Tool Libraries
How to Start a Community Tool Library
From securing a space and cataloguing inventory to building a borrowing policy that works for a diverse membership — a step-by-step breakdown for Canadian neighbourhoods.
Community Resources — Canada
How Canadian neighbourhoods share tools and fix things together
A reference covering tool-lending networks, neighbourhood repair events, and the practical steps behind reducing household waste through shared knowledge.
Recent articles
Detailed overviews on setting up shared resource spaces, running community repair events, and documenting practical outcomes from across Canada.
Repair Workshops
Neighbourhood Repair Workshops: A Practical Guide
How repair cafes work, what a first event looks like, and what organizers across Ontario and British Columbia have learned about making them a regular fixture.
Waste Reduction
Reducing Household Waste Through Skill-Sharing
An overview of how collective knowledge — from darning wool to soldering circuit boards — translates into fewer items sent to landfill each year.
What a tool library actually looks like in 2026
Canada now has more than 80 active tool-lending libraries, from a single shelf at a community centre to dedicated storefronts with 1,200+ catalogued items. This guide covers what the most active ones have in common and what makes early ones stall.
Read the full breakdownAreas covered on this resource
Each section draws on documented examples from Canadian cities and towns, with references to municipal programs, Statistics Canada data, and community reports.
Tool Lending Networks
How borrowing systems are structured, what liability waivers cover, and which deposit models have worked in smaller municipalities.
Repair Event Formats
Drop-in repair cafes, scheduled clinics, and school partnerships — how organizers choose a format and what it costs to run a monthly event.
Skill Documentation
Why written guides, printed checklists, and short video walkthroughs matter for keeping knowledge accessible when a volunteer moves on.
Repair workshops as a waste-reduction measure
A single repair cafe event in a mid-sized Canadian city typically extends the life of 15–40 items per session. Scaled across monthly events over a year, that represents a meaningful offset against residential landfill weight — and the numbers are increasingly part of municipal sustainability reporting.
See the numbersOttawa Tool Library: a documented reference
One of Canada's most cited community tool-lending operations, the Ottawa Tool Library has been cataloguing its collections and membership data since 2012. Its annual reports are a practical reference for anyone building a similar model in a mid-sized Canadian city.
See also: City of Toronto Community Grants
Collective maintenance reduces the cost of ownership for everyone in a neighbourhood
When tools are shared and repairs are made locally, individual households spend less on replacement purchases. This resource documents how that works in practice.
Repair workshop guideGet in touch
For corrections, content suggestions, or questions about the material published here. Response time is typically two to three business days.
Oakridge Collective Inc.
850 Coxwell Avenue, Unit 4
Toronto, ON M4C 3E6
+1 (416) 721-0088
contact@oakridgecollective.org