Scenic Toronto park has become a literal dumping ground and officials are over it

Toronto’s favourite green space for hiking, camping, swimming and generally enjoying the wilderness within the comfort and convenience of the city’s bounds has become a prime target of illegal dumping as of late, with more people tossing bags of trash and debris in its woodlands and along its trails than ever.

Parks Canada has had to issue multiple PSAs about the garbage it keeps finding in Rouge National Urban Park, the largest destination of its kind in Toronto and one of the most expansive in North America.

While the authority has been asking for the public’s help catching offenders for months now, it has now shared that the last year has been the worst yet, posing a huge risk to the flora and fauna that call the park home.

Since 2020, there have been a staggering 1,500 documented incidents of illegal dumping in various parts of the 80-square-kilometre space, which spans from the city’s waterfront up through Markham to north of 19th Avenue around the Scarborough-Pickering Townline.

The refuse has included not just household rubbish, but also furniture, and even tocic chemicals.

“Polluters are wreaking havoc on the sensitive ecosystems and harming wildlife by leaving heaps of household trash, furniture and landscape waste around the park. Parks Canada has also found hazardous industrial and commercial waste — such as contractor materials, used tires, scrap metal, machine parts, aerosols and cans of paint — dumped in the Rouge,” Parks Canada wrote in a release on Thursday.

“At this time last year, the park encountered peak levels, reaching an average of two illegal dumpsites per day that continued into the fall. With this alarming trend anticipated to continue, it’s clear that action is needed to protect this cherished green space.”

More examples of the garbage that’s being regularly uncovered in Toronto’s Rouge Park. 

Citizens are being urgently implored to “take a stand” and report any dumping they see in the park, providing the location, date, time and any other details to staff at 416-282-1019. The information is key in helping the federal government fine those responsible and prevent this kind of act, and can be left anonymously.

Penalties for illegal dumping in Rouge Park can be as severe as $100,000 for individuals and $500,000 for corporations, hefty enough to dissuade perpetrators and preserve the park for future generations of humans, animals and plants in the Toronto area.