How Communities & Organizations Took Part This October

The annual Circular Economy Month campaign wrapped up for another year a few weeks ago, and it once again proved how important education and awareness is in accelerating Canada’s transition to a more sustainable, resilient, and circular economy. The campaign brought together over 500 communities, schools, businesses, and governments – all towards the same goal of keeping products in use for longer, reducing waste, and building community. Through events, social media campaigns contributing to 1,500+ online mentions, and hands-on activities – communities and organizations of all sizes helped Canadians learn what the circular economy looks like in action. From repair cafés to swaps and donation drives, we saw approximately 100 community events from coast to coast!

This article features a roundup of different activities and impacts from participating organizations. Photos and content have been received directly from contributors or on social media from the #CircularEconomyMonth tag. Have a Circular Economy Month campaign story you’d like to share for this list? Send us an email: info@CircularEconomyMonth.ca

Community Action & Grassroots Events

REmarket 14 (Toronto)– The St. Lawrence Neighbourhood Association (SLNA) Waste Reduction Group hosted the 14th edition of REmarket — a community event to promote the REmarketing of usable post-consumer goods that can be REused, REpaired, and REcycled and to REthink our purchasing decisions by taking Responsible actions in our consumption of material goods.

Impacts of REmarket 14 shared by the SLNA team:

31 skids/11,625 lbs went to The Salvation Army for REuse after another successful FreeMarket
345 pairs of glasses collected for Optic Zone for redistribution
16 cell phones to the CNIB’s Phone It Forward program
368kg/811 lbs were dropped at the REcycling Zone
118 visitors with 164 items brought in for repair by 25 Repair Café Toronto volunteers
17 bikes were REpaired by the 5 CultureLink Bike Hub volunteers
5 skids of electronic waste were collected by Renewed Computer Technology (RCT)
55 Glucose monitors for electronic waste
7 – 50L bins of household hazardous waste and light bulbs

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A post shared by SLNA WRG (@slnaremarket)

Maple Ridge BC Repair Café – At this Café, organizers Ridge Meadows Recycling Society amplified the International Repair Day theme of “Software Obsolescence” and enlisted local tech support personnel to be onsite to give advice and assistance to people with older computers concerned about Microsoft ending support of Windows 10.

A message from the organizers⤵️

“With 5 technicians, we set up two full tables with a range of hardware, software, and technical expertise. The collaboration was incredible. Whenever someone was uncertain about specific hardware or software issues, we pooled our knowledge and skills to find solutions together.

We had great success, repairing 12 to 14 computers. For machines that couldn’t upgrade to Windows 11, we offered two paths:

• Enrolling for free in Windows security updates through 2026

• Switching to Linux Mint with security updates through 2029 (and usable beyond)

We helped people choose based on their device usage and preferences. For older Windows 7 and 8 devices unable to upgrade to Windows 10, Linux Mint was the best option, giving their devices a new lease on life. Many chose to extend their Windows support for now, leaving the door open to try Linux Mint next year if they wish.

For those who couldn’t bring their device in or couldn’t complete the process at the cafe, we shared a step by step video tutorial and welcomed them to reach out with any questions.

Seeing people leave with restored devices they thought were beyond repair was a truly rewarding experience!”

It was a BUSY event!! 102 items were brought for fixing, just 2 shy of our 104 all-time record. 13.7% of items brought to this Café were computers – usually this category doesn’t even make it onto our charts! We have already had requests for “tech support” at ALL our repair events.

The City of Toronto: came together to celebrate the incredible businesses who implemented reuse systems through the City of Toronto Circular Food Innovators Fund, and the dedicated members of the Community Advisory Committee who contributed to the development of the City’s 10-year Circular Economy Road Map.

Region of Waterloo Garage Glow-Up Event

On October 25, 2025, the Region of Waterloo’s Waste Management Division hosted the Garage Glow-Up Drop-Off Event, a free community event celebrating Circular Economy Month. The event welcomed 166 vehicles and gave residents the opportunity to support a circular economy by keeping unwanted items – such as electronics, clothing, bikes, and batteries – out of the landfill.

In partnership with MCC Thrift New Hamburg, Quantum Lifecycles LP, and Recycle Cycles (The Working Centre), 5.21 tonnes of dropped-off material was successfully diverted from the landfill, giving these items a new life through recycling, refurbishing, or repurposing.

