and Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve have begun implementing biweekly collections. Other boroughs are expected to follow.

The divergence reflects a broader tension between environmental targets and resident pushback. As HighOnCity reported in June, Montreal moved to biweekly collection across the city, prompting complaints about overflow and smell. In early June, residents also reported garbage overflowing in bins even as recyclables were still ending up at landfill despite the effort to reduce waste.