By Shilpashree Jagannathan
New Canadian Media

When Aliya Ali Shaikha moved from Dubai to Canada for university, one of her more profound culture shocks was not the weather. It was the washroom.

In Dubai, she said, bidets were available in public washrooms almost everywhere. In Canada, she found herself  – like other students –  carrying water bottles into campus bathrooms because toilet paper alone did not feel hygienic enough.

“The biggest culture shock was that there were no bidets,” said Shaikha, who came to Canada as an international student about five years ago.

For many newcomers and international students, water-based bathroom hygiene is not unusual, luxurious or ‘eastern’. It is part of a daily routine. But in Canada, most public washrooms, campuses, workplaces and rental apartments are still built around toilet paper.

That gap is now becoming part of a broader conversation about hygiene, dignity, environmental sustainability and inclusion.

The issue recently entered North American public conversation after New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said he hoped to install bidets at Gracie Mansion, his official residence. The comment drew mockery online, and in some media, treated as a symbol of luxury or hypocrisy.

But for students like Shaikha, the negative reaction missed the point.

Her advocacy began last year at the University of Toronto Scarborough, where she applied for a grant meant to fund projects that would improve student life and leave a legacy on campus. Her idea was simple: install bidets in student washrooms.

The grant was rejected, she said, but the university told her the idea was strong enough to pursue separately. That led to a pilot project with four bidets at UofT Scarborough.

Since then, the campaign has grown. Shaikha said there are now 15 bidets installed across the university’s  three campuses, in student-centre washrooms run by student unions. She also helped launch Bidets in Canada, a student-led organization advocating for bidet access across the country.

Shaikha said the group now has more than 20 chapters, including students campaigning at universities outside Ontario and in the U.S. as well. Most of those campuses do not yet have installations, she said, but students are organizing, gathering survey data and asking administrations to consider pilot projects.

The demand, she said, came without the group having to recruit widely.

“We did not reach out to anyone,” she said. “They all reached out to us.”

For students used to water-based hygiene, the absence of bidets can mean constant improvisation. Some carry a bottle. Some use wet wipes. Some wet toilet paper at a sink before returning to a stall. Others avoid using public washrooms when they can.

Shaikha said students have told the campaign they avoid drinking water, avoid eating before long days on campus, leave school to use the washroom at home, or feel anxious about exams and classes because of a lack of access to what they consider this basic amenity.

She said the issue is often invisible because students adapt privately instead of asking institutions to change.

At the University of Saskatchewan, Md Azim Uddin, a graduating engineering student who helped lead a bidet access campaign on campus, said students have tried to make clear that the issue is not only about Muslim students.

It is also about hygiene.

“It’s not just Muslim students that use it,” Uddin said. “There’s a huge amount of demography that uses (bidets).”

The Saskatchewan campaign engaged students from the Muslim Students Association, but also drew support from other groups, including Bangladeshi and South Indian student associations. He said the goal is to show administrators that water-based hygiene is common across many cultures and communities.

At his campus, Uddin said residence installation appears possible if students supply the bidet and pay a small fee, but broader installation across university washrooms remains under discussion. Student advocates are hoping to meet with university officials and point to U of T as a Canadian example of how bidets can be introduced on campus.

The word “bidet” can also mean many different things.

Electric bidet seats, which may include heated water, heated seats, dryers, night lights or remote controls, can cost several hundred dollars. Full fixtures or higher-end models can cost more than $1,000, with some listed above $3,000 before tax and installation.

Installation can still be complicated. Renters may not be allowed to modify plumbing. Older buildings may not have outlets near toilets for electric seats. Public and institutional washrooms also raise questions about maintenance, cleaning, plumbing standards and who pays for installation.

But advocates say those practical barriers should not erase the need.

The bidet conversation is also tied to sustainability and climate change.

Ashley Jordan, a corporate campaign advocate with the Natural Resources Defense Council, said toilet paper has a larger environmental footprint than many consumers realize. “What consumers often don’t know is that the toilet paper they hold for only a few seconds likely had its origin in the devastating clearcutting of forests,” Jordan said in an emailed response.

She said many popular toilet-paper brands still rely on forest fibre from ecosystems such as the Canadian boreal forest, and that logging for tissue products can affect carbon storage, biodiversity and Indigenous communities connected to those forests.

Jordan said bidets can reduce toilet-paper use, but should not be treated as a complete environmental fix. Their impact depends on how people use them, whether they continue using toilet paper to dry, and whether the bidet uses electricity for heated water, air drying or other features.

“Even the best bidet can’t wash away the impacts of toilet paper entirely,” Jordan said.

She said 100 per cent recycled toilet paper remains the most sustainable paper option, while bamboo toilet paper can have a lower impact than forest fibre but a larger footprint than recycled content. Bidets, she said, can be part of reducing overall paper consumption when paired with more sustainable choices.

The market is also growing. Technavio projects the global bidet market will grow by US$2.64 billion from 2026 to 2030, with a compound annual growth rate of 6.6 per cent. “North America is an accelerating market, where residential bathroom renovation projects increasingly include bidet installations to align with smart home integration,” the report added. According to the report, “the aging population is a primary driver of market growth.”

For Shaikha, though, the issue is not only about market trends or green consumer choices. It is about whether public spaces recognize the everyday habits of the people who use them.

Shaikha said she understands that bidets cannot be installed in every washroom immediately. But she wants institutions to start recognizing that for Canada’s changing demographics, including a large international student population, the lack of water-based cleaning affects whether they feel comfortable staying on campus through a full day of classes, exams or work.