Do I need a permit to place a dumpster in Sainte-Marie-Madeleine?
No municipal by-law found requires a permit for the dumpster itself, placed entirely on private land. We word it carefully, because the conclusion comes from an absence of provision: the word « conteneur » appears only once in all the published planning regulations — at section 6.4 u) of the zoning by-law, for enclosures in side yards —, the list of certificates of authorization in by-law 09-373 is closed and provides for none of this kind, the fee schedule sets no charge for one, and the 31 permits offered by the municipal online platform include none either. The job site, however, almost always needs a permit, and with no dollar threshold whatsoever: the by-law prohibits any installation, construction, transformation or enlargement project without a prior permit, and the municipality repeats it on its site. The building and environment inspector settles your case: 450 795-6272, extension 105, urbanisme@stemariemadeleine.qc.ca, Monday to Thursday.
Am I in the parish or in the village of Sainte-Madeleine?
That is the first thing we confirm, and it is no administrative nicety. Sainte-Marie-Madeleine is a parish municipality: 2,876 residents across 50.04 km². Sainte-Madeleine is a separate village municipality: 2,268 residents across 5.36 km², and the parish surrounds it. Their by-laws have nothing to do with each other — the parish applies zoning 09-370 and its general by-law, the village its own, under different numbers. In the sector abutting the village, the parish street index counts only five streets: Du Moulin, Du Ruisseau, Fortier, Noiseux and Paquin. Sainte-Anne, Saint-Jean-Baptiste, Plante, Du Pavillon, Du Palais, Roy, Du Manoir and De la Citadelle belong to the village. Two sides of the same street can therefore fall under two municipalities. What they share, and that is all: the Maskoutains regional county, the board, the same two drop-off centres and the same collection calendar.
Can I have the dumpster placed on the street in front of my house?
No, and there is not even a door to knock on. The municipality's general by-law prohibits throwing, dumping or allowing to be dumped « any object whatsoever on private land or on the public road or in a public place […] without having first obtained the permission of the owner of the place » — a dumpster is an object whatsoever. The same by-law prohibits obstructing the passage « including a driveway entrance », which answers the neighbour who offers « their » spot: it is not theirs to offer. Zoning adds that « it is strictly prohibited to use the travelled public roadway for the loading or unloading of vehicles » and that « in no case may a construction encroach on the right-of-way of a traffic route ». And above all, no procedure and no fee for occupying the public domain exists: not in the fee schedule, not among the 31 permits on the municipal platform. There is nothing to ask for, and nothing that allows it. The spot is on your land — that is where we deliver.
Can the dumpster go in the driveway, in the front yard?
That is the one question we do not settle here, and we would rather say so than promise. Section 6.3 of the zoning by-law states that « in the front yard, all uses and constructions are prohibited except those listed below », followed by a closed list of 18 items: the dumpster is not named in it, but « driveway access lanes and parking spaces » are. Pulling the other way, the zoning by-law's only mention of waste containers places them in the side yard, and section 10.5.1 reserves outdoor storage for side or rear yards. One argument works in your favour: a roll-off dumpster is open on top, therefore roofless, therefore not a « building » within the meaning of the zoning definitions. Our practice: we propose the side yard or the rear yard from the outset, both expressly open, and on lots this size that is often the better spot anyway. If the driveway is the only option, we write to the planning department together, urbanisme@stemariemadeleine.qc.ca, so the answer is on the record.
Can the drop-off centre replace a dumpster for a renovation?
For a car trunk, yes — and it should be said that brick and concrete are accepted there, which is not the case everywhere. For a job site, no, and there is no drop-off centre on parish soil at all: the nearest is the board's, at 1880 rue Brouillette in Saint-Hyacinthe, open April 10 to November 29, 2026 only, on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; the Acton Vale one opens Saturdays and Sundays only. From November 30 to April 9, both are closed — more than four months a year. During the season: one visit a day per citizen, proof of residence at the gate, cars, vans and pick-up trucks only, a 4 ft × 8 ft trailer at most in Saint-Hyacinthe, and unloading entirely by hand, « staff not being authorized to carry out that unloading ». The volume figures do the rest: a 10 yard box holds 7.6 m³, a 20 yard 15.3 m³, a 40 yard 30.6 m³.
My address is on a rang, with a gravel driveway and a ditch: does that change anything?
Yes, and it is the most common profile here: outside Domaine des Hurons, the Douville sector and the strip next to the village, all the rest of those 50.04 km² is rang country. Zoning expressly allows gravel for access lanes and parking surfaces, so the risk is not a mark on the asphalt: it is bearing capacity, the rut at thaw and the culvert under the driveway. All our dumpsters are delivered on the PROTEC-O-SOL system, built-in planks that spread the load. Just tell us when you book whether the driveway is bridged over a ditch, how wide it is, and where the septic tank and leaching field sit — that is the ground constraint that costs the most to discover on site. One last useful detail: if you need your access widened or bridged to take a roll-off truck, the municipality has a permit for that, « Captage d'eau - Ponceau, Entrée charretière, Allée d'accès », at 30 $ on its online application platform.
I am a contractor, a farmer or the owner of a rental building: can I use the drop-off centre?
No. The board writes that « only residue from domestic use is accepted », that « residue generated by commercial, industrial or institutional operations is not accepted » and — the sentence that surprises most — that « non-resident owners of rental buildings are deemed to be carrying out commercial operations ». Clearing out an apartment between two tenants therefore does not get you into the drop-off centre. On the farm side, the bulky waste collection refuses by name « farm-origin waste (agricultural plastic, machinery parts, fencing, etc.) », on top of construction materials and « soil, stone, concrete, ceramic, branches ». And the municipality itself writes that to get rid of « construction or demolition debris », of « brick or concrete », you « must contact a private contractor, but fees are to be expected ». For these clients a dumpster is not the convenient option: it is the only one.
