What we heard

Thank you to everyone who filled out this survey last year. Overall, we heard from 812 residents, and you gave us a huge amount of feedback. We appreciate all the time and energy you took to share your comments and ideas with us. Your feedback is valuable and will help inform our decisions moving forward.

Here are the major themes from the survey and how we’ve taken your input into account when planning this year’s leaf management program:

More information. This was by far the most frequent theme that came up in the survey responses. You told us that residents need more detailed and timely education about the services we provide – and the other options for leaf management besides curbside collection. You said there isn’t enough information out there, it’s not in the right places, or it’s not available at the right time. This year our communications will include neighbourhood signage, social media including new Instagram reels, updated website information and an online map. Our previous video about leaf collection options is also still available online. We will continue to explore improved ways to share the information you need when you need it.

Call it something else. We also heard that there is a lot of confusion about what we mean when we talk about the “leaf collection program”, with some people assuming that means curbside collection specifically or mixing it up with the Regional yard waste program. In response, we are moving towards using the language of "leaf management ", to reduce confusion and to highlight the many options available to residents.

Satisfaction with curbside collection. Half (50%) of survey respondents were satisfied with this service. You told us that this service is convenient, easy to use, and you like not having to use bags. It’s especially helpful for properties with a large amount of fallen leaves and for people with limited mobility. However, you also raised several concerns about safety, fairness, and pick up timing saying these are especially difficult challenges with this service. Importantly, over 70% of respondents eligible for curbside collection said they rake leaves from their personal property to the curb. This program is only intended to collect leaves from trees located on city-owned boulevards, not for trees on private property. Many of you said it would be important for us to communicate this limitation better.

Opposing views on curbside collection. In fact, there were many conflicting and opposing views in the responses, both about the value of this service and how it is delivered. We are not planning any significant changes to the delivery of this service for 2022 but are taking your comments seriously and looking into potential solutions and alternatives for future.

Satisfaction with leaf drop-off. Most (78%) of survey respondents were satisfied with this service. You said that this service is convenient, quick and easy to use, and you like raking whenever you want as there’s no need to wait for curbside collection. You also gave feedback on how to better promote and increase the availability of this service. We are considering these suggestions and looking into ways we might apply them to the service in future.

Expanded accessibility. Overall, we heard that you want to see expanded accessibility for leaf management options, which is our goal also. We want everyone in the city to have an equitable level of service. We continue to explore options for ensuring everyone can manage the leaves that fall.

We will keep you informed about any potential changes to the leaf management program – please click the ‘Subscribe’ button to get email updates.

2022 Leaf Management Program

The 2022 leaf management program will be starting up shortly. For updated information about your options this year, visit Leaf Collection.