How one Twitter account is working to make Toronto washrooms more accessible

thestar.com
July 7, 2021
Celina Gallardo

As the city reopens and more people are spending time outdoors, washroom access is more important than ever -- but not all are easy to find or get into.

Michael DeForge, a freelance illustrator, is on a mission to change that. DeForge is the co-founder of totoiletcodes, a Twitter account that shares access codes for washrooms across the city via tweets, a spreadsheet and a map. After taking a hiatus in late 2020, DeForge and his co-founder are back to sharing resources to help make washrooms accessible to all Torontonians.

Inspired by London Loo Codes, a U.K.-based Twitter account that shares washroom codes across London, DeForge joined forces with a friend of his to create totoiletcodes in early 2019.

DeForge and his co-founder already had a head start: He previously mapped out around 30 washrooms across the city on Google Maps for his own personal use. They were both frustrated by how difficult it was to find washrooms in the city. The washrooms they could find were in cafes and only open to customers.

“We thought it was pretty unfair that the cost of using facilities that fulfil very basic human needs would come with a $5 price tag for a muffin we didn’t want to eat,” DeForge said.

On its website, the city of Toronto lists the washrooms available in its parks and recreation centres. But with totoiletcodes, DeForge and his co-founder want to create an up-to-date repository of washrooms across the city that can be viewed in different forms, including a map, which DeForge finds helpful in memorizing where washrooms are.

The city’s washroom inaccessibility became more evident to DeForge during the COVID-19 pandemic when public health officials strongly encouraged hand washing as a safety protocol. “Being constantly told how important it was to be hygienic and wash our hands, and then to walk around to see there was no place to wash your hands, it felt very maddening,” said DeForge.

With totoiletcodes, DeForge’s goal is to make more of Toronto’s washrooms -- both public and private -- accessible to everyone, especially for people who are experiencing homelessness, taxi or ride-share drivers, and those with health issues like Crohn’s disease or irritable bowel syndrome.

The information shared by the account is crowdsourced and sometimes includes details like whether a washroom is gender neutral or has a diaper changing station.

“It is such a universal inconvenience, even though in some cases it is very life threatening and for others it’s an annoyance. But throughout, no one likes it,” DeForge said.

Though no businesses have asked DeForge to take down access codes yet, he still spells out names in a way that makes it harder for them to search and find his tweets. He believes that commercial spaces with washrooms in the city should be accessible to all.

“We don’t want to antagonize businesses, but we do want to change what expectations are about what these commercial spaces might owe the communities that they’re moving into,” DeForge said.