ATU Canada Sounds Alarm After TTC Worker Stabbed on Same Day CBC Reports Transit Violence Surge

Statement from ATU Canada President John Di Nino                                               November 26th 2025            

On the same day CBC and the Investigative Journalism Foundation released national data showing transit violence has surged by as much as 300 per cent in some Canadian cities, a TTC customer service agent, one of our ATU members, was stabbed and seriously injured inside Dundas Station. This is not coincidence. It is a crisis.

Today’s attack is another horrific example of what frontline workers face every single day. A worker doing their job, serving the public, was stabbed in broad daylight in one of the busiest parts of Toronto’s transit system. This is unacceptable. Our thoughts are with the injured member, their family, and every TTC worker who now goes to work carrying even more fear for their safety.

The CBC investigation confirms the pattern. In Toronto alone, reported assaults on transit have jumped 160 per cent over the past decade. Winnipeg’s numbers have tripled. Edmonton, Montreal, Kitchener–Waterloo, all show the same alarming trajectory. Transit workers are being assaulted, stabbed, threatened and traumatized at rates far beyond anything the public has been told.

This violence is preventable. Governments and transit authorities simply chose not to act.

ATU Canada has spent years pushing for real, enforceable safety standards through the Transit Worker & Pedestrian Protection Act. It lays out clear requirements for operator barriers, blind-spot elimination, improved workstation design, de-escalation training, and proven safety technology. These are not abstract ideas. They are basic protections that could stop the next assault.

Yet while violence grows, governments continue to treat worker safety as optional. Today’s attack shows the cost of that neglect. Enough excuses. Enough delay.

We are calling on all levels of government to immediately adopt the Transit Worker & Pedestrian Protection Act and fund the mandatory retrofits needed to protect both workers and riders. We are calling on transit agencies to stop reacting after attacks and start preventing them.

Transit workers keep our cities moving. They deserve to come home safe. Today’s stabbing is a stark reminder that without urgent action, more workers will pay the price.

Contact: Matthew Green (905) 906-7399                 media@atucanada.ca | www.atucanada.ca