City of Waterloo Council Summary December 16, 2024

** The council summary below provides a snapshot of the major items presented at Monday’s council meeting. The council meeting webcast is available on the City of Waterloo YouTube page. Please refer to the minutes for an official record of the meeting.

Council approves Waterloo’s first Get READI Plan

Waterloo council unanimously approved the City's first Get Reconciliation, Equity, Accessibility, Diversity, and Inclusion (READI) Plan. The aspirational, actionable plan sets a direction and long-term goals to guide the City of Waterloo to become a welcoming and inclusive place for all, through six priority areas:

• Improve Indigenous relations and foster Reconciliation.
• Enhance the built environment.
• Cultivate a culture of belonging.
• Increase diversity of staff and leadership.
• Focus on equitable distribution of resources.
• Build trust through systems of accountability.

The goals within each priority area include short, medium, and long-term aspirations for the next five years and beyond. By intentionally drawing attention and action to these areas, the City can have a positive impact on the many unique communities and residents in Waterloo. 

The READI team will promote and share the Get READI Plan with residents through the coming months, and will share an Implementation Plan with Council in early 2025.

Former employment lands near ION stations to be zoned to allow housing

The City of Waterloo continues to support the creation of complete communities where housing is located near workplaces and daily needs. Following a formal public meeting, Council unanimously approved the new Station Area Mixed-Use land designation to allow a broader mix of uses for the lands near the R&T Park and Northfield ION Stations. The lands, previously designated for employment use, will now allow for light employment, commercial, residential, and community uses, advancing Initiative 2 of the City's Housing Accelerator Fund actions. This new land use designation creates more opportunities for housing while still maintaining important employment and commercial spaces.

Waterloo continues work to streamline development along Erb Street and uptown

As part of the City of Waterloo's Housing Accelerator Fund actions, staff presented their plan to create a Community Planning Permit System (CPPS) that will apply to two strategic growth areas of the City of Waterloo, in uptown and the Erb Street corridor. CPPS is a more streamlined process combining zoning, minor variance and site plan into one application and approval, to help get more homes built faster. Uptown is the City’s focal point for growth, and the Erb Street corridor connects to uptown and permits smaller scale intensification with potential for missing middle housing.

The draft CPPS bylaw and complementary Urban Design Guidelines for Uptown and the Erb Street Corridor have been posted to Engage Waterloo for review and comment. Additional engagement opportunities will be posted on Engage and shared with residents.

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Media contact:

Cari Van Niekerk
Director, Corporate Communications
cari.vanniekerk@waterloo.ca