Is Dumpster Diving Illegal In Alberta?

[recessionisnotfun]

Does anyone know if dumspter diving is illegal? Can you get fined? I've heard that if you go say to a stores bin, it's tresspassing and illegal...wouldn't it be illegal anywhere then like apartment buildings etc as you are still on their property or no?
What about the citys recycling bins? We don't have curbside recycling here, we have to bring stuff to the citys bins, which allow only a arm in there. Can you get a record going in there?

[Chantel]

I think the first time they would give you a warning. Just explain that no, you're not homeless or on any sort of drug, you are simply looking for coupon inserts that frequently get disposed of. If it's an actual dumpster they might tell you to get out because they don't want to be held liable if something happens to you.

I don't think apartment buildings would really care. If they say leave, leave.

I doubt you'll get in any sort of real record-ish trouble unless you've been told a half dozen times from the police to stop.

[recessionisnotfun]

I was watching some utube vids about freegans getting food from garbage bins, that's what led me to my question. They had to sneakily do it so it made me wonder.

[sarajk]

I know in Ontario if its a store dumpster they can have you charged with trespassing & theft.

If its sitting on a curb its on city property & not private, I would think its fair game.

[muggos0101]

I live in Calgary and the dumpsters in my alley seem to get checked at least once an hour. Sometimes they jump right in. One time we started throwing change off my balcony into the dumpster while a guy was in it... he didn't seem to mind!

[muggos0101]

Sometimes when I'm feeling nice I will throw them bags of cans or plastic bottles. You can hear them coming a long way down the alley with their carts.

[lanand]

The key in Canada is determining whether the dumpster you are diving is publicly accessible. A fence or lock destroys the public access and therefore the owner is deemed not to have given up their rights to the contents. Open or unlocked containers in areas commonly accessible to the public are free game. Not all police are up to date on this, since it came from a 2009 Supreme Court decision, so you may still get a hassle, but charges would be be very unlikely to stick. Some of the police I have talked to were aware of it, most were not.

This means garbage at the curb or in the alley, in recycling bins at depots and most commercial dumpsters should be free game. The issue becomes cloudier if you have been asked by a store owner to leave and refuse, this is where trespassing may come into effect.

Local bylaws still exist that prohibit this, but they are not enforceable since the 2009 decision.

[mhk]

I live in Calgary and the dumpsters in my alley seem to get checked at least once an hour. Sometimes they jump right in. One time we started throwing change off my balcony into the dumpster while a guy was in it... he didn't seem to mind!

I know you mean well, but he may have been hurt if a coin hit him somewhere like his eye...

Just my 2 cents worth....

[muggos0101]

I know you mean well, but he may have been hurt if a coin hit him somewhere like his eye...

Just my 2 cents worth....

Not to worry, bums around here are tougher than steel! :D