No-go area: pandemic highlights Canada’s lack of public toilets

Toronto's unreliable patchwork of restrooms - thrown into relief as Covid closed restaurants, cafes and hotels - hits vulnerable hardest

Biking through Toronto on a recent afternoon, Dawn Russell realized she urgently needed to pee. Six months into her pregnancy, she knew that each trip from her house would mean searching for a toilet, but the promise of city streets clear of cars proved too much of a temptation.

The pandemic has made the world so small, and it's taken so many things away. To also lose the ability to go for a real walk was just a freedom I was not willing to give up," said Russell, whose name was changed for privacy reasons. I would rather risk peeing my pants than be confined at home."