A Toronto woman is speaking out and warning others after being the victim of a racist encounter in the city’s west end and catching it on video.
The victim, who only wants to be identified as Abi for her safety, recorded the encounter as she was arriving at a plaza in Etobicoke for an appointment earlier this month.
Abi says as she parked her car she noticed an older white man staring at her through the window of QMS International Inc. It wasn’t long until he started approaching her.
“As he approaches my window, I can see that he’s angry, and he just looks very annoyed and disturbed,” she said in an interview with Now Toronto.
That’s when the man begins to tell Abi that she isn’t allowed to park in the parking lot, and tells her that she’s parked on private property.
Abi replies by showing him the ‘customers parking’ sign located a few feet away, and tells the man that she is in fact a customer.
However, the video shows the man not taking her response for an answer, and growing more upset, at one point he threatens to call the cops, from there, the situation escalates even further.
“Why do you fu**ing Blacks have a mouth on you,” the man said.
He then tells Abi to stick the phone up her *ss, and calls her a “Black bi*ch” while walking away.
Abi says she’s still confused and speechless that an encounter like this took place.
“I was shocked at his entitlement… simply by just seeing my face and the colour of my skin, he decided to proceed the way he proceeded, and I think that was just really shocking to me, that in 2025 there’s people that still think this way,” she said.
Torontonians are expressing outrage to the video online, many saying they are shocked by the man’s choice of words.
“What a disgusting display of ignorance in Canada,” an Instagram user said.
“Glad this was exposed because racism is very prevalent in Canada,” another user said.
Many users have urged Abi to call the police.
Abi says that as of publication a police report has not been filed, but Toronto police tells Now Toronto that anyone who finds themselves in a similar situation should contact officers if they fear for their safety.
Toronto police said from there, officers can then determine if there’s a criminal element, and whether they can support.
According to Toronto police hate crimes have consistently gone up, with a total of 443 reported in 2024, compared to 372 in 2023.
Of the reported hate crimes in 2024, Black people reported the most amount of hate crimes from a racial group with a total of 65 reports that year.
Abi says she’s sharing her story as a warning for other minorities to be careful and most importantly safe.
“It really broke my heart to hear all those words that he was saying and how he can look at me and think that I don’t deserve to be treated equally,” she said.
Abi says she also has a message for the man.
“I hope that honestly speaking, that God softens his heart, that he may not look at anyone or talk to anyone the way he spoke to me that day ever again, and I hope nobody else has experienced that from this man,” she said.
Now Toronto reached out to QMS International Inc for comment but did not receive a response.
