Although Greater Sudbury city council doesn’t appear very interested in pursuing the topic, a Quebec-based company has a potential solution to the city’s shortage of public washrooms.
As for concerns about people overdosing inside the facility, the door automatically opens 20 minutes after someone enters the washroom, and a five-minute warning sounds at 15 minutes.“They will find them right away and will be able to take care of them,” Bolduc said.“It’s a building coming with a concrete pad,” Bolduc said. “It’s been approved and protected against a tornado and a hurricane ... and it’s good for 35 years.
Urben Blu products are under warranty for 10 years, and Bolduc said nothing in their facilities is proprietary, meaning municipalities can source parts locally. Although there are publicly available washrooms downtown, they’re not available 24/7, and all come with potential barriers, including people being banned from facilities.
That said, Sudbury.com spoke with 20 people who are members of the city’s downtown homeless community about where people on the street are relieving themselves. They identified several not-so-out-of-the-way places in the downtown core that people are using for toileting purposes, indicating the issue is more widespread than the single complaint would suggest.
A public survey asked, “Do you support the idea of adding or installing a public washroom facility that is more readily accessible in the downtown core?”, to which 89.4 per cent of people voted yes. Drawing experience from other municipalities, they note such units were “well received by the public for their consistent level of cleanliness. Municipalities also noted that staffing levels required to maintain the units were reduced due to the inherent automated cleaning process. Local business establishments were also pleased since the unit provided a reduction in non-patron requests to use their washroom facilities.
City of Moncton The downtown business community in Moncton, N.B., requested a public washroom facility, which was announced in 2021.