Kitchener to phase out return envelopes for tax and utility bills
Posted Dec 5, 2025 06:39:29 AM.
Last Updated Dec 5, 2025 10:21:44 AM.
Mailboxes in Kitchener will be a little lighter starting in the new year.
The city voted to move away from sending return envelopes with tax and utility bills starting on Feb. 1, 2026. The decision is being argued as more environmentally friendly and a step towards better efficiency.
It is also pushing for people to switch over to e-billing.
During a Planning & Strategic Initiatives Committee meeting on Monday, council voted in favour of a staff recommendation to get rid of the envelopes, with councillors Debbie Chapman and Stephanie Stretch voting against it.
“By doing this, residents are still going to go out and buy envelopes, so it’s not really greener…. those who just prefer to pay that way are going to continue doing it,” said Chapman.
Ward 1 Councillor Scott Davey disagreed, saying that he didn’t buy the argument that if they don’t supply them, residents will do it anyway, using an analogy of someone driving when there is transit.
“If we’re trying to be a greener and more efficiently run city, then this is the type of efficiencies we should be supporting,” said Davey.
The city said that in a year, it sends out roughly 78,000 envelopes, but only receives 6,400 back. Jonathan Lautenbach, Kitchener’s General Manager of Financial Services and CFO, noted that the city keeps track of who pays by mail and does not send out envelopes to those who pay through e-billing or their bank.
Staff noted that they could save around $5,400 a year.
According to a report to councillors, the city looked at 10 other municipalities across the province and found a majority of them do not use paper envelopes, including Toronto, Waterloo and Cambridge. The only two cities in that list that still use paper envelopes were Vaughan and Ottawa.
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