Montreal

Brossard's plastic bag ban now in effect

Merchants in the South Shore community will now have to provide either reusable bags or paper bags. Montreal's ban comes into effect in 2018.

South Shore community passed law banning single-use plastic shopping bags last February

The ban targets single-use plastic shopping bags. (Ross William Hamilton, The Oregonian/AP)

The City of Brossard's ban on single-use plastic shopping bags goes into effect today.

Merchants in the South Shore community will now have to provide either reusable bags or paper bags.

Brossard city councillors approved the ban unanimously in February despite opposition from Quebec's plastics industry and the Canadian Plastic Bags Association.

Ecological concerns were highlighted as the principal reason for the ban.

A similar bylaw was passed recently by the City of Montreal and goes into effect in 2018.

Two other Quebec municipalities, Deux-Montagnes and Huntingdon, have also moved to ban plastic bags.