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Dollarama reaches $2.6-million settlement in national class-action lawsuit over eco fees

Dollarama has reached a $2.6-million settlement in a national class-action lawsuit over environmental fees applied to products like batteries, electronic toys and light bulbs.

Class members will be eligible for an Interac e-transfer of up to $10

Jenna Benchetrit · CBC News ·
The front of a store is visible, with the word DOLLARAMA emblazoned in big yellow letters on a green banner above the store's windows. A person is walking down the street in front of it, their face turned away from the camera, wearing a brown backpack and a baseball hat.
A Dollarama store is shown in Montreal. The discount chain has reached a $2.6-million settlement in a national class-action lawsuit over environmental fees applied to products like batteries, electronic toys and light bulbs. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press)

Dollarama has reached a $2.6-million settlement in a national class-action lawsuit over environmental fees applied to products like batteries, electronic toys and light bulbs.

The settlement was confirmed in a press release on Friday by class counsel Joey Zukran of law firm LPC Avocats in Montreal.

The class action includes anyone who bought a product subject to an environmental handling fee from a Dollarama store in Quebec between Dec. 11, 2019 and July 4, 2023, or anywhere else in Canada between April 29, 2021 and July 4, 2023.

A proposed class action was initially filed in May 2023, alleging that the discount chain didn't properly display the full price of products subject to the eco fee.

A previous $2.5-million settlement was then reached in February of this year, with Dollarama agreeing to pay out the amount in gift cards, but it was dismissed by a Quebec judge in April.

At the time, decision documents showed that the judge concluded there wasn't enough proof that the settlement would be beneficial to class members or that the class action had been structured correctly.

The new settlement amount is subject to court approval, with a hearing date set for Dec. 2. Class members are eligible for an Interac e-transfer of up to $10.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jenna Benchetrit

Journalist

Jenna Benchetrit is the senior business writer for CBC News. She writes stories about Canadian economic and consumer issues, and has also recently covered U.S. politics. A Montrealer based in Toronto, Jenna holds a master's degree in journalism from Toronto Metropolitan University. You can reach her at jenna.benchetrit@cbc.ca.

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