Since the pandemic’s onset, Toronto’s public washroom scene has gone down the toilet. Following the city’s effort to keep the public indoors to reduce the spread of COVID-19, park washrooms shut down in winter months, public libraries and community centres closed early.
But years later, health and public space experts say unhoused individuals, gig workers, families and people with disabilities are finding even more barriers when accessing public washrooms, putting public toilets back on the political agenda.
And to get people talking again, the Toronto Public Space Committee (TPSC) is hosting a global design competition— called To the Loo! They’re calling on architects, designers, urban planners and other creative thinkers to present innovative ideas to “incorporate public washrooms into the public realm” in the South Parkdale neighbourhood, the project’s hypothetical design site.
Committee organizer Cara Chellew, a PhD candidate in urban planning, policy and design at McGill University in Montréal, joins CJTM News to tell us about the design concept, why South Parkdale and how the team hopes to get the city on board.
