Three Ontario friends sick of potholes are taking matters into their own hands

Karim Alfarra and two friends seen here filing potholes in downtown Toronto.

Three Ontario residents have decided to take matters into their own hands to fill those pesky potholes across the province and in doing so they have amassed a community of supporters.

The group launched the Instagram account @sanchez.ontario in May and soon after began posting videos showing them patching potholes.

Their first video saw the group filling a large pothole in London, on Clarke Road near Highway 401.

Subsequent videos have shown them patching potholes in downtown Toronto and Scarborough as well.

Since launching the page, it has has amassed 24,500 followers and generated a total of 10.8 million views.

“We are looking forward to do this for the community, and to make sure that if no one is doing something about it, someone will take the danger away from the roads,” Karam Alfarra, one of the three friends behind the initiative, told CTV News in a recent interview.

“It’s you versus the potholes.”

Alfarra, whose friends and family commonly refer to him as Sanchez, moved to London, Ont., with his family four years ago after growing up in Saudi Arabia.

According to Alfarra, his mission was inspired by the loss of a friend who died in a motorcycle crash in Saudi Arabia two years ago as a result of poorly maintained roads.

“He used to ride a motorcycle back home. There was a crack in the road and the bike slipped out. His loss really affected me and my family.”

“This year, I started to notice a lot of dangerous potholes around Ontario and how harmful the roads are becoming, especially after every season. They’re affecting everyone. They’re affecting people that I know. I said to myself, I want to start this mission.’”

The group has filled a total of four potholes in downtown Toronto, London and Scarborough.

In one of the videos, Alfarra and his friends repaired a pothole on the University of Toronto’s Scarborough campus.

After receiving calls from students complaining about a cluster of potholes outside the campus, the group drove out to repair the stretch of road. During the repair, one fan approached and offered to help.

“It’s nice that you see people unite together to get something harmful that might happen to someone else out of the way,” said Alfarra. “I am getting volunteers, not just in London, but throughout the entire province, and this mission is becoming bigger and bigger every day.”

The process takes roughly two hours per pothole and costs between $100 and $250 on average, according to Alfarra.

He and his friends purchased the equipment needed to fill potholes but have since launched a GoFundMe campaign to support future efforts.

Marathon Equipment, an asphalt maintenance equipment company, has also provided equipment, including an asphalt tamper and other tools.

“What’s important in this is spreading awareness and showing people that people can still be good and can still do good,” he said.

Alfara said he hopes to expand the initiative to more communities across Ontario as additional volunteers join the effort.

While Alfara’s videos have attracted support online, municipalities are generally responsible for maintaining public roads and repairing potholes.

CTV News asked the City of Toronto about residents taking road repairs into their own hands and the city’s efforts to address potholes.

In a statement to CTV News, Becky Katz, manager of operations and maintenance with Transportation Services, said pothole construction should be in the hands of City of Toronto workers.

“For safety and quality reasons, only City of Toronto crews should repair public roads. Potholes should be reported to 311 so they can be repaired as quickly as possible,” Katz said in a statement.

Katz also mentioned that the City of Toronto has filled nearly 170,000 potholes in 2026.

Alfarra said he isn’t looking to blame anyone and is simply trying to support his community through the work.

“My only problem is those dangerous potholes. I’m not blaming the weather, the government or anyone else. My focus is on fixing dangerous potholes and doing my best to repair them,” he said.