Leaf Pickup Weeks, Yard Waste and Getting the House Ready: Fredericton's Fall 2026 Checklist

The three collection weeks, and the rules that get bags left behind

The City's curbside yard-debris program runs one week a month from April to November, always the last full week, always on your regular garbage day. The fall dates for 2026 are September 21 to 25, October 26 to 30, and November 16 to 20. Bags and bundles have to be at the curb by 7 a.m. on your collection day, piled separately from the regular garbage so the crews can tell them apart.

The rules are few and the City enforces them by simply not picking up what breaks them. Leaves and grass must be in compostable paper bags; plastic bags and loose leaves are not collected. Brush must be no more than 5 cm across and 1.5 m long, tied in small bundles with natural twine, not plastic. Not accepted: lumber, construction debris, branches over 8 cm, diseased ash or elm branches (those go through the City's tree program, not the curb), logs, stumps, food scraps or household garbage. No bag limit is published, which is the City's way of saying it would rather haul forty bags than see them in the ditch. Do not rake leaves into the gutter, onto the road or onto the sidewalk; they end up in the storm drains and the storm drains end up in someone's basement.

Paper leaf bags run out at the hardware stores in the week before a pickup, every year, like it is a surprise. Buy them in the first week of the month.

Between pickups: the Beek Court drop-off, 24 hours

The City's Municipal Soil Management Facility is at the end of Beek Court, off Vanier Industrial Drive in the Vanier industrial park, and since 2024 it has run as a 24-hour, seven-day drop-off from April into November (it opened April 3 this year; the City does not publish the November closing day, so go before the snow). It takes leaves, brush, grass clippings, sod, soil, wood chips and manure, which makes it the answer for the October weekend when you took down a hedge and the next pickup is three weeks away. No fee or load limit is listed on the City's page.

For anything the City will not take, Fredericton Region Solid Waste at 1775 Alison Boulevard is open Monday to Friday 7:30 to 5:30 and Saturday 7:30 to 3, closed Sundays and holidays. Its posted rates are for garbage ($109 a tonne) and construction debris ($45 a tonne); scrap metal and appliances are free, fridges and freezers $32 plus tax. It does not publish a yard-waste rate, so phone 506-453-9930 before you load the trailer. Household hazardous waste, which is where the half can of deck stain goes, is accepted Wednesdays 7:30 to 4 and Saturdays 7:30 to 3.

October 1: the overnight parking ban, and the rest of the City's autumn

From October 1 to May 31, no vehicle may be left unattended on any street or surface parking lot between midnight and 7 a.m., snow or no snow. The fine is $50 and the tow is at your expense. The ban exists so the plows can run, but it starts six weeks before the plows do, which is the part that catches newcomers and students every single October. Police: 506-460-2300.

Other City dates worth writing down: the third leaf pickup, November 16 to 20, is the last of the year, so the November leaves that fall after it are yours to bag until spring or drive to Beek Court. Christmas tree drop-off, for later, runs December 26 to January 20 at eight sites around the city, Odell Park's Waggoners Lane lot among them; there is no curbside tree pickup. Sidewalk patios downtown have traditionally come in at the end of September, though the City extended that to mid-October in 2020; confirm this year's date with [email protected] if you run one.

Tires: the dates, and when the shops actually book up

Winter tires are recommended in New Brunswick, not required; there is no provincial mandate and no insurer here that refuses to pay because you were on all-seasons. Studded tires are legal from October 15 to May 1. That is the whole law. The practical calendar is different: the first sticking snow in Fredericton is a November event more often than not, but pre-Halloween flurries happen (the Fredericton Independent's "pre-Halloween snow on the way" is practically an annual headline), and the tire shops know it. Bookings for swaps stack up from mid-October, and the two weeks after the first slippery morning are a lottery. Book the swap for the last week of October and you will never think about it again.

Heat: furnaces, oil tanks and the rebates that are still open

If you heat with oil, the tank is the fall item most likely to cost you money if you ignore it. In New Brunswick, installation and removal must be done by a licensed installer under the province's petroleum storage regulation, and the homeowner is responsible for the tank on the property, including the one the previous owner put in. Insurers set their own age limits, and the common thresholds are roughly fifteen years for an outdoor single-wall steel tank, twenty to twenty-five for an indoor one, twenty-five for double-wall, and up to thirty for fibreglass. Check the tank's date stamp before you renew the policy, not after the claim.

The province's Total Home Energy Savings program (Save Energy NB, 1-800-663-6272) still pays incentives on insulation, air sealing, windows and heat pumps, but it requires a home energy evaluation by a certified advisor before you start and the upgrades within nine months of it. Two deadlines to know: the oil-to-heat-pump advance funding closed to new registrations on June 30, 2026, and anyone already in it must finish the upgrade by March 31, 2027 with paperwork in by October 1, 2026. The Enhanced Energy Savings Program does free upgrades for households under $70,000 a year, and renters can get a free energy-savings kit. Book the evaluation now; the advisors are busiest in October.

The unglamorous fall list, in order: have the furnace or heat pump serviced before the first cold snap rather than during it; change the filter; if you have a wood stove or fireplace, get the chimney swept by a WETT-certified sweep (insurers ask); shut off and drain outdoor taps and blow out irrigation lines before the first hard frost; clean the gutters after the leaves are down, not before; and put the patio furniture away before the first wet snow glues the cushions to the deck.

Frost, snow, and when the rinks open

Environment Canada's climate normals put Fredericton's average first fall frost at about September 26, which is earlier than most people's tomatoes would prefer. The average first snowfall is not a number the City publishes, but November is the month the normals give 12.8 cm of snow, so plan for it then and be pleasantly surprised.

Indoor season starts before the snow. Free public skating at the Grant-Harvey Centre (600 Knowledge Park Drive) runs from October 12, 2026 to March 31, 2027: Monday to Thursday 3 to 4 p.m., Friday 5:15 to 6:15, Saturday 5:45 to 6:45, Sunday 3:45 to 4:45. No skate rentals; helmets recommended but not required. The City's arenas (Grant-Harvey, Willie O'Ree Place on Cliffe Street, Lady Beaverbrook on University Avenue, York Arena on Barker Street) run their October-to-March hours of 6 a.m. to midnight from October; individual ice-in dates for the other rinks were not posted when we checked.

The whole list, in the order it comes due

Now: buy paper leaf bags; book the furnace service and the energy evaluation; check the oil tank date. September 21 to 25: first fall yard-waste week. September 26: average first frost; cover or pick what you want to keep. October 1: overnight parking ban begins; grouse season opens, for what it is worth to your dog walks (see our hunting guide). October 12: free skating starts at Grant-Harvey. October 15: studded tires legal. Last week of October: book the tire swap; second yard-waste week, October 26 to 30; drain the outdoor taps. November 16 to 20: last yard-waste week of the year; clean the gutters the weekend before. After that: Beek Court until it closes, and then the leaves can wait for April, which is what the neighbours do anyway.