City staff tasked with developing downtown public bathroom plan

Prince George city council approved a motion at its Monday, Dec. 2 meeting asking administration to prepare a report on how downtown washroom access could be improved.

The motion was put on the agenda by Coun. Trudy Klassen and Coun. Tim Bennett.

A report they prepared said that bathroom access is important “not only to support those currently un- or underhoused but also to support families with young children, individuals with either visible or invisible medical conditions and those who drink too many coffees on their trip to the Farmer’s Market.”

The proposed four action items: 

• Update the cost estimates from a 2019 study on ways to improve downtown washroom access,  
• Add questions about washroom access to future surveys sent out to residents,  
• Direct staff to apply for grants that could be used to enhance washroom access and
• Ask the city’s Standing Committee on Intergovernmental Affairs to create an advocacy plan to lobby the provincial and federal governments for increased capital funding for washroom access.

Some of the options included in that 2019 study included opening the washrooms at Canada Games Plaza every day with a staff member monitoring operations and getting downtown service providers to make their washrooms more accessible.

The councillors’ report also referenced self-cleaning washrooms purchased by the Village of Valemount in 2022 as a potential option for Prince George to consider.

During discussion of the motion, Mayor Simon Yu asked if the councillors wanted to see washroom access 365 days a year.

Bennett said there are a lot of washrooms that are only available in spring, summer and fall, but not in the winter months. He said that in city surveys over the last couple of years, residents have brought up a desire for better washroom access.

Since the city is already sending out surveys, he said it is a low-cost option to include washroom-centric questions.

While he said it could turn out that residents don’t identify a need for better washroom access through those surveys, that’s not what he’s hearing from the public at the moment.

“Where people are, you need toilets,” Klassen said. “It’s basic biology and I think it’s within our jurisdiction to consider.”
Coun. Brian Skakun said the installation of the washroom at Canada Games Plaza led to its destruction, because people destroyed things in the area when they started using the facility.

He asked that administration consider location closely in their work, due to the prior need for security and policing at the plaza’s bathrooms.
Coun. Ron Polillo and Coun. Kyle Sampson both said they didn’t want a repeat of what happened previously at Canada Games Plaza, unless the experience could be reinvented. 

Sampson said he would support the motion, as long as it was only aimed at receiving new information as he was unsure of spending money at this point.

Coun. Cori Ramsay said there are washrooms in boutique businesses at the Port of Nanaimo that are accessible through a fob card.

With supportive housing coming online, she said the demographics of those using downtown public washrooms is changing.

The motion tasks city administration with coming back with a report for council by the third quarter of 2025.