marie curtis park

Outdoor activities depend on outdoor facilities and these ones in Toronto are disgusting

Weather is heating up and outdoor recreational amenities are slowly reopening, which means parks around the city are filling up with people out to get some much-needed fresh air and exercise.

With more of us outdoors in the last couple of weeks, clean washroom facilities in city parks are a must, but it seems the ones at Marie Curtis Park were a mess today.

The porta-potties at the popular park were both filled to the brim this morning. Overflowing with garbage and feces, they looked to be pretty much unusable.

This leaves anyone out enjoying the playground, beach, picnic spots or walking trails at Marie Curtis with few other options when it comes time to go as pandemic restrictions continue. 

The lack of public restrooms in Toronto, which has long been a glaring issue for the more vulnerable in the city, has been the focus of plenty of discontent this past year now that ducking into a Starbucks or Tim Hortons to pee isn't an option. 

The City has been making moves to try and help address the problem including adding 79 more outdoor facilities this past winter and opening park washrooms early this spring. 

Currently, 169 park washrooms are open from 9 a.m. to dusk and are occasionally closed during the day to be serviced, with the three portable units at Marie Curtis cleaned three times each week, according to the City of Toronto. 

Although the number of available toilets has increased since the start of the pandemic, restricted operating hours and poor maintenance continue to make having to go an issue. 

Lead photo by

Dan Arsenault


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