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Find a park washroom
If you’re looking for a park washroom, please refer to our interactive map on the Find a park washroom page.
About this project
Public washrooms are important for everyone in Guelph. Whether it’s people in a park, someone travelling across town on the bus, or crowds at an outdoor concert, they all need washrooms. Washrooms aren’t always available and not everyone has access to washrooms when they need them. In Fall 2024, Council approved recommendations that will guide how the City improves access to public washrooms throughout our community, and particularly in the Downtown.
How is the City improving access to public washrooms?
The City is working to improve access to public washrooms in four ways:
- Making more public washrooms available:
- Including a new, standalone washroom in the Downtown as part of the Wyndham St./ St. George’s Square redevelopment (subject to budget approval)
- Considering publicly accessible washrooms during the planning of future capital projects
- Continuing to use portable washrooms to expand access to washrooms in public spaces until permanent facilities are provided
- Increasing the availability and accessibility of existing washrooms:
- Exploring opportunities to make new and existing permanent public washroom available in Winter.
- Incorporating public washroom locations into the City’s wayfinding strategy.
- Exploring opportunities to provide public access to washrooms in businesses and community organizations through a “Community Toilet Scheme.”
- Working with local partners on the “Wellington-Guelph Health and Housing Community Planning Table,” to identify and address the basic needs of people experiencing homelessness, including their washroom needs.
The recording, minutes and slide deck from the September 4, 2024 Council meeting have more information about these recommendations.
How were these recommendations developed?
The City worked with researchers from the Department of Geography, Environment and Geomatics at the University of Guelph and the Guelph Lab to develop these recommendations. The project involved a review of existing washrooms, interviews with a range of people who live, work or visit Guelph, reviews of existing research about public washrooms, and scans of washroom practices in other Canadian cities.
For the interviews, the team were interested in the perspectives of everyone in Guelph but especially people who may be most affected when washrooms aren’t available. This includes elderly people, people with physical disabilities, people who experience urgent washroom needs (e.g., those with Crohn’s and Colitis), and people experiencing homelessness.
To read quotes from the interviews and learn more about the research into public washrooms, the “Somewhere to Go” report is included in the “Resources and documents” section below.
Why does Guelph need more public washrooms?
Access to washrooms is a human right and is critical to human dignity. Washrooms are also essential for creating vibrant, inclusive and accessible public spaces in Guelph. Our community needs washrooms if we want people to enjoy events in public squares, to travel on public transit, and to access parks, trails, outdoor rinks, splashpads and other public amenities. If there aren’t enough washrooms, or the washrooms are closed when people need them, they are either forced to go outside, or they are forced to stay at home.
To better understand the availability of washrooms in Guelph, City staff and researchers created maps that show where washrooms are located and when they are open. The maps show that:
- There are permanent washrooms at 24 locations in Guelph, plus 51 portable washrooms in summer and 25 in winter (portable washrooms are often known as porta-potties).
- There are no permanent washrooms open overnight anywhere in the city.
- There are limited washroom options in the Downtown area.
- Some parks, trail networks and splashpads have limited access to washrooms.
The map below shows which washrooms are available in the Downtown area. To see maps of washrooms across the whole city and learn more about the research behind the maps, the “What’s open and when?” report is included in the “Resources and documents” section below.
The research team visited all the public washrooms in Guelph as part of their review. These visits revealed opportunities for managers of individual public washrooms in Guelph to improve their washrooms to better serve all of Guelph’s residents. The “Top Tips for Improving Your Public Washroom” is included the “Resources and documents” section below.
Map of public washrooms in Downtown Guelph
Check out the map below to see where public washrooms are located in Downtown Guelph. The map also shows the type of washroom available (permanent or portable, accessible, or not) and their approximate opening hours.
Coloured circles around each point on the map show a catchment area of 400 metres. This distance is equivalent to a 5-10 minute walk or roll and is commonly used in municipal planning to determine how far people are likely to travel to access services.
Note: The washrooms at Goldie Mills are under renovation and were not included in the map.
The map of downtown shows:
- Wednesday afternoon, summer in Downtown: There are permanent washrooms at 3 locations, all of which are universal (has both gender neutral and accessible options). There are portable washrooms at two locations, one of which is accessible and one that is not.
- Sunday afternoon, summer in Downtown: There is only 1 location that has a permanent washroom, and it is universal. There are portable washrooms at two locations, one of which is accessible.
- Friday night, summer in Downtown: There are no permanent washrooms available. There are portable washrooms at two locations, one of which is accessible.
- Sunday afternoon, winter in Downtown: There is 1 permanent washroom at the Market Square that is only open when the ice rink is open. There is only 1 non-accessible portable washroom.
Resources and documents
- Report: Somewhere to go (September 2024)
- Report: Access to Public Washrooms in Guelph; What’s Open and When? (August 2023)
- Fact Sheet: “Top Tips for Improving Your Public Washroom”
