A Shared Vision
for Our Region

We envision a region where every resident has a meaningful voice in the decisions that shape their community. Public participation cannot be an afterthought, it is the cornerstone of governance. Residents deserve to know what their governments are doing and why; that means council meetings that are open by default, budgets that can be understood, and follow-up reports when spending diverges from expectations.

Democratic governance also means being honest about where power sits. Governance structures that concentrate power in ways that undermine collective deliberation, such as strong mayor powers, are incompatible with truly democratic self-governance. Good regional governance means structures where elected councils deliberate, residents participate, and no single office can override that process without meaningful checks.

To do that, we need to build the habits and structures that make accountability routine, rather than exception. Consistent opportunities for public engagement, advocating for changes to legislative frameworks, and holding elected officials accountable; pushing back when decisions migrate behind closed doors. Democracy does not maintain itself; it takes consistent, ongoing effort from engaged citizens who care.

Examples of policies and actions

• Continue to turn down "strong mayor" powers, as several mayors across the province, including Waterloo, have done.
• Continue and expand the Region's open data portal, with budgets, major contracts, and council voting records published in machine-readable formats.
• Record and publish how each councillor votes on substantive items. Recorded votes are routine in many councils and make accountability checkable rather than anecdotal.
• All council meetings should be open to the public, unless there is a truly pressing need for the meeting to be closed, per the municipal guidelines.
• Councillors should be open and transparent on their connections and conflicts of interest.
• Codes of conduct for councillors should be created where they don't already exist, and enforced where they are, including obligations to be as truthful as possible.
• Councils should consider the creation of citizen committees for particular areas, to improve democratic participation and to better hold council accountable to the public.
• Remove participation barriers for advisory committees and consultations through honoraria, childcare, transit support, accessibility accommodation, multilingual materials, and hybrid attendance, so engagement isn't limited to people with spare time and money.
• Councillors should host regularly scheduled (monthly, quarterly, or yearly) town halls.
• Yearly town halls for each major regional government department.
• A clearer, more in-depth regional budget, and accountability for funding that was allocated but not spent.
• A clear, published voting record as a standard output of council meetings.

A thriving economy and a stable climate reinforce each other. Climate mitigation and adaptation support stronger growth, healthier municipal finances, and lower household costs over time. Sustainable communities open opportunity for everyone, attracting investment and talent and creating clean-energy jobs. The transition carries real costs, but the costs of climate destabilization are far greater and grow every year we delay.

Sustainable communities attract investment and talent through quality of place. As extreme heat becomes more frequent, tree canopy, parks, rain gardens, and food forests will cool our city cores. Complete communities do the same: when amenities and jobs sit close to home, commutes shrink and neighbourhoods grow more attractive, especially when knit together by trails and transit.

Sustainable communities protect rural economies and food security. As supply chains grow less reliable and traditional breadbasket regions face worsening drought and flooding, local food becomes essential. Waterloo Region holds some of the best farmland in the country, but warming will test our farmers. Securing that food supply means defending the countryside line, the recharge areas, and the wetlands and forests that underpin our rural economy.

Sustainable, low-emissions communities ease the burden climate change places on those least able to bear it. The impacts fall unevenly: people without housing and outdoor workers face the sharpest edge of extreme weather, heat and smoke worsen existing health conditions, and lower-income households can rarely afford the upgrades that would cut their bills. Acting on emissions and resilience is a question of fairness.

Sustainable communities shrink the municipal infrastructure deficit by choosing intensification over sprawl. Building up rather than out makes full use of infrastructure we have already paid for, drives productivity, and closes the gap between where people live and where the majority of jobs are. Intensification and brownfield redevelopment also protect municipal finances by keeping the infrastructure we must maintain from stretching ever outward.

