The free bulky item pickup Montreal residents get runs year-round on each borough’s schedule — but it’s for individuals only, volume caps run 2 to 5 cubic metres depending on your borough, every box is capped at 25 kg, and upholstered items ride a separate truck. Businesses can’t use it at all. Here’s the whole rulebook in one place.
Who Gets the Free Pickup — and Who Doesn’t
The City’s bulky-item and construction-debris collection is reserved for individuals in houses and residential buildings. Schools, churches, embassies, non-profits, companies, and businesses are all excluded — the City’s own rule pages say they “must deal with a private company.” Put your pile out on the wrong day or break the guidelines and you can be fined, so the borough schedule isn’t a suggestion.
Bulky Item Pickup Montreal: The Ground Rules
| Rule | What the City allows |
|---|---|
| Volume per collection | Varies by borough — from 2 m³ to 5 m³ per address; one borough scales it per dwelling (2 m³ each in small buildings, down to 0.5 m³ each in 50+ unit buildings) |
| Weight per box or container | 25 kg (55 lb) maximum |
| Containers | Cardboard boxes up to 1.5 m; garbage cans with handles up to 150 litres; wood and construction debris tied in bundles up to 1 m long, 50 cm across, 25 kg |
| Plastic or construction bags | Refused where specified — use boxes, cans, or bundles |
| Safety prep | Remove washer/dryer doors; pull nails and screws from lumber |
Over your borough’s cap, the City’s answer is blunt: “you must hire a private contractor.” Check your borough’s exact numbers on the City’s collection details page — the caps above were pulled from it in July 2026.
What It Takes — Including Mattresses
Furniture, appliances, and renovation debris inside the caps all qualify. The one everybody asks about: yes, the City takes mattresses — upholstered items (sofas, mattresses, box springs, armchairs, chairs, cushions) go in a separate pile, because a different truck collects them. Mix them into the main pile and they can be left behind.
What it refuses: broken mirrors and drinking glasses (household garbage, in a safe disposable container) and anything over the weight or size limits. In winter, most boroughs collect right through — keep the pile visible and out of the plow’s path — but a few suspend pickup entirely during snow-clearing operations, so check your borough’s page before dragging anything out.
The Écocentre Option
If you can haul it yourself, Montréal’s écocentres are the other free channel — with paperwork and real limits, all from the City’s écocentre service page (July 2026):
- Bring ID and proof of address. The photo ID must belong to the person standing there.
- Residents: construction, renovation and demolition (CRD) debris plus upholstered items are free up to 12 m³ per year — $31 for each extra cubic metre after that.
- Visit cap: no more than 15 visits per year for CRD and upholstered loads — except the LaSalle and Saint-Laurent écocentres, where visits are unlimited.
- Appliances: residential only, limit 10 per year.
- Contractors and companies pay from the first cubic metre — $31/m³, no free allowance.
- Trailers are fine (length limits apply, under 11 m at most sites); tipping trailers can’t be used to unload.
When the Free Channels Stop Working
The free system is genuinely good — until the load outgrows your borough’s cap, a closing date is breathing down your neck, the stairs are against you, you’re a business with no right to the collection at all, or the debris is mixed renovation waste with asbestos-suspect materials in it (those never go to the curb — they get tested first). That’s the fork where a paid crew takes over: our junk removal service in Montréal hauls what the City won’t, and the real prices are in our junk removal cost guide.
For a load the collection can’t take, Get your free quote — fast response.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Montréal’s free pickup take mattresses?
Yes. Mattresses, box springs, and all upholstered furniture are collected — but put them in a separate pile from the rest, because a second truck picks them up.
How much can I put at the curb?
It depends on your borough: caps run from 2 m³ to 5 m³ per address per collection, and one borough scales the cap per dwelling. Every box or container is capped at 25 kg. Your borough’s page on montreal.ca lists the exact numbers.
Can my business use the free collection?
No. The service is for individuals only — companies, schools, churches, and non-profits must hire a private hauler, and using it anyway can mean a fine.
Is the écocentre really free?
For residents, mostly: CRD debris and upholstered items are free up to 12 m³ per year, then $31 per extra cubic metre, within 15 visits a year (LaSalle and Saint-Laurent are unlimited). Contractors and companies pay $31/m³ from the first load.