smell toronto

This is what smelled so bad in Toronto yesterday

It's not just you, friends; much of the GTA smelled like literal s-h-i-t yesterday.

That "eau de merde" scent appears to have dissipated, for the most part, as of Friday morning, but it got much of Toronto talking (and checking their shoes) on Thursday afternoon.

People from Fort York to North York were tweeting about the stench, many of them sharing theories about what was behind it.

A lot of citizens initially thought they'd stepped in dog and / or horse droppings.

As it turns out, the widespread smell of was caused by cow poop – which is better known in agricultural circles as "manure" or "fertilizer."

City Councillor Mike Layton (Ward 19, Trinity-Spadina) broke the news early Friday morning, explaining that The City's Parks Department had spread fertilizer across local sports fields.

So there you have it, Toronto. It smelled like crap outside because there was lots and lots of crap outside.

How did you think our gardens grow?

Lead photo by

Randy McDonald


Latest Videos



Latest Videos


Join the conversation Load comments

Latest in City

Here's a preview of what it will be like to ride on new Toronto LRT line

There's a brand-new $26M TTC subway station entrance in a popular Toronto park

Ontario's largest snake grows up to 2 metres and squeezes prey to death

Ontario is home to world's oldest pool of water at a staggering 2 billion years old

Stunning new Toronto park set to open next year

Toronto somehow isn't home to Ontario's jankiest LRT

A Toronto transit project is actually going to finish early for once

People worried about Ontario police's plan to use facial recognition software