Caledon resident calls for action as illegal dumping worsens on Boston Mills Road

January 22, 2026 · 0 Comments

By Riley Murphy

Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Wendy Boughton has lived in Caledon for 30 years, 20 of which have been spent on Boston Mills Road, a street she says has become littered with illegal dumping in recent years.

Boughton looks out onto her road and sees garbage bags, empty liquor bottles, Amazon packages, and leftover construction materials strewn across various areas of the street.

As she walks her dog, she finds herself picking up the smaller pieces of trash herself in an attempt to help.

“I just pick it up and dispose of it myself because I can’t stand looking at it when I drive down the road. It’s awful,” she says.

Boughton calls the Region to come and collect the trash, but she’s hoping to one day see preventative measures in place to stop this from happening in the first place.

“The Region comes and picks it up, which is great, but it doesn’t solve the issue of the dumping – it is illegal dumping,” says Boughton. “But in order to impress a fine, you have to catch them, and they do it in the middle of the night, so it’s really hard to catch them in the act, which is unfortunate.”

Boughton says this is not just an issue in her neighbourhood, but in all of Caledon.

“There just needs to be something more in place that’s going to be more of a deterrent for these people that if your garbage is identified, you’re going to be fined,” she says. “It needs to be addressed.”

Over recent years, the dumping has grown increasingly worse, she says.

“All my neighbors feel just as strongly, and it’s just getting more and more frustrating because this just doesn’t happen once in a while, this happens, I would say, on a weekly basis, if not twice a week,” says Boughton. “It’s constant.”

She says there’s always been garbage on the roads, but it’s becoming an “epidemic.”

On her road, she says she originally only used to see the occasional water bottle from a cyclist, but in the last four to five years, it’s become “bags and bags.”

Just last Sunday, Boughton saw numerous bags tossed out along the road.

In the garbage, she noticed various bags of toys, even a high chair, something she says could have been used by other families if they had just been taken to a donation center.

“A lot of the time it’s just easier for them to just open up the back of the truck and dump stuff rather than go all the way to the dump,” Boughton says, reflecting on those who dump garbage. “It’s just laziness and no respect for the environment.”

In 2025, Peel responded to 32 reports of illegal dumping.

Kelly Sousa-Dias, Director, Peel Region Waste Management says that Peel Region actively works to address illegal dumping on regional roads, “which is our responsibility.”

“We also collaborate with local municipalities, the Town of Caledon, and the Ontario Provincial Police,” says Sousa-Dias.

Residents are encouraged to report illegal dumping anonymously by calling 905-791-9499 or 905-584-2216 (Caledon) or online at peelregion.ca/waste.

Fines under Peel’s Waste Collection By-law range from $500 to $5,000.

“Through our annual public education campaigns, we also encourage proper disposal and participation in Peel’s waste programs, including reminding residents that excess waste can be dropped off at Peel Community Recycling Centres,” says Sousa-Dias.