The short answer: junk removal in Canada costs about $80 to $150 for a single item, $300 to $600 for a half truck load and $550 to $1,100 for a full load in 2026, with loading and the dump fee usually included. Almost everyone prices by how much of the truck the job fills. Here's the full rate card, what the landfill takes out of it, and how to set your prices.
Junk removal prices in Canada (2026)
Prices are for a standard mix of household junk (furniture, boxes, small appliances), loaded by the crew, hauled and disposed of:
| Job size | Typical price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Single item or minimum load | $80–$150 | One sofa, mattress or appliance; about 1/8 of a truck |
| Quarter truck load | $150–$400 | A few pieces of furniture or a small room of boxes |
| Half truck load | $300–$600 | A basement corner, a garage shelf wall |
| Full truck load | $550–$1,100 | A whole garage or estate clean-out room |
| Construction or renovation debris | $500–$2,000+ | Heavy and priced by weight as much as volume |
Ranges compiled September 2026 from published Canadian prices, checked as of September 2026: 1-800-GOT-JUNK Canada (2025 averages: minimum to 1/4 load $107–$396, 1/4 to 1/2 load $396–$600, 1/2 to full $600–$1,099), Trash Bandits (Vancouver: single items $80–$150, 1/4 load $150–$300, half $300–$550, full $550–$900+, construction debris $500–$2,000+) and Calgary Junk Removal (published loads from $125 extra small to $220 small, $330 medium, $475 large and $675 full, plus GST). Vancouver and Toronto price toward the top; smaller cities toward the bottom.
What should you charge?
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Quote it, haul it, get paidEstimates from this guide's market ranges — your market decides the rest.
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Start free — no credit cardPricing by fraction of a truck load
Volume pricing is the industry standard because it's easy to explain on a driveway: "this pile is about half my truck, so it's $400." 1-800-GOT-JUNK, for example, says customers "pay for the fraction of the truck used," with an eighth of a truck as the minimum. Most small operators split the truck into quarters or eighths and publish a price for each, the way Calgary Junk Removal lists six load sizes with the cubic dimensions of each.
- Price the fractions, not a straight line. The first eighth of the truck carries your whole trip: drive, setup, the dump run. That's why the minimum load costs well over an eighth of a full load. Calgary Junk Removal's $125 extra-small load is almost a fifth of its $675 full load.
- Quote on site, or from photos with a range. Customers underestimate piles. Give a range from photos, confirm the fraction once the junk is in the truck, and put the final number on the invoice before you leave.
- Include the dump fee in the load price for normal household junk. It's what customers expect, and it keeps the quote simple. Charge disposal separately only for materials that cost more to dump.
Single items
Single-item pickups are the entry point to most customers, and they're priced like a minimum load. 1-800-GOT-JUNK's Canadian averages are about $101 for a mattress, $125 for a sofa, $130 for a fridge, $242 for a sectional and $431 for a piano. Vancouver's Trash Bandits publishes $90–$180 for a mattress, $120–$250 for a couch and $100–$300 for an appliance. Stairs, tight doorways and anything needing two people push the price up; put that on the quote.
Dump fees: what the landfill takes
Your biggest variable cost after fuel is the tipping fee, and it's set by your municipality or region, not by you. Three examples of 2026 rates:
- Toronto: the City's drop-off depots charge $189.86 a tonne for garbage and renovation waste, with a $19 minimum covering the first 100 kg and a deposit of at least $40 per load.
- Metro Vancouver: garbage tipping fees from July 1, 2026 are $182 a tonne for loads under a tonne (capped at $167 a load) and $162 a tonne for 1 to 7.99 tonnes, plus a $5 transaction fee; mattresses and box springs are $20 each.
- Calgary: the City's commercial landfill rates are $113 a tonne for basic waste with a $25 minimum under 250 kg, $90 a tonne for drywall, a $275 hard-to-handle surcharge, and $17 per refrigerant item plus weight charges, whether or not the refrigerant has already been removed.
Build your load prices from your own transfer station's rates. A full truck of household junk might weigh well under a tonne; a load of shingles, plaster or soil can weigh several. Rates change, often every January, so check them each year and update your prices with them.
Heavy items and special materials
- Heavy materials: concrete, brick, soil, shingles and tile are priced by weight at the dump, so price them by weight or with a heavy-load rate, and cap the fraction of the truck you'll fill with them. Your truck's payload limit matters here too.
- Refrigerant appliances: fridges, freezers and air conditioners need the refrigerant removed before disposal, which many landfills charge extra for. Add a per-item fee.
- Mattresses and tires: often carry their own fees or have to go to a separate recycler. Price them per item.
- Hazardous waste: paint, solvents, propane tanks and batteries go to household hazardous waste sites, and most junk removal companies refuse them. Say so on your booking page.
- Donations and recycling: scrap metal, usable furniture and clean cardboard can often be dropped for less than landfill rates, or for free. Every item you divert lowers your cost per load.
Setting your own rate
The market range tells you what's plausible. Your costs per load tell you what's survivable:
- Price a full load from the bottom up. Fuel for the drive and the dump run, the tipping fee for a typical load, a helper's wages if you use one, and truck costs (payment, insurance, maintenance) divided by the loads you haul in a month.
- Set the minimum to cover a trip. The smallest job still costs you the drive, the dump transaction and an hour of your day. Most operators set it between $80 and $150.
- Protect the margin on heavy loads. A half load of concrete that costs you more at the dump than a full load of furniture needs its own price.
Then position inside your local range. Uniformed crews, clear load pricing on your website, same-day or next-day availability, and receipts that show where the items went let you charge in the top third. If you're booked two weeks out, you're too cheap.