Examples of policies and actions

• Defend the Countryside Line and the Regional Official Plan's intensification-first growth framework.
• Adopt a social and sustainable procurement policy so municipal spending supports local hiring, apprenticeships, social enterprises, and small or diverse suppliers, following Toronto's Social Procurement Program.
• Adopt municipal climate budgeting, tagging capital and operating decisions against emissions and climate risk, so the claim that climate action aligns with growth gets tested in the actual budget.
• Ensure that Official Plans protect the countryside line, ease paths to intensification and minimize urban sprawl, develop complete communities with proximate amenities and green spaces, connected by trails and public transit.

Waterloo Region's municipalities, like communities across Canada, face intertwined crises of housing affordability and supply. Provincial and federal targets set an aggressive course: the Region is planning for a population of 923,000 by 2051. Each municipality's official plan describes how it will grow, and Kitchener and Waterloo carry additional performance targets tied to federal Housing Accelerator Fund agreements. As we close the supply gap, we must build enough of the missing middle through medium-density housing, provide supportive housing and shelter for low-income, at-risk, and unhoused residents, and protect renters against renovictions and the other pressures that put their homes at risk.

The Region aims to create or preserve 2,500 affordable homes by 2030, with 60 percent reserved for very-low and low-income households, in line with its Plan to End Chronic Homelessness. That plan sets a goal of functional zero homelessness by 2030 but is not yet funded to reach it. As of June 2026, Waterloo Region had 2,371 people experiencing homelessness and only 356 emergency shelter beds. There are also well over 11,000 people on the affordable housing waitlist with an average wait time of 13.5 months for supportive housing. Current policies will need to be strengthened and supported with sufficient funding to address this gap.

While the Region administers community services such as supportive and affordable housing, the area municipalities shape its delivery through the planning system: zoning that permits higher-density housing as of right, complete communities served by multiple modes of transit, a preference for brownfield over greenfield development, requirements that a share of new housing be affordable, and tenant-protection by-laws such as renoviction rules. Municipalities can also support unhoused residents directly, by designating areas for encampments and backing community models like A Better Tent City.

Finally, programs that fund energy-efficiency and electrification retrofits, such as RetrofitWR, lower utility bills and improve home comfort and safety. These supports matter most for the low-income and vulnerable households least able to absorb energy costs on their own.

Examples of policies and actions

• Renoviction protection by-law. Require landlords serving an N13 to obtain a municipal renovation licence, compensate and rehouse tenants, and offer the right to return. This was first passed in Hamilton, and could be adopted across the Region.
• Public land for non-profit and co-op housing. For example, Waterloo runs a Municipal Lands Program to put city-owned land toward affordable and attainable housing.
• Vacant home tax. Ontario extended the authority to impose one to all single- and upper-tier municipalities as of March 27, 2024, and Toronto, Ottawa, and Hamilton already levy one. The Region could adopt a vacant home tax to return empty units to use and fund affordable housing.
• Fund the homelessness plan to its target. The Plan to End Chronic Homelessness needs roughly $200 million to reach functional zero by 2030 and is not currently funded to get there.
• Adopt a safe tenting protocol or encampment framework such as those implemented in other Ontario municipalities.
• Advocate tenaciously for operational and wrap-around supportive housing funding from the Province to unlock Federal funding for capital expenditures for supportive housing.
• Find creative solutions such as repurposing unused municipal buildings and adaptive reuse projects, to address housing shortage for vulnerable populations, given the lack of Provincial support, as has been done in other municipalities.

Buildings account for about 45 percent of Waterloo Region's carbon emissions, the bulk of it from natural gas burned for space and water heating and from industrial processes. Meeting the commitments our municipalities have made means buildings must run on non-polluting energy while using far less of it, through efficiency, distributed energy, and related strategies. At the same time, our communities need to grow more resilient to a changing climate, planning for floods, the poor air quality that arrives with wildfire smoke, heat waves, and other severe weather. Lower-emissions, resilient buildings also cut energy bills and keep people safer, which matters most for the households least able to absorb rising costs.

We are not starting from scratch. ClimateActionWR, the non-profit program led by Sustainable Waterloo Region and Reep Green Solutions, partially funded by the Region, has built a roadmap called TransformWR that charts the path to an 80 percent emissions cut by 2050. Community Energy Waterloo Region has drafted High-Performance Development Standards, a harmonized set of green building requirements spanning all seven area municipalities and modelled on the green development standards already used elsewhere in Ontario, so that new buildings and deep retrofits are low-emissions and climate resilient.

