Council Summary January 27, 2025

** 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.

City of Waterloo to simplify parking reduction agreements for affordable housing

The City's Zoning By-law contains minimum requirements for off-street parking for residential uses. Staff have observed that parking demand at affordable housing buildings varies between locations, and does not always align with the minimum parking requirements. Parking reductions for affordable housing units will not require an amendment for developments that meet the following criteria:

• a minimum of 25% of the dwelling units in the development shall be provided as affordable housing units;
• affordable housing units be maintained at affordable prices and rents for a minimum period of 25 years; and
• accessible and visitor parking spaces are provided in accordance with the requirements of the Zoning By-law, calculated based on the amount of parking required prior to any reduction.

Staff will now finalize the process, legal agreement template, and monitoring framework for reviewing parking reduction requests for affordable housing units. This work is part of the Housing Accelerator Fund Initiative 8: Parking Framework / Approval Process Update, supporting the City’s Affordable Housing Strategy (2023-2033), housing pledge, and Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF) Agreement.

Council endorses Homelessness Crisis report highlighting need for greater assistance

Mayor McCabe brought forward a motion to endorse the “Municipalities Under Pressure – the Human and Financial Cost of Ontario’s Homelessness Crisis” report and work in collaboration with AMO to advance the key findings and recommendations of this report and OBCM’s Solve the Crisis Campaign. The motion, unanimously passed by Council, recognizes the massive growth of homelessness in Ontario, and the work being done by municipalities and community partners to help address the issue, while acknowledging the need for greater assistance from both the provincial and federal government to address the homelessness crisis.

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Media contact:

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