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Sudbury, Ont., man builds portable toilets to help homeless people downtown

A Sudbury man is building portable toilets to help people in the northern Ontario city who are experiencing homelessness.

Holland Marshall says the city has no downtown public toilets available outside of regular business hours

CBC News ·

This Sudbury, Ont., retiree makes portable toilets for homeless people

1 year ago
Duration 1:58
Sudbury retiree Holland Marshall demonstrates the portable toilets he makes and gives to unsheltered people in encampments and the downtown. He's frustrated that they may not be aware of, or feel welcome at publicly accessible facilities.

A Sudbury man is building portable toilets to help people in the northern Ontario city who are experiencing homelessness.

Holland Marshall said there aren't many public washrooms available in the city's downtown core that are open to anyone.

"From Monday to Friday there are no public washrooms open at all, [for] 12 hours a day," he said.

"On the weekends, [for] 14 hours, there is nothing for them. So they are going behind trees, they're going in corners of buildings."

While some public washrooms are available during business hours, Marshall said many people don't feel welcome using them.

A man pointing at human feces behind a building.
Holland Marshall points to human feces behind a downtown building. He says people experiencing homelessness often have no choice but to defecate outside. (Kate Rutherford/CBC)

Tom Davies Square, for example, has public washrooms on the main floor, but Marshall said a security guard will follow someone into the washroom if they use it.

"Sometimes they don't feel welcomed in there."

Marshall said the situation is similar at the downtown bus terminal.

The main public library branch on MacKenzie Street also has a public washroom that Marshall says is more accessible. But it's also located further away from some of the harm reduction services downtown.

Washrooms at the Centre for Life, near Memorial Park, were closed during the COVID-19 pandemic but reopened on May 21. They are open Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., but will close in mid-October.

Other washrooms downtown are in private businesses and are usually reserved for customers.

A public toilet.
The city runs a public washroom at the Centre for Life, near Memorial Park. It will be open until mid-October. (Kate Rutherford/CBC)

For his portable toilets, Marshall has fitted large plastic buckets with plastic bags and some supplies, including toilet paper and hand sanitizer. He said it costs him around $15 to put together each kit.

When someone uses one of his portable toilets, it's up to them to dispose of the bag.

Marshall has also filed a human rights complaint with the city over the lack of public washrooms downtown.

"The city was ignoring everything," he said.

"They refused to recognize the need for public washrooms. The business association [Downtown BIA] last January was asking for them and got nowhere."

CBC News reached out to the Downtown BIA but has not heard back.

In an email to CBC News, city spokesperson Sascha Novak said the City of Greater Sudbury "takes the issue of homelessness within our community very seriously."

Novak added the city is aware of Marshall's complaint and has "responded promptly and appropriately to this complaint."

The city operates the newly reopened washroom at the Centre for Life.

With files from Kate Rutherford

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