Hidden Fees Canadians Aren’t Being Told About

Hidden Fees Canadians Aren’t Being Told About

I ordered an Amazon Fire Stick listed at $27.99.

At checkout, I was charged:
• A $2.25 Environmental Handling Fee
• 15% HST applied on top of that fee

My final total was $34.78.

That is a 24% increase over the advertised price.

Most Canadians assume this is just tax. It isn’t.

This charge is a government-mandated electronics recycling levy under Extended Producer Responsibility rules. Despite the wording, it has nothing to do with shipping or special handling.

What changed — and when

Before 2019
Environmental handling fees mainly applied to large electronics like televisions and computers.
The amounts were small or hidden and often baked into the shelf price.
Most people never noticed them.

After 2019
The program was expanded to include everyday electronics, including small items like streaming devices.
Fees increased, commonly ranging from one to five dollars per item.
Online marketplaces were required to itemize the fee at checkout, and tax is now applied on top of the fee itself.

Why it suddenly shows up on Amazon

Before these rule changes, the fee was not collected consistently everywhere.
Some retailers buried it in the price.
Some third-party vendors did not apply it at all.

When governments expanded the rules, online marketplaces like Amazon were made responsible for collecting and remitting the fee on all eligible products, including those sold by third-party sellers.

So while it looks like an Amazon charge, it is being collected because of government policy, and the cost is pushed directly onto consumers at checkout.

The result

Higher prices
More visible charges
No clear public explanation

Canadians already pay income tax.
Canadians already pay sales tax.
Canadians already pay carbon tax.

These expanded environmental fees represent another quiet cost shift onto consumers during a cost-of-living crisis.

If a fee is mandatory, it should be clearly disclosed before purchase, not discovered at checkout.

Transparency matters.
Hidden fees erode trust.

Canadians deserve to know what they are being charged, who is requiring it, and when it changed.

By Canadian Citizens Journal