Downtown Ottawa getting a new place to go when you ‘gotta go’

The City of Ottawa is attempting to address a lack of public washrooms, and we know more about a new one coming soon. CTV’s Leah Larocque reports.

The City of Ottawa will be building a stand-alone public washroom facility at the corner of Somerset Street and Bank Street.

This is something Somerset Ward Coun. Ariel Troster has been pushing for since getting elected.

Troster says a place to go to the washroom is a basic human right.

“We’ve been hearing, especially since there was more security installed at City Hall, there’s just less options for people. And with the escalating homelessness and addiction crisis, I’ve certainly heard from some businesses that are frustrated with being some of the only providers of washrooms in the downtown core,” Troster said.

The city set included $1 million for two new public washrooms in the 2025 budget.

Troster says there will be public feedback and consultations, and the city is hoping to break ground on the new downtown washroom in the fall.

It will not be self-cleaning and will instead be a conventional building that will be maintained by city staff or community partners.

“We looked at the self-cleaning technology, and we were a little bit worried, with the degree of freeze-thaw cycles that we get in the city,” Troster said. “We figured that the bathroom is going to need maintenance anyway, and it’s going to need frequent maintenance if it’s in a busy downtown location. And we’re prepared to make that investment to do it properly.”

Troster says there will be a robust plan to address social challenges in terms of cleanliness, and potential drug use or vandalism.

The GottaGo! Campaign has been calling on the city to create a network of clean and accessible public toilets in Ottawa.

“It’s the first time the city has committed something,” says Bessa Whitmore, with the GottaGo! Campaign. “Ottawa does not have a good network of public toilets.”

Kaite Burkholder Harris, with the Alliance to End Homelessness, says that public washrooms are critical pieces of city infrastructure.

“In Ottawa, we have over 500 people who are sleeping rough. They are not necessarily going to a shelter at night or to any indoor space. They desperately need a place to use the bathroom in a dignified way. Beyond that, we know that lots of people use public bathrooms. But when it comes to someone who’s sleeping outside or who is homeless during the day, there are not many options for that.”

Standalone washroom in ByWard Market cancelled

In 2021, federal, provincial and municipal officials announced more than $1.6 million in funding for ByWard Market infrastructure. In a statement Tuesday, the City of Ottawa said a standalone washroom project for the ByWard Market has been cancelled.

“Through the Ontario-Ottawa Agreement, and in partnership with the ByWard Market District Authority (BMDA), public washrooms are currently available at 55 ByWard Market Square and are open from 5 a.m. to midnight daily. Additional opportunities for new washroom facilities in the ByWard Market are being considered through the implementation of the ByWard Market Public Realm Plan,” said Court Curry, director of Right-of-Way, Heritage and Urban Design Services.

With files from CTV News Ottawa’s Peter Szperling and Josh Pringle

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