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 environmentalfees 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 April29, 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 ecofee.

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.