LOO — frequently asked questions

LOO is a free live map of public washrooms in Toronto and Montreal. These are the full answers about how it works, where the data comes from, how community submissions are reviewed, what happens to your location, and why LOO exists.

The basics

What is LOO?

LOO is a free live map of public washrooms. It shows the closest options to you with walking distance, hours, accessibility, baby change tables and gender-neutral options, so you can decide where to go in a couple of seconds. LOO covers Toronto and Montreal today.

Is LOO free?

Yes. LOO is completely free, has no ads, no paid tier and no account requirement. You can open the map and get walking directions without signing up for anything.

Do I need an account?

No. Everything — searching, filtering, walking directions, rating a washroom and adding a missing one — works without an account or a password.

How do I find a washroom near me?

Open LOO and allow location access, and the list sorts itself by walking distance. You can also search a place, an address, a postal code, a store, a park, a parking lot or a transit station, and the map centres there. Tap a listing, then tap "Walk there" to get walking directions.

What can I filter by?

Open now, closest, cleanest, free, wheelchair accessible and gender-neutral. Filters stack, so you can ask for a free, accessible washroom that is open right now.

Can I install LOO like an app?

Yes. LOO installs straight from your browser — "Add to Home Screen" on iPhone, or the install prompt on Android and desktop. There is nothing to download from an app store, and the installed version opens full screen.

Does LOO work without a signal?

Partly. Washrooms you have recently viewed stay available when your connection drops, but a brand-new search or a fresh map area needs data. Bookmark the ones you rely on before heading somewhere with poor reception.

Why LOO exists

Why was LOO built?

It started as a personal frustration. After five years of living out of a carry-on and working remotely from more than 50 countries, the same problem showed up in every city: nowhere reliable to find a washroom. Existing maps were outdated or plain wrong. So LOO was built as the thing that should have existed already.

What is LOO’s mission?

Bathrooms shouldn’t be a point of stress when you leave home. Everything about LOO is built around that one sentence: no paywalls on a basic human need, no guessing whether a place is open, and no data so stale that you walk 15 minutes to a locked door.

Who is LOO for?

Anyone who spends time away from their own bathroom: travellers and newcomers, parents with young kids, gig workers and delivery drivers, students, seniors, people with IBD, Crohn’s, colitis, pregnancy or a medical need, and anyone who has ever speed-walked through a food court hoping for the best.

Who runs LOO?

One person, with help from the people who use it. LOO is an independent, mission-driven project rather than a venture-backed company — which is also why community reports matter so much.

How does LOO make money?

It doesn’t. There are no ads, no sponsored pins, no subscriptions and no data sales. The current focus is coverage and accuracy. If that ever changes, finding a washroom will stay free.

Where the data comes from

Where does LOO get its washroom data?

Three sources. Official open data from the City of Toronto, OpenStreetMap contributors for Montreal, and crowd-verified reports from people using LOO. Each listing shows what it is based on and when it was last verified.

How many washrooms are on the map?

454 in Toronto and 584 in Montreal, and the number grows every time someone adds a spot or an official dataset is refreshed.

What does "crowd-verified" mean?

Official data tells you a washroom exists. Only a real person can tell you whether it was clean, actually open, or locked behind a "customers only" sign. So LOO asks people who just visited for a one-tap rating, and uses those answers to sort, flag and correct listings.

How do ratings work?

After you walk to a washroom, LOO asks whether you made it there and how clean it was. It takes one tap, you can skip it, and you can add a short comment if something important changed — a closure, new hours, a code on the door.

What if the information is wrong?

Tell LOO. Every listing has a way to report that a washroom is closed, moved, no longer public or inaccurate. Reports are reviewed and the listing is corrected or removed. Hours from official and OpenStreetMap sources are shown exactly as published, which is why on-the-ground reports are so valuable.

Why do some listings have no hours?

Because the source didn’t publish any. Rather than invent opening hours, LOO says "Hours not listed" so you know to expect uncertainty. Seasonal park washrooms are flagged too, since many close for the winter.

Adding & reviewing washrooms

Can I add a washroom that’s missing?

Yes, and it’s the single most useful thing you can do. Tap "Add a loo" on the map, drop the location, and add whatever you know — name, access, hours, accessibility, baby change. No account needed.

Does my submission appear right away?

No. Every submission is reviewed before it goes live, so the map doesn’t fill up with duplicates, private washrooms or mistakes. Review is usually quick — it’s a person reading it, not an algorithm.

What kind of washroom belongs on LOO?

Anything a member of the public can realistically use: parks, libraries, community centres, transit stations, malls, museums, city buildings, and cafés or stores that let people in without a fuss. Staff-only and locked residential washrooms don’t belong.

What’s a hidden gem?

A washroom that no official dataset knows about but locals rely on — the quiet one on the second floor, the clean one behind the food court, the one that is always unlocked. Those submissions are the ones LOO can’t get anywhere else.

I own a business. Can I add my washroom?

Please do. If you let the public use your washroom, submit it with your hours and any conditions. There is no charge and no sponsored placement — it appears alongside everything else, ranked by distance and community feedback.

How do I get a listing removed?

Use the feedback link on the listing, or the Feedback page, and say which washroom and why. If a place has stopped offering public access, it comes off the map.

Privacy & your location

What happens to my location?

It’s used on your device to sort washrooms by distance and draw a walking route. LOO does not store a history of where you have been, does not follow you in the background, and does not need your location at all if you would rather search a place name instead.

Does LOO collect personal information?

No names, no phone numbers, no sign-ups. The only personal detail LOO ever holds is an email address you typed in yourself — to hear when LOO reaches your city — and you can ask for it to be deleted at any time.

What do you measure, then?

Anonymous usage counts: how many people opened the map, which searches found nothing, which listings get used. It exists to fix gaps in coverage, not to profile anyone. There is no advertising network involved.

Do you sell or share my data?

Never. Nothing is sold, rented or handed to advertisers or data brokers.

Is my rating or comment public?

Ratings are anonymous and only ever shown as an average. Comments are read privately to correct listings; they aren’t published with anything identifying you.

Cities & what’s next

Which cities does LOO cover?

Toronto and Montreal. Toronto came first; Montreal launched in English and Canadian French.

Is LOO available in French?

Yes. In Montreal the whole app — map, filters, listings, ratings, forms and guides — is available in Canadian French, and you can switch with the EN | FR button at any time.

When is LOO coming to my city?

That depends on demand. Add your city and email to the waitlist on the homepage or on the expansion post, and the cities with the most requests get built first. You’ll get one email when yours launches.

How do I get in touch?

Use the Feedback page for anything — a wrong listing, a bug, a partnership, a city request, or just to say it helped. You can also reach LOO on Instagram at @lootoilets.app.

How can I help LOO grow?

Rate the washrooms you visit, add the ones that are missing, and share LOO with someone who needs it — a parent, a driver, a friend who knows every washroom downtown. Word of mouth is how coverage improves.

See every Toronto washroom on the LOO map · All LOO pages · About LOO