City of Toronto spending another $240,000 on rain barrel program

City council approved the expansion of the subsidy program at the behest of Mayor Olivia Chow, who called it “incredibly popular”

Published Jun 24, 2026  •  Last updated 17 minutes ago  •  2 minute read

City council has approved the spending of an extra $240,000 on Toronto’s rain barrel program, essentially doubling the funding for the subsidy. Photo by City of Toronto

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The City of Toronto is rolling out the barrels.

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City council approved the spending of an extra $240,000 on Toronto’s rain barrel subsidy program on Wednesday, at the behest of Mayor Olivia Chow. That roughly doubles the funding for a program that began just this year.

“I just want to say that this is (an) incredibly popular program,” Chow told the council chambers Wednesday evening. “Let your local residents know, because last time within a couple of hours, it was gone.

“It’s good for the flowers. It’s good for your water bill – it’ll go down, and you’re not wasting water on top of it. If there’s a heavy rainfall, hopefully the rain barrel will capture some of the rain and maybe it’ll prevent your flooding.”

The extra spending is, pardon the pun, a drop in the bucket compared with the city’s $2.55-million pilot program for storm water management on private property, which council approved late last year alongside the rain barrel subsidy. That pilot program, which covers features such as landscaping, runs from this year until 2029.

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Chow previously told a city committee in a letter that the first round of barrels sold out in just nine hours, and added that city hall has heard from plenty of Torontonians who want another chance to get one.

Wednesday’s move not only bought another round, it also modified the program to limit the number of rain barrels per street address. While a Toronto home initially could get two subsidized rain barrels, that’s now capped at just one.

Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow addresses reporters at Sunnybrook Hospital in Toronto on Thursday June 11, 2026. Photo by Ernest Doroszuk/Toronto Sun/Postmedia

Those ‘lucky’ few

Under the program, the city covers most of the price of rain barrels and downspout diverters, and pays for delivery too. A municipal document says the city’s share is 80%.

Home Depot Canada’s website lists rain barrels from the city’s partner, Enviro World, at prices above $100, but the program’s dedicated page on the City of Toronto’s website says the subsidized cost is just $8.95 plus tax, and $1 for a downspout diverter.

Councillor Stephen Holyday argued the city’s offer might be too generous.

“I would urge staff to take a look at the price that they charge people – and it’s not to say that they have to charge the 100% market price, because this is a city subsidy program, but if it sold out in nine hours, that tells you something,” Holyday said, addressing council via a video call.

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“I think there may be a little bit more of a way to moderate the program so that people can get an incentive to install one of these and we don’t run out within hours,” he added. The way the first round went, Holyday said, some people were “lucky enough to get their application in” while the rest were left to “scrounge plastic containers and buckets” to use as rain barrels.

But if bureaucrats take heed of Holyday’s advice, it won’t be at the direction of council. Right after his remarks, the program expansion was passed with a quick show of hands with no amendments to Chow’s proposal.

No date was mentioned as to when Torontonians can sign up for the next round of subsidized rain barrels, but the first batch of barrels was sent out to homes this month.

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