Is a permit needed to set a dumpster down in Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve?
On your own lot, no: the borough writes that no permit is necessary, subject to four conditions — side or rear yard, 2 m of height at most, no visible damage or graffiti, no foul odour for the neighbours. The moment it reaches into the street, onto the sidewalk or into the alley, the temporary occupancy permit applies, and the borough processes it in 2 to 5 business days. Unsure? 311 confirms it, and our team answers at 514 708-2424.
Street or alley: which of the two costs less here?
The alley, as long as nothing sticks out. The 2026 schedule asks $61.56 a day in an alley, behind the sidewalk or on an unpaved surface up to 99 m², against $73.88 a day on the street or on the sidewalk for up to 49 m². Over five days, issuing and review fees included, the gap is $397.34 against $458.94 before taxes. What is left to check is the clearance the truck needs: we go through that with you on the phone.
And if the dumpster spills out of the alley onto the sidewalk?
The rate changes. The note on the schedule is explicit: the alley price holds only where the occupancy stays off the sidewalk and off the street, otherwise the street-and-sidewalk rate takes over — $73.88 a day instead of $61.56. In a narrow alley, better to measure first: a 10-yard often fits where a 20-yard forces you to bite into the sidewalk.
What time of day can you deliver or pick up the dumpster?
Between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. on weekdays, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. That is not our business schedule, it is the borough by-law: it frames renovation and construction work, and the receiving of materials, inside that window and no other. We hold to it, which spares your neighbours anything to report to the local police station.
Rue Ontario goes pedestrian in summer: how do you deliver in that area?
From June 20 to September 13, 2026, rue Ontario is pedestrian over nearly a kilometre, between rue Darling and boulevard Pie-IX. On that stretch and on those dates, truck access has to be validated before anything gets booked; the way through is often the alley, with an occupancy permit, or a cross street. The dates move from one year to the next — call us and we check before confirming.
Where do you take debris, since the borough has no ecocentre?
To the Montreal network: La Petite-Patrie, at 1100, rue des Carrières, is the closest, ahead of Saint-Michel and Rivière-des-Prairies. Two constraints come with it. La Petite-Patrie turns away a vehicle-and-trailer combination longer than 7.3 m and a cube van longer than 6.8 m. And the ceiling of 15 visits a year applies in full, since the two ecocentres with unlimited visits, LaSalle and Saint-Laurent, sit at the far end of the island.
Three cubic metres at the curb: enough to gut a kitchen?
No. The ceiling published for this borough is 3 m³ per address, roughly 3.9 cubic yards: a kitchen demolition passes it on the first day, cabinets and gypsum included. On top of that come the 25 kg limit per receptacle and the flat ban on plastic bags, the so-called “construction bags” included. Past that threshold, the city names the only way out itself: the private contractor.