From a mini fridge to a toy doll, here's what has been lost on public transit in Ontario this year

A forgotten doll left behind on GO Tranist this year. (CTV News Toronto/Alex Arsenych)

Most people understand the pain that comes with leaving a phone, wallet or umbrella behind on-board public transit and the despair of whether or not it'll ever be found again. Well, outside of those commonly forgotten valuables, items like a porcelain doll, Mac DeMarco vinyl record, mini-fridge, or a toaster oven with food still inside have also been left behind on public transit this year.

The lost and found office for Metrolinx – the transit agency overseeing GO trains and buses across the province – is right in the heart of Union Station. Beyond the kiosks are cabinets filled with items forgotten aboard, carefully organized and catalogued depending on the type of valuable it is and whether or not someone has filed a claim for it.

Behind each cabinet are shelves lined with an array of overlooked objects from misplaced house keys and wallets, backpacks, toques and mittens, to the more obscure, like what appeared to be a box containing a 24" television and a mostly unwrapped Christmas present.

But how do these overlooked items make its way to this quasi-island of misfit toys?

"We have a system where we have an internal house courier that collects these items to bring here. We sort them out, match them up to anybody who's reported the item and reunite them with their item and notify the owner," Vince Paradiso, Union Station ambassador, told CTV News Toronto in an interview.

Typically, it takes two to 10 days for items to make it to the lost-and-found office, located at Union Station's York Concourse.

"Simply because they're not constantly all (24/7) going to all of these locations," Paradiso explained.

While Metrolinx could not say how many items they have passed through their lost-and-found office this year, Paradiso approximated at least a couple hundred items per week turn up at their office.

As for most commonly forgotten items, Paradiso said bags – whether it's a plastic bag, tote bag, backpack, or suitcase.

"Another very popular item that gets lost these days, and my advice to a lot of people is take care of things a little better, are AirPods," Paradiso said. "They're small items. People handle them, they're in their pockets, they're taking out their gloves, going into their pockets, tipping over, they fall out."

The station ambassador adds AirPod cases are typically what finds their way at their downtown office – a good thing as Apple's products contain serial numbers at the back, which is helpful for Metrolinx staff to reunite commuters with their lost AirPods.

As for any standout items left behind on public transit this year, Paradiso said they've had toaster ovens with food still inside.

"I've had a samurai sword come in one time, we get everything. Bicycles, like how do people lose their bicycles, and luggage, big suitcases," Paradiso said.

Lost items stay at the downtown Toronto office for 30 days, and if they do not get claimed during that period of time, they get donated.

Similar to Metrolinx, the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) will be holding onto most lost items for 30 days as of Jan. 1, 2025, with the exception of bicycles which are only kept at their Lost Articles Office at the Bay subway station for 15 days. Any unclaimed article found on the TTC will then be auctioned off at Police Auctions Canada.

A spokesperson for the TTC said this year, the transit agency is on track for having 50,000 lost items across their network. While the TTC couldn’t provide photos, they said the most common items commuters left behind are wallets, bags, phones, AirPods (both with or without their case), keys, umbrellas, prescriptions and sunglasses.

"Some standout items that have come through our office in the past year would be shopping carts, scooters, mobility devices, printer, (and a) mini fridge," Stuart Green of the TTC said in an email.