Are you undercharging?
Five quick questions. Be honest — nobody's watching.
Are you booked solid more than two weeks out?
A full calendar is the market telling you your price is too low.
Have you raised your rates in the last 12 months?
Costs went up this year. If your rate didn't, you took a pay cut.
When you quote a price, does anyone ever say no?
If nobody ever pushes back, you're leaving room on the table.
Do you charge for travel time — or build it into your price?
Unpaid driving between loads quietly eats your real hourly rate.
Do you drop your price whenever someone asks for a deal?
Discounting on request trains clients to always ask.
Priced about right
You're showing the classic signs of healthy pricing — price pushback now and then, regular raises, travel accounted for. Your next win isn't the rate, it's the time you lose to admin between loads.
You're leaving money on the table
A couple of undercharging signals showed up. The fix is usually one honest raise for new clients — $5 more per load on a full week is thousands a year you're currently donating.
You're seriously undercharging
Almost every signal fired. Booked solid, never raising, never hearing no — that's not luck, that's a price well below what your market would pay. Raise your rate for every new client starting this week; your regulars can follow later.
Load it, haul it, invoice it from the driveway.
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Not ready? Try the free invoice generatorWhen GST/HST starts to apply
Junk removal is a taxable service in Canada, but you don't have to charge GST/HST until your revenue crosses $30,000 in a single calendar quarter or over four consecutive calendar quarters, the CRA's small-supplier threshold. At $400 a job, that's 75 jobs, and a busy spring of garage clean-outs gets you there fast. Once you're over, you register, add tax to every invoice, and remit it. Our plain-English GST/HST guide explains the rest.
How to start a junk removal business
Junk removal is one of the cheaper trades to start if you already have a truck, and one of the easiest to grow because every customer's neighbour has a garage too. What to sort out first:
- The truck or trailer. Many start with a pickup and a dump trailer, then move to a box or dump truck. What matters is volume (you're paid by space), payload (heavy loads), and whether it can tip at your transfer station.
- Your dump plan. Know where your nearest transfer station is, its hours and its rates, and where scrap metal, mattresses and donations go. Your routes and your prices depend on it.
- Provincial rules for hauling waste. In Ontario, for example, a business that collects and transports other people's waste is a waste transportation system, and the province says these generally must register on the Environmental Activity and Sector Registry (or hold an Environmental Compliance Approval). Ontario's registry rules also require every waste transportation vehicle to carry at least $2,000,000 of insurance that includes spill liability. Other provinces and municipalities have their own requirements, so check yours before the first paid load.
- Insurance. Commercial general liability for damage in customers' homes, and commercial auto for the truck. Our small business insurance guide explains the coverages.
- The business basics. Register a business name if you use one (see our guides for Ontario, B.C. and Alberta), check your municipality for a business licence, and get a business number when you register for GST/HST.
- A price list and a way to get paid. Publish your load prices, take bookings online, and invoice on the driveway. Our free invoice generator works for your first jobs.
Prices are market ranges compiled from the Canadian sources linked above in September 2026 and will vary by city, load and dump rates.
Common questions
How much does junk removal cost in Canada?
Most Canadian junk removal companies price by how much of the truck your junk fills. In 2026 that works out to roughly $80 to $150 for a single item, $150 to $400 for a quarter load, $300 to $600 for a half load, and $550 to $1,100 for a full truck. Disposal fees are usually built into the quoted price.
How do junk removal companies price a load?
By volume. The truck is divided into fractions (commonly eighths or quarters) and the customer pays for the space their items take up, with a minimum charge for the smallest load. The price is confirmed on site, after the crew sees the pile, and usually includes loading, the haul and the dump fee.
How much should I charge to remove a single item?
Single-item pickups commonly run $80 to $150. 1-800-GOT-JUNK publishes Canadian averages of about $101 for a mattress, $125 for a sofa, $130 for a fridge and $242 for a sectional. Appliances with refrigerant and mattresses often cost more to dispose of, so price them above a plain item of the same size.
How much are dump fees for junk removal?
They depend on the municipality. In 2026 the City of Toronto's drop-off depots charge $189.86 a tonne for garbage and renovation waste, with a $19 minimum; Metro Vancouver charges $182 a tonne for loads under a tonne, capped at $167 a load, plus a $5 transaction fee and $20 per mattress; Calgary's commercial landfill rate is $113 a tonne with a $25 minimum. Check your own transfer station's rates before you set prices.
Should heavy items like concrete or shingles cost more?
Yes. Landfills charge by weight, and a quarter load of concrete, dirt or shingles can weigh more than a full load of furniture. Quote heavy materials by weight or with a separate heavy-material rate, cap how much of the truck you'll fill with them, and never price them on volume alone.
How much does a junk removal business make?
It depends on loads per day and your dump costs. As an illustration, six half loads a week at $400 is $2,400 a week gross, or about $125,000 over a full year of steady work, before fuel, dump fees, truck payments, insurance and any helper's wages. Dump fees and fuel are the costs to watch; a truck that fills fast at the dump and slow at the curb loses money.
Do I need to charge GST/HST on junk removal?
Not until your business revenue passes $30,000 in a single calendar quarter or over four consecutive calendar quarters, the CRA small-supplier threshold. At $400 a job, that's 75 jobs, so a full-time hauler usually crosses it within the first year.
Plenty of haulers add a pressure washer once the garage is empty. See our pressure washing rates guide for that work, and the gutter cleaning and landscaping and yard clean-up guides for other jobs the same customers book.