Guelph, ON community events: the Guelph Tool Library held a series of events throughout October such as a Re:Purpose Fest, Costume Swap, and Upcycled Dinner.

Repair Cafe in Regina – Hosted by EnviroCollective, the Repair Café on October 4 brought together 14 dedicated volunteers, successfully fixing 54 items (resulting in a 73% fix rate).

RE:Connect – Peterborough, ON held its inaugural celebration of the circular economy — a free, community event hosted by the City of Peterborough and organized by Clean Up Peterborough in partnership with more than 20 local organizations, services, and changemakers rethinking how we reuse, repair, and reduce waste. RE:Connect showcased community solutions that keep valuable items out of landfill and put them back into local hands. Throughout the day, attendees found opportunities to explore, learn, and take part in circular living.

The City of St. John’s in Newfoundland & Labrador organized a series of different events such as an Open House of the local Recycling Facility, an educational webinar about the circular economy and its cost saving benefits, and a waste-free lunch contest.

Industry Action & Employee Engagement

Alongside grassroots momentum, this year saw strong participation from national businesses, governments, and industry leaders through engagement initiatives, campaigns, and installations engaging employees and the public.

IKEA Canada championed circular living through a national promotion offering double sell-back value for gently used items and savings for “As-is” items purchased throughout October to promote secondhand goods, in celebration of Circular Economy Month.

Staples Canada employee engagement with HP Canada: To wrap up Circular Economy Month, Staples Canada associates nationwide joined a Lunch and Learn with HP Canada, vendor tradeshow, and trivia.

RLG Systems by Reconomy – Throughout September and October Reconomy’s Net Zero Heroes took championed reuse, repair, and conscious consumption. As seen on LinkedIn

From swap shops to donation drives, their teams collected an incredible:

➡️ 724.5 kg of donations (29.2% of which were reused),
➡️ Saving approximately 1,050 kg of CO₂
➡️ and 400,000 litres of water compared to when buying new.

RioCan Yonge-Eglinton Centre’s E-Waste of Time: a creative installation made of used wooden pallets and electronics destined for recycling set up during Waste Reduction Week. The display celebrated the Toronto property’s waste diversion results that increased to 74% in 2025– a major increase from 30% in 2023 thanks to new diversion efforts like a new e-waste recycling program for tenants of the centre.

Quantum Lifecycle Partners LinkedIn live – Circular Economy Month’s Program Manager, Caitlin Perry joined Stephanie McLarty in a dynamic LinkedIn live conversation on E-Waste Wednesday. The conversation covered what Circular Economy Month is all about, why embracing circularity is a smart move for businesses, and simple actionable steps businesses can take to reduce waste and build circular practices. Watch the replay on LinkedIn.

University Health Network hosted their 10^th annual Waste Reduction Week Inter-Hospital Challenge where a dozen hospitals competed to get the greatest participation rate on answering the WRW quiz, and learn about waste reduction, reuse, and recycling while they play.

“We had a total of 12 sites and 2,515 participants! Though we all win just by playing, I’d like to congratulate Trillium Health Partners as the challenge winners! Kudos to Sinai Health in second place, my own site, UHN, in 3^rd. A special mention goes to newcomer, Michael Garron Hospital, for an excellent first-time performance!” – Lisa Vanlint, Manager, Environmental Sustainability at University Health Network.

Environment and Climate Change Canada Green Teams across the country were hard at work organizing educational activities to raise awareness amongst colleagues about circular economy. They recently launched a new initiative – a community bag share station – on top of renewing longstanding initiatives, like the litter pick up project, cloths and Halloween costume swap, and information kiosks for employees.

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A post shared by Environment Canada (@canenvironment)

Food, Health & Consumer Products of Canada (FHCP) members toured the new GFL Material Recovery Facility in Montreal to see how packaging is sorted processed and prepared for recycling. FHCP also participated on social media throughout the month, aligning with campaign themes like Food Waste Friday.

Videos from the Circular Economy Month Team

In case you missed it during the month, check out the videos created educating about circular economy and highlighting efforts of Circular Innovation Council’s members, partners, and community of circular innovators.

Campaign launch video