City of Waterloo council summary June 22, 2026

** 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.

Improvements continue at Waterloo Park, updated planning for the future is underway

Waterloo Park, the "Jewel of the City" has seen many exciting improvements in recent years. Staff provided information to Council on the work underway at the park for 2026, as well as on the process to update the overall Waterloo Park Plan (WPP) guiding document for 2027 (the last WPP update was in 2009).

Priority projects in the park in 2026 include:

• Replacement of the playground at Father David Bauer Drive
• Continued implementation of wayfinding signage throughout the park
• Waterloo Park East access, circulation, mobility and lighting study and implementation phase 1, to update the Young Street entrance and access road
• Improvements to infrastructure to support the popular Wonders of Winter festival

As the project team works to update the 2009 WPP, they will consider several previously identified projects that have not yet been completed. Projects for consideration include:

• Completion of an Environmental Management Plan
• Provision of a serviced outdoor festival/event area within the park
• Waterloo Park East water play area
• Installation of adult fitness equipment
• Necessary improvements to expand program offerings at the Log Cabin in Waterloo Park East
• The rail station common
  
  

Public engagement to help inform the Waterloo Park Plan update continues with information at www.engagewr.ca/waterloo-park. The updated Waterloo Park Plan is scheduled to be approved by Council in 2027.

Considerations for the heritage pumping station on William Street

The City of Waterloo acquired ownership of the former Waterloo North Hydro portion of the property located at 17 William Street East in 2022. The City is currently working with the Region of Waterloo to transfer ownership of the former pumping station lands located at 23 William Street East, with completion targeted for September 2026. As ownership of the full site is consolidated, the City is exploring opportunities to repurpose the existing heritage pump house and surrounding lands for future community use.

The William Street Pumping Station property was designated under the Ontario Heritage Act in 1989, and the site was identified as a Cultural Heritage Landscape by City of Waterloo Council in 2019. The site and heritage building comprise part of the Civic Common, and is one of three priority areas outlined in the City of Waterloo's Uptown Public Realm Strategy. Council approved proceeding with a constraints assessment, community engagement activities, and development of a Request for Expressions of Interest (REOI) for the adaptive reuse of the William Street Pumping Station property.

The engagement process will build upon input previously gathered through the Uptown Public Realm Strategy (2019) and the Laurel Greenway Master Plan (2023). The process will also compliment the Civic Common project. The Civic Common project will have additional public engagement through a separate process to inform design of the site’s publicly accessible open space. Both projects will be available on Engage Waterloo later this summer.
 

Waterloo looks at expanding potential uses on large Places of Worship properties

Council received information from staff regarding their assessment of a set of 14 faith-based properties (generally one acre in size or larger), for the possibility of expanding permitted uses. City staff have tabled a zoning amendment that would assist faith-based organizations to potentially enhance their ability to provide community spaces by adding low-rise housing forms as well as community uses to their property, if they wish.

There have been successful enhancements made to faith-based properties throughout the region, including in Waterloo. Recently, All Saints Anglican Church at 400 Northfield Drive was able to facilitate the construction of a new 1,115 square m (12,000 square feet) church on their lands, while also accommodating 76 townhouse units on their property. Through this redevelopment, the church also expanded its community programming and now offers weekly yoga, dance and basketball sessions.

In 2025, the City received a Housing Accelerator Fund grant to proactively carry out planning assessments and associated Zoning By-law amendments that would enable a wider range of housing types and community spaces on Places of Worship properties as-of-right. The goal of the initiative is to streamline the development approvals process for the owners of Places of Worship, by reducing cost, uncertainty, and time associated with securing planning approvals.

No decisions were made during the informal public meeting, and public engagement on this project is just beginning. City staff will be hosting engagement sessions this summer on this project. Updates are available at www.engagewr.ca/zoning-bylaw-amendment-places-worship.

Waterloo continues to support development

City of Waterloo Council approved a zoning bylaw amendment to support two mixed-use buildings (28 and 27 storeys) and one 26 storey residential building.at 143 Columbia Street West. This development includes 632 units with 709 bedrooms, 122 vehicle parking spaces, 182 bicycle parking spaces and 395.6 square m of commercial space. The amendment includes a site-specific Holding (H) provision preventing development of the site until such a time as sufficient water servicing capacity can be verified. 

Waterloo affirms support for continued public ownership and governance of drinking water and wastewater services

Councillor Bodaly brought forward a motion to encourage the province to enact and maintain explicit statutory protections requiring public-sector ownership of water and wastewater corporations, including prohibitions on private share ownership or transfer. The motion specifically encourages a review of Schedule 16 of Bill 60 through a lens of public health and system resilience, groundwater protection and long-term water security, governance, accountability, and transparency financial sustainability, and affordability, planning, growth management, and climate adaptation.

Through this motion, the City of Waterloo affirms its support for the continued public ownership and governance of drinking water and wastewater services, recognizing water as essential to public health, environmental protection, and long-term community well-being.

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