The Toronto Public Space Committee is launching a global ideas competition to imagine the future of public washrooms in Toronto. We invite you to propose design ideas for inclusive and innovative public washrooms to help advocate and spread awareness for the urgent need of a robust public washroom network in our city.
Start submitting April 15!
Who are we?
The Toronto Public Space Committee (TPSC) has taken on the challenge of advocating for a robust network of all-season and accessible public washrooms in Toronto.
This global design competition emphasizes the essential nature of washroom access. It brings awareness to the lack of access in city of Toronto, while also demonstrating innovative ways to incorporate public washrooms into the public realm. We invite designers, architects, urban planners, and creative thinkers from around the world to reimagine the future of public washrooms in Toronto.
Your hosts
Toronto Public Space Committee
The driving force behind this competition. This volunteer-led advocacy group has designed the brief and is in charge of administering and facilitating adjudication.
Cyan Station is a community-focused architecture studio that wants to see improved access to basic services in the public realm. Cyan is a co-host and in-kind sponsor of design expertise.
Our goal is to elevate the public washroom as a collective asset, and show how this can be done artfully and playfully.
The competition
Despite the necessity of public washrooms, Toronto has a severe shortage, leaving many residents—particularly unhoused individuals, gig workers, families, and people with disabilities—without access to this fundamental urban infrastructure. This competition seeks bold ideas that integrate spatial justice, accessibility, sustainability, and cultural inclusion into the design of a multi-user washroom hub and single-user washroom, adaptable to different locations throughout the city.
In this competition, you are tasked with designing a network of public washrooms that includes:
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One single-user toilet (#1), washroom designed to be flexible for installation at multiple sites.
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One multi-user hub (#2) washroom sited at Dufferin King Parkette.
We have chosen a neighbourhood as a site for your design, but these washrooms should be flexible enough to be sited across a large diverse city, from urban to suburban centres.
Check out the design brief and our participant resources for more details and specifications of the submission.
#1 Single-user toilet
Single-use washrooms are to be individual private spaces that contain 1 toilet only and be distributed throughout the neighbourhood at convenient locations.
#2 Multi-user hub
Your multi-use washroom will be a larger sanitation hub situated in Dufferin King Parkette. The prototype design should both reflect the site itself, but also be transferable across city parks.
Meet the neighbourhood
Toronto's South Parkdale neighbourhood is the subject site for the design competition. Accessible from downtown by travelling West on the King or Queen streetcars, Parkdale is within walking distance to Lake Ontario and is home to a culturally and economically diverse population. The neighbourhood has a dense mixture of historic Victorian homes and mid-rise apartment buildings. You can learn more about South Parkdale in TPSC's 2021 Gotta Go Public Washroom Strategy (PDF) and the City of Toronto's Ward Profile.
Eligibility
This call for entries is open to all participants globally. All entries must be in English.
This competition intends to foster interdisciplinary collaboration. Though not required, we encourage multidisciplinary teams of people who represent different fields of practice.
Restrictions: This competition is not open to employees or family members of sponsors, jury members, and the TPSC design competition team.
There will be a non-refundable $25 CAD entry fee per team to participate (🌅 early bird price is $15 CAD until March 27), which you can pay using PayPal or by Interac e-transfer when you register. If this fee presents a barrier to entry, please contact us at TOpublicspace(at)gmail.com.
All entries must be received with payment by 11:59 PM Eastern Standard Time on May 27, 2025 to be eligible for judging.
Make it a team effort!
Prizes and evaluation
The top three competition winners will receive a cash award, have their work published in Toronto's Spacing Magazine and showcased along with selected entries in a public exhibition in Toronto in July 2025.
First prize: $1,500 CAD
Second prize: $500 CAD
Third prize: $500 CAD
TPSC will assemble a diverse panel of active and well-respected jurors in our community, providing an opportunity for networking and exposure of your unique ideas.
Judging of the entries will be based on (but not limited to) functionality, accessibility, safety, weather-proofing, and aesthetics.
See the design brief for the full list of submission requirements.
Key dates
Exact dates will be announced and updated here when available.
Registration period | March 4 - May 27 (early bird offer ends March 27) |
Submission period | April 15 - May 27 2025 11:59 PM EST |
Judging period | June 2025 |
Results announced & exhibition launch | July 10 2025 |
Exhibition period | July 2025 |
Design principles and considerations
Here are some important themes to consider when designing the Toronto toilet of the future.
Spatial Justice
Fair and equitable distribution of washrooms within the public realm.
Harm Reduction
Washrooms are designed to feel safe for everyone and to reduce risk of death from overdoses.
Accessibility
Washrooms are designed to accommodate a range of users with different needs.
Sustainability
Washrooms make use of technology and novel ideas to reduce the environmental footprint, and provide future-proof maintenance solutions.
Gender & Culture
Washrooms are designed to be flexible for different cultural practices and inclusive of all gender representations.
Art & Community
Washrooms employ art and design as tools to reduce the negative perception of public washrooms and to make them feel appealing and distinctive.
Thank you to our sponsors
everyone's gotta go 🧻