A stand-alone public washroom planned for the corner of Somerset and Bank streets in Centretown will be the first of its kind in the capital when it opens this fall.
Somerset Coun. Ariel Troster said the facility will be 400 square feet and believes it will have two stalls.
Troster said she was “shocked” to learn there were no stand-alone, city-owned public washrooms in Ottawa when she was first elected in 2022.
“Having to use the washroom is a basic human need and we all have to go multiple times a day,” Troster said. “We learned, especially during the Covid pandemic, when many businesses were not open or were not open to sit down indoors, how much we actually rely on local businesses for bathroom use in our city.”
Emily Montoro, a server at Gabriel’s Pizza at the corner of Somerset and Bank, said having a stand-alone facility could give people a place to go without disrupting businesses in the area.
“We have to deny (people), because we’ve had people lock themselves in the bathroom for hours,” Montoro said. “We’ve had to call cops to get them out.”
Many other Canadian cities have stand-alone public washrooms. Troster said Winnipeg, Edmonton, and Montreal have successfully done so. “This is just something that we’re … really behind on in Ottawa,” Troster said.
There are public washrooms available in Ottawa, but there are barriers and restrictions to using them.
“There are some public bathrooms that are in field houses in certain parks, but they stay locked up unless there’s an event going on and there’s a staff member to attend to them,” Troster said. “I really thought that was unacceptable.”
Having to use the washroom is a basic human need and we all have to go multiple times a day. We learned, especially during the Covid pandemic, when many businesses were not open or were not open to sit down indoors, how much we actually rely on local businesses for bathroom use in our city.
— Somerset Coun. Ariel Troster
The GottaGo! Campaign has been advocating for a network of public washrooms in Ottawa since 2013. Bessa Whitmore has led the campaign for the past 10 years. Whitmore explained that there are washrooms available to the public, but most are what she calls “hidden toilets.”
“The city has public toilets in public buildings (with) no signage,” Whitmore said. “For 10 years we have tried to get the city and the National Capital Commission to put up signs.”
The city has opted to not use self-cleaning technology, something that some other cities use for their washroom facilities. Whitmore believes this is the right decision.
“All we hear is ‘Oh, people will vandalize it,’ and they do, so you’ve got to staff it. Those (staff) should be people who actually come from those communities and have cleaned up and are doing well,” Whitmore said. “We pay our garbage guys good money. Why not pay people to clean and monitor toilets?”
Whitmore said there are a few elements that should be included in the final design.
“I’m not an engineer and don’t know enough about design, but common sense tells you it should be attractive, have the basics, a place to change a baby, gender-neutral … so everybody can go, and just generally inviting to people,” said Whitmore, who added accessibility as a key feature.
Troster said that a plan to address social challenges will come after a public consultation process this year about design features.
“City staff have been looking at (stand-alone public washroom facility) examples from all over North America and all over the world,” Troster said. “I’m confident that we can figure it out.”
