Pedestrians in midtown Toronto's bustling Yonge and Eglinton area are being caught off guard by a private security camera barking warnings and telling them to vacate a very public strip of sidewalk.

A security camera installed at the site of a new condominium development under construction at Yonge and Soudan has been confusing pedestrians and has even drawn the ire of the local city councillor since being flagged in a social media post on Tuesday evening.

Alex Forgay shared a video of the camera flashing blue and red warning lights and verbally warning unsuspecting pedestrians that they have strayed into a "red area" and to "please leave."

I have to say I’m not the biggest fan of this private security camera that screams at you for being on the public sidewalk! pic.twitter.com/AEEkHIVlsi

— Alex Forgay (@AlexForgay) September 10, 2024

In a phone call with blogTO, Ward 12 Toronto—St. Paul's councillor Josh Matlow said that the security installation is "alarming to people who are using the walkway," noting that the pedestrian pathway is "the only way to walk on the east side of Yonge."

"You've got people who are walking there every day, and you're just on your way to school, to work, get your groceries, whatever, and to have this very authoritative-sounding voice coming from a security camera telling you that you are in a 'red area' and that you should leave is alarming. It's scary, it's confusing."

"It's not something that should be in a public space, suggesting to people that they're not allowed to use it."

blogTO contacted Tribute Communities, the developer behind the project at Yonge and Soudan, for an explanation as to why pedestrians were being bombarded with warnings.

A company representative tells blogTO that the security setup blaring warnings "looks like a malfunction," adding that Tribute has "contacted the security company and they will fix it today."

A City of Toronto spokesperson tells blogTO that "staff visited this location and confirmed with the construction site manager that the alarm is programmed to only be activated if the construction site is breached (e.g. a trespass)."

"It will not be activated when pedestrians pass by on the City right-of-way. The video shows the alarm being tested, rather than activated."

Matlow tells blogTO he is pleased that Tribute Communities is taking the matter seriously, but has questions about the security installation, saying, "I don't understand, in all honesty, why it took social media post for them to do it."

"The security company would have intentionally had to use that system in that location, and that's just the wrong location for that kind of system."

Matlow asks, "Why wouldn't the security company or the site manager take it upon themselves to correct that? If it was a screw-up, then why didn't they fix it rather than wait for a call from a journalist?"

The local councillor has taken similar recent stands against public spaces being rendered unusable. 

In August, Matlow called out a local Aroma location for placing a "customers only" warning on seating in a publicly-accessible space.

Most recently, the councillor helped reclaim public benches at the corner of Yonge and Eglinton that had been overrun by pigeons and their droppings.