Provincial legislation has, for now, narrowed what municipalities can require. Bill 23 cut back site plan control, the main tool councils had used to hold new buildings to green standards. Even so, municipalities can make real progress, directly through their own buildings and budgets and indirectly through incentives, partnerships, and planning policy, while advocating for the authority to do more. The goal is to keep moving on every front available rather than waiting for the Province to update the building code or authorize climate action that aligns with a safe future.

Examples of policies and actions

• Climate-aligned planning and endorsed targets. All eight area and Regional councils approved the 80-by-2050 target and adopted TransformWR with a 50-by-2030 interim target.
• Leveraging government funding or private-public partnerships to implement high performance development standards in Municipal buildings — for both new buildings and, to the extent possible, deep retrofits.
• Advocating for high performance development standards with developers and implementing mandatory elements wherever possible.
• Advocating for community action in the form of residential and Industrial, Commercial and Institutional (ICI) retrofits and incentivizing retrofits where possible. Working with and supporting the work of community groups that are advocating for building retrofits and climate adaptation measures.
• Advocating at the Provincial level and working with different levels of government to implement high performance development standards, including clean energy.
• Advocating for the reduction or elimination of natural gas in new developments and/or new buildings.
• Demanding fair compensation from gas utilities for using Municipal rights of way.
• Ensuring councillors and staff receive training on the role of Municipalities in climate mitigation and climate adaptation for buildings.
• Forming public-private partnerships to leverage Green Municipal Fund grants and other funds that support low emission, sustainable and climate resilient buildings.
• Ensuring that Municipal Official Plans and other planning and building design policies are aligned with climate commitments.
• Proactively and prominently sharing targets, climate reduction plans and activities and ongoing progress towards emissions reduction targets and adaptation strategies.
• The 2026 Woolwich Township Official Plan is a good example of a policy document that incorporates sustainable development considerations in alignment with Municipal climate commitments and adaptation requirements.
• Implement voluntary or incentivized high performance development standards (HPDS) in alignment with standards published by Waterloo Region Community Energy, or based on HPDS/GDS policies of Municipalities such as Toronto.
• Leverage Green Municipal Fund opportunities or private-public partnerships to retrofit buildings and implement district energy and distributed energy systems.

Transportation represents about 47% of the Region's carbon emissions, largely due to fossil-fueled cars and commercial transportation. Achieving the commitments the Region's municipalities have made to reduce carbon pollution will require that transportation uses non-polluting sources of energy and/or that the need for transportation by personal vehicles is reduced and replaced by other modes of transportation.

As Municipalities look towards multiple modes of transportation and decreasing distances people need to travel by car, the accessibility, affordability and convenience needs of all members of our communities should also be considered.

In addition, there are many co-benefits of inclusive, multi-modal and low-emissions transportation that communities will benefit from that can be promoted and enjoyed. There are multiple benefits to active transportation for individuals, the community and the environment. Physical activity improves overall health, reduces stress and creates positive mental health. Walking, cycling and rolling increases social interaction between neighbourhood residents, reduces air pollution and emissions and decreases traffic congestion. A plan for accessible pathways, wide enough for wheelchairs and cycles, and separated from motorized vehicles provides safety for all ages and abilities. The transition to low emissions vehicles also has the co-benefits of lower air and noise pollution.

Completion of the next phase of the iON, increasing public transit and more frequent rail service to and from the GTHA will reduce vehicular traffic on urban streets and roadways which in turn will facilitate creation of designated trails and pathways for active transportation. Increasing the density of missing middle, affordable, mixed residential dwellings along transportation corridors with business, shops, services and schools convenient and accessible for those using active transportation is an important complementary goal.

Embracing the concept of complete communities in urban neighbourhoods and rural settlements allows residents to meet most of their daily living requirements within a distance that does not require driving a car. Walkable neighbourhoods also foster community and use of shared public facilities and resources.

