Council Summary November 17, 2025

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

Council supports vibrant community spaces with funding for new and upgraded parks

Council unanimously approved the funding releases to support the new Margaret Ave Park and add new features to St. Moritz Park. Staff presented community engagement work and initial concept designs for spaces that will be welcoming, inclusive and reflective of the surrounding neighbourhoods. The new Margaret Ave Park, a small space at the southeast corner of Margaret Avenue North and Neilson Avenue, will incorporate shade, comfortable seating, play opportunities for all ages, and a balance between active and quiet spaces. St. Moritz Park, the large park beside Edna Staebler Public School, will be upgraded to a community-level park. The design concept includes new features to balance active recreation, enhance park ecology, and support everyday passive uses, including a splash pad and washroom, youth-friendly sport spaces, shade, seating, and a potential floodable lawn for winter skating.

Follow along on Engage Waterloo as the park projects move to final design and anticipated 2026 construction: engagewr.ca/margaret-ave-park and www.engagewr.ca/st-moritz-park

City of Waterloo awards second round of Affordable Rental Housing Grants

Five grants have been awarded in the second round of the Affordable Rental Housing Grant Program, part of the City of Waterloo’s work to help increase the supply and mix of affordable housing in the city. The grants, totalling $802,911, will help not-for-profit organizations offset some of the capital costs of creating or retaining affordable housing units in the City of Waterloo. Three of the grants will continue the work of projects that were awarded funding during the first round in 2024.

The five grants include:

• $232,500 to Supportive Housing of Waterloo (SHOW) for work towards a proposed 6-storey building at 144 Erb Street East. The 38 affordable units in the building will be a mix of bachelor and one-bedroom units, targeted toward low-income seniors. In 2024, SHOW received a $325,000 grant through the first round to support the initial design and planning of the proposed development and to undertake a minor variance application at this site. The 2025 grant will allow the building and site design to progress so that a building permit application can be made.   
• $191,000 to Supportive Housing of Waterloo (SHOW) to advance the design and planning approvals for a 10 unit stacked townhouse building at 362 Erb Street West. All residential units will one-bedroom and affordable.
• $169,411 to Waterloo-Kitchener United Mennonite Church (WKUMC) in Partnership with Beyond Housing for work towards a proposed six storey 92-unit mixed-use building at 15 George Street. The units will all be one-bedroom affordable units. The proposed mixed-use building, incorporating continued worship space, is intended to replace the existing church.
• $100,000 to Needlewood Glen Co-operative to work on plans and approvals for a 10-unit residential building project at 636 Erb Street West. All 10 units will be one-bedroom, and three units will be affordable.
• $110,000 to Seven Maples Co-operative to work on plans for a 10-unit residential building(s) (modular) as an infill project at 368 Bearinger Road. All ten units will be one-bedroom, and three units will be affordable. 

In 2024, the Central Ontario Co-operative Housing Federation (COCHF) received a $50,000 grant through the first round to review six existing Waterloo co-operative sites for potential to infill/add new co-op units. COCHF’s study identified Needlewood Glen and Seven Maples Co-operative as promising candidates for infill development due to their excess space, available options for expansion, and broad-level interest in pursuing growth. 

The program’s two calls for applications have resulted in a total award of $1,177,911 to support 146 affordable housing units. The grants are funded through Planning Act contributions from the development industry, not the tax base.

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