A casual discussion about retirement plans more than 12 years ago has turned into a widespread sustainability movement, as Repair Café Toronto continues to add pop-up locations and events across the city.
Back in 2013, co-founder Paul Magder told CityNews that he and his wife, Fern Mosoff, were discussing their future plans with fellow co-founder Wai Chu Cheng, as Magder was set to retire soon.
“Wai Chu said that she’d heard about something called Repair Café. So we looked it up, and it’s an international organization started in Amsterdam, and you can go to their website, and they give you a logo and some information about how to manage the event. And so we started one in our neighbourhood,” he explained.
As they were looking for a low or no-cost location, the first Repair Cafés were run out of the Skills For Change building on St. Clair Avenue West – a local, community-centred non-profit.
Everyone involved is a volunteer, and all repairs are free.
“We started with about eight volunteers, and it just took off. We did it once, and everyone said, ‘When’s the next one? When’s the next one?’ So we started doing it there every month,” said Magder.
The mission is simple – to keep things out of landfill as much as possible, for as long as possible.
“There’s a lot of people who just hate to throw things out, which is great. And I wish more people were like that,” he said.
“If we keep going at the pace we’re going of throwing things away and not recycling, and not reusing things, and not repairing things, then what [happens in the future]?” said volunteer Annie Eyerman. “If we all just keep buying new things and all of those old things are going in the dump, then at some point we’re going to run out of dumps.”
Volunteer sewists repair clothing at a Repair Café event at Dufferin Grove Farmers’ Market on July 17, 2025. CITYNEWS/Dilshad Burman
With sustainability and affordability top of mind for many in recent years, Magder said the Repair Café schedule has gotten busier, with people coming from all over the city to their events.
“So we decided maybe we should go around to different locations and spread it around the whole city. And so we started every month being in a different part of town,” he said.
They now hold around a dozen events on average every month in different locations.
“We have three different repair cafes in Scarborough, we have a regular one downtown in West Queen West, and they’re happening in other different parts of the city,” said Magder.
Groups of volunteers are also encouraged to host similar events in their own neighbourhoods, with support from the original Toronto team, and the response has been encouraging.
“People are contacting us all the time, ‘How can I start a repair cafe?’ Or ‘How can I get a repair cafe at my location?’ So the goal now is to try and get regular events going in different neighbourhoods around the city,” said Magder.
A Volunteer repairs a coffee machine at a Repair Café event at Dufferin Grove Farmers’ Market on July 17, 2025. CITYNEWS/Dilshad Burman
At a recent mini Repair Café event at the Dufferin Grove Farmers’ Market, community members brought clothing, lamps, fans and toasters to the volunteer fixers, among a number of other household items. With every successful repair, a celebratory bell was rung along with applause and cheers for one more item saved.
“My Bluetooth earphones broke. One works, the other one doesn’t. I was just going to order a new pair, but then I remembered, ‘Hey, I saw this Repair Cafe somewhere’ … and was like, ‘Well, if they can repair it, then I don’t have to buy a new one,’” shared resident Meng Ling. “It would be better for the environment to have it repaired. And if they can’t, I don’t lose anything because it’s all free anyway.”
Magder added that the Repair Café goes beyond free repairs and includes a skill-sharing component as well.
“We’re teaching people skills. When you come to Repair Café, you have to participate in the repair. So the person’s learning how their item works, why it failed, maybe, and how they could fix it,” said Magder.
He estimates they’ve saved well over 10,000 items from landfill over the years, and many more that can’t be counted, as people put their newly learnt repair skills to use at home and in their communities.
Magder stresses that the message is one of sustainability and making the most of what you’ve already bought, and does not take away from the work of repair professionals.
“We try to encourage people to use repair places. We don’t really want to replace computer repair shops, phone repair shops, jewellers, but there’s just things you can’t get fixed. Toasters, for example. There’s only a couple of places that’ll fix them, and they probably won’t even try – it’s too expensive to fix these things,” he said.
“[It’s also about] community building. It is such a great activity. Everybody gets a great feeling. Even if their item doesn’t get fixed, they’re happy.”
“It’s a camaraderie of people who care about the environment, people who care about other people,” added Eyerman. “So I think it’s a thing of the heart. I think it’s a thing of the soul. It’s community and helping community, and it’s fun.”
The next Repair Café events will take place on July 26 and 27. Click here for their full calendar of events.
For more information about volunteering with Repair Café Toronto click here.