Examples of policies and actions

• Continuing support for Grand River Transit's overall business plan.
• Support for the ION Stage 2.
• Continue building multi-use paths along regional roads.
• Improve sidewalk clearing to improve walkability in winter.
• Close existing gaps in the trail systems.
• Agree on best practices for management of trails that cross through multiple municipalities.
• Advocate for more roundabouts and lower speed limits where appropriate.
• Extend public transportation routes across Municipalities, including rural settlements.
• Support the expansion of charging infrastructure both within buildings and development plans and in public spaces.

Waterloo Region is one of the largest communities in Canada to rely on groundwater, drawing roughly three-quarters of its drinking water from wells and the rest from the Grand River. That makes our aquifers, and the Waterloo Moraine that recharges them, the foundation of everything else. In December 2025 the Region identified a water capacity constraint in its largest service area serious enough that it would not support new development approvals in high-growth areas until staff figured out next steps. Residents have seen no change at the tap, but the capacity concerns could limit housing and industrial development in the years ahead.

There are no cheap fixes. The long-contemplated backstop, a pipeline to pull water from Lake Erie roughly 100 kilometres away, carries an estimated billion-dollar price tag and has repeatedly been deferred. Bringing new wells and infrastructure online takes years. In the meantime, every litre we conserve and every drop we return to the ground buys time and eases the pressure on a finite supply.

This situation demands urgent conservation and serious protection of our recharge areas. That means treating rainwater where it falls and capturing it for gardens and non-potable uses; designing new construction to harvest rainwater and reuse greywater for toilets, laundry, and irrigation; making walkways, driveways, and roads permeable wherever possible; and removing unnecessary pavement in favour of native plantings, pollinator gardens, and food-bearing trees. It also means defending the moraine from new large-scale water takings, including aggregate operations that would draw millions of litres a day from the recharge zone we depend on.

Examples of policies and actions

• Growth-tied water allocation. The Region has adopted a policy allocating each city and township a set amount of water for growth, reviewed every three months as it works to expand capacity.
• Local rainwater and depave programs. Reep Green Solutions has run depaving programs in the region, removing pavement and replacing it with green space and rain gardens.
• Waterloo Region's Water Conservation Bylaw.
• Oppose large new water takings on the moraine, and advocate provincially.
• Set permeable-surface and low-impact-development standards. Require permeable walkways, driveways, and road surfaces and LID stormwater design in new developments.
• Advocate for the Protection of Existing Groundwater Supply and Wetlands motion put forward to Regional Council by Councillor Joe Gowing (March 2026), or implement a similar bluebelt protection plan.
• Relocate the Wilmot Mega-Industrial Land Assembly.
• Resource Conservation Authorities and ensure comprehensive watershed planning processes.
• Support the re-establishment of a well interference appeals committee, independent of the Region and similar to one used before 2015 in Wilmot Township and other rural municipalities.

Waterloo Region's cities are among the most innovative and prosperous in Ontario, and they are wrapped around an exceptionally fertile farm belt. Good soil, a gentle climate, accessible fresh water, and innovative farmers make this one of the most productive agricultural areas in Canada. Much of the land here is Class 1, the highest-quality soil, capable of growing almost anything, and when farmland is protected it becomes a perpetual resource that can produce food indefinitely.

Prime farmland is scarce and non-renewable. Less than five percent of Ontario's land base qualifies as prime agricultural land, and only about half a percent of Canada's entire land mass is Class 1, with Ontario holding the most Class 1 soil of any province. Protecting that land also protects the aquifers beneath it, since the recharge areas that feed our wells lie largely on the rural side of the line.

In 2009 the Region established the Countryside Line to hold growth within the urban areas and shield farmland, wetlands, and water recharge areas from development. Growth and the infrastructure that supports intensification, including the ION light rail, sit on the urban side, while agriculture, farm businesses, and environmentally sensitive lands sit on the rural side. It remains one of the strongest farmland and groundwater protections in Canada, but it holds only as long as councils defend it.

