Waterloo City Council votes to move forward with Parkview Crematorium upgrades

Waterloo City Council unanimously approved a motion on Monday to move forward with renovations to the public crematorium at Parkview Cemetery. Additionally, council approved $850,000 in additional funding for the project which brings the total to $2.3 million.

The crematorium first opened in 1977 and no longer adheres to Ontario’s environmental regulations.

Waterloo is just one of three municipalities in the province to provide crematorium services along with Kitchener and Sault Ste. Marie.

Mark Dykstra, The City of Waterloo’s commissioner of community services explained why city staff recommended continuing to operate the crematorium.

“There is a growing interest in cremation, and we see that growing for the next 10 years as well,” Dykstra said. “Our pre-sales approach speaks to those who are signing up for that, as we have that up in the thousands already.”

Waterloo Mayor Dorothy McCabe previously told CityNews that the number of people who prepaid for the city’s service was a factor in why the city should continue to provide it.

The upgrades will see the two existing burners replaced by a single burner.

The cost of the upgrades has increased since they were first brought forward before the COVID-19 pandemic, however, it won’t have an impact on property tax.

“This is all non-tax based, it is revenue based, whether it is in or out, there will be no change in the tax,” said Sunda Siva, senior director of Community Services, Facility Design, and Management. “If this is discontinued, there will be a hike on tax, because those premises have to be maintained, and that building has to be maintained, and they all have to come from tax-based dollars.”

Parkview Crematorium completes around 1300 cremations each year.