Community Clean Up

Let’s clean up our community – together!  Join the fun and help keep our city looking its best! Grab your friends, family, or coworkers and pitch in to clean up litter from boulevards, parks, trails, walkways, and cemeteries. You can join one of our scheduled clean-up events or help on any day that suits you.

2026 Community Clean Up event dates

Dates:

  • Earth Day, Wednesday, April 22, 2026
  • Fall Community Clean Up, Saturday, October 24, 2026

Time: 4:00 pm to 7:00 pm
Location: MacBain Community Centre, 7150 Montrose Road
Weather: Clean-up events happen in rain or shine, but will be cancelled in unsafe weather conditions

Please help out by picking up litter in our community. We’ll give you everything you need—gloves, garbage bags, and litter pickers (while supplies last). You’ll also get safety tips and a vest if you’re cleaning along the streets.

How to join the Earth Day event

  • Register online before the event, or just show up to register. The online registration link will be available closer to the event date.
  • Arrive starting at 4:00 pm to sign in and pick up supplies
  • Sign the waiver. All registered volunteers need to sign a waiver. Youths under 17 need a signed youth permission form. Kids 13 and under must bring a guardian.
  • Review the safety tips

Download forms in advance

Complete the forms for the Earth Day event:

After the clean-up

  • Leave full garbage bags at park/trail entrances, parking lot entrances, or street corners. City staff will collect them.
  • Return all borrowed items (except gloves—you keep those!)
  • If you're late, drop off items at the Customer Service Desk inside the MacBain Centre

Register for the Earth Day event

Anytime community clean up program

Want to help on your own schedule? You can! Our Anytime Community Clean-Up option lets you decide when and where to clean.

How it works

  1. Register online at least 3 days before your clean-up and review the safety tips. 
  2. Groups (2+ people): Fill out the Group Waiver Form and email it to the program coordinator
  3. Pick up supplies (bags, vests, pickers) from the MacBain Centre—just give us three business days’ notice
  4. Clean any city-owned public space. Ask us if you're unsure.
  5. Tell us where you left the garbage bags so we can collect them later
  6. Return supplies to the MacBain Centre when you’re done

Note: Clean-ups are weather-dependent and may be cancelled in bad conditions.

Register to clean up anytime

Youth and student volunteers

A Youth Permission Form is needed for the event you are attending:

Earth Day 2026 Youth Permission Form
Anytime Clean Up Youth Permission Form

  • Ages 13 and under: Must have a guardian with them at all times and cannot clean along roadways (only parks, trails or cemeteries). Need a signed Youth Permission form
  • Ages 14 to 16: Need a signed Youth Permission form
  • Supervising youth groups: The clean-up group must provide at least one adult supervisor (18 years or older) for every five workers who are 14 to 17 years old.

Students can earn community service hours! Bring your school’s Volunteer worksheet to be signed at the event, or email us after the event to request confirmation.

Clean up safety tips

Stay safe, alert and avoid exertion while cleaning. Work in pairs or groups if possible—it’s safer and more fun.

Before you go

  • Dress for the weather. Wear a hat, sunscreen, and bring water if it's hot
  • Wear light coloured clothing that covers arms and legs
  • Wear protective footwear
  • Don't wear loose jewelry
  • Volunteers cleaning near streets must wear a safety vest or bright-coloured clothing

Supplies to bring

  • Gloves and garbage bags (provided at scheduled events)
  • Your first-aid kit in case of minor cuts or scrapes
  • Carry a cell phone in case of an emergency
  • Bring hand sanitizer or wipes to clean your hands after the clean-up

What NOT to do

  • Walk or pick up litter on the road, shoulder or in the median
  • Work on bridges, overpasses, steep ground, or tunnels
  • Enter private property
  • Use or possess illegal drugs or alcoholic beverages before or during the clean-up
  • Touch or pick up hazardous items or anything that cannot be identified. If you find any of these items, flag it for pick up by City staff.
  • Step or jump on trash bags
  • Go near construction areas and maintenance equipment
  • Approach water hazards like rivers, creeks and ponds
  • Touch hazardous plants (i.e. poison ivy) and stinging insects
  • Work in inclement weather
  • Work at night – daytime hours only

Traffic and parking safety

  • Car pool to reduce the number of vehicles at the site. Exit your car on the side adjacent to the ditch or sidewalk (not on the traffic side).
  • Don’t park along major roads
  • Park parallel to the road and as far off the travelled portion as possible
  • Park vehicles on the same side of the roadway as the volunteers are working
  • Always stay aware of oncoming traffic
  • Walk facing traffic when cleaning along boulevards or sidewalks, and clean up one side of the roadway at a time

Photo gallery

Thank you to all the amazing volunteers who pitched in!

A group of volunteers smiling for the camera at the MacBain Community Centre. They are wearing yellow and black and holding garbage bags.
Three volunteers wearing yellow vests at the Niagara Falls MacBain Community Centre.
A group of volunteers in a outdoor grassy area wearing yellow vests and picking up litter.
Two volunteers wearing yellow vests in front of a window with the MacBain Centre Community Park in the background
A group of four youth volunteers, posing and smiling for a photo at the Niagara Falls MacBain Community Centre.
A group of volunteers in a outdoor grassy area wearing yellow vests and picking up litter.

Contact Us

City of Niagara Falls
4310 Queen Street
P.O. Box 1023
Niagara Falls, ON L2E 6X5
Canada
905-356-7521
service@niagarafalls.ca