Vancouver asking province for funding to keep public washrooms open in the Downtown Eastside

Vancouver city councillors voted unanimously in favour to request $3.8 million from the provincial government to help keep public washrooms open.

If approved, the money would go towards the washrooms on the Downtown Eastside to help continue and improve the facilities. It would also go towards staffing attendants in certain washrooms to help keep the public spaces safe.

"You're talking about basic human dignity when you're talking about washrooms, literally everyone has to go,” city councillor Sarah Kirby-Yung said when asked about the motion Wednesday.

The majority of the money would go towards operating the portable washroom trailer at the Astoria Hotel.

"I think we're going to see, particularly for vulnerable populations, the need for public washrooms to grow. We've just seen the results of the recent homeless count,” Kirby-Yung said.

The first Metro Vancouver homeless count since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic found 4,821 people who had no place to live in the region – a 32 per cent increase since 2020.

The Union Gospel Mission (UGM) points to the increasing number as a reason why the city’s motion should have focused on creating additional public washrooms.

"There's definitely not enough spaces for people to use the washroom due to the stereotypes or the lack of accessibility they have and because of this we sadly have folks that resort to having to relieve themselves outside,” said Rachael Pérez, a spokesperson for the UGM.

“It’s basic human rights to be able to access a washroom when you need to go.”

According to the staff report, there’s more than a dozen public washrooms within the Downtown Eastside.

However, “the number of public washrooms has not kept pace with growing housed and unhoused populations,” reads part of the staff report submitted to council.

Author Lezlie Lowe says it’s a reminder that it’s not just localized neighbourhoods that should be the focus of public washrooms.

"A central aspect of the toilet question is dignity and the ability to use your city in the same way that everybody else can use their city,” said Lowe, the author of No Place to Go: How Public Toilets Fail our Private Needs.

She points out tourists as being a major population needing public washrooms, as well as people who are pregnant or those who suffer from diseases like Crohns and Colitis.

"Every viewer, knows what the feeling is when you need to use the washroom and you cannot find a washroom, it's a terrible feeling."

The province says there has not been a formal request made yet for the funding.