Examples of policies and actions

• Defend the Countryside Line. The Region's Official Plan directed new construction into built-up areas to preserve farmland and reduce sprawl, with the Countryside Line as the boundary between urban and rural.
• Advocate for more community gardens. The Community Garden Council and the Waterloo Region Community Garden Network support community and school gardens across the region.
• Support intensification within the urban boundaries.
• Support local and sustainable food producers and processors.
• Expand curbside Green Bin programs to include some commercial segments and multi-unit buildings.
• Promote national initiatives targeting zero food waste in landfills, focusing on public behaviour change and meal planning.

As development and agriculture expand across the landscape, the habitat that insects, birds, mammals, amphibians, reptiles, and aquatic life depend on shrinks and fragments. The web of life is finely balanced. Without insects, many birds cannot survive, and without pollinators, crops fail. Wild species need connected habitat and intact ecosystems to thrive, and protecting that connectivity is how we keep the system functioning and give species at risk a chance to recover.

Waterloo Region holds a remarkable natural inheritance, from the Grand River and its tributaries to the wetlands, woodlands, and recharge areas of the moraine. Protecting and connecting these features matters more than ever, because the provincial tools that once safeguarded them have been weakened. Ontario has curtailed the powers of conservation authorities and downloaded much of the responsibility for reviewing natural heritage and stormwater onto municipalities, and it has repealed the Endangered Species Act and replaced it with the weaker Species Conservation Act, stripping provincial protection from many species. That makes local action the last line of defence.

Two priorities stand out. First, link our natural landscapes into continuous corridors so wildlife can move and populations can persist, including by pressing for the Greenbelt protection the province studied for the Waterloo Moraine but never delivered. Second, protect and restore the riparian zones and wetlands that keep the Grand River watershed healthy, work made more urgent now that conservation authorities can no longer require it as they once could. Beyond that, municipalities can lead by naturalizing the land they manage and building biodiversity into everyday decisions.

Examples of policies and actions

• Continue supporting bees and pollinators. The Region became Canada's first "Bee Region" in 2020, and Waterloo and Kitchener are designated Bee Cities running pollinator gardens, native plantings, and invasive-species removal.
• Build ecological connectivity. Require and fund continuous wildlife corridors linking natural features in all planning.
• Protect and restore riparian buffers and wetlands. Mandate riparian setbacks and wetland protection in planning and fund restoration.
• Naturalize municipal land and cut mowing and pesticides. Convert verges, parkland, and stormwater areas to native and pollinator plantings, reduce mowing, and support naturalized private yards.

A community where everyone belongs is a matter of fairness, and also of safety and shared wellbeing. Addressing systemic racism and hate takes concrete, sustained action rather than good intentions alone. The need here is acute. According to Statistics Canada, Waterloo Region had the highest per-capita rate of police-reported hate crimes in Canada.

The harm is not evenly distributed. Local police data show hate-motivated crime here is most often race-motivated, with the Black community the most frequently targeted, followed by the South Asian community, alongside recent spikes against religious and 2SLGBTQ+ communities tied to geopolitical events. Building a welcoming community means naming and reporting hate, and it also means ensuring the diversity of our population is reflected in who works in, leads, and shapes our public institutions.

This is shared work. Municipalities cannot solve it alone, but they set the tone through the policies they adopt, the people they hire and appoint, the data they collect, and the partners they fund. The strongest response pairs visible anti-hate commitment with the slower structural work of representation, equitable hiring, and accountability, so that welcome is built into how our institutions operate.

Examples of policies and actions

• Community Safety and Well-being Plan. The Region's community-led CSWB Plan works on four priorities, including combatting hate, creating safe and inclusive spaces, mental health and addiction, and intimate partner and gender-based violence.
• "We All Belong Here" campaign. Launched in October 2025 by the Region and the Combatting Hate Action Table under the CSWB Plan.
• Join the Coalition of Inclusive Municipalities. Several Ontario municipalities have signed the UNESCO-backed declaration committing to a shared plan of action against racism and discrimination.