Colt Canada gun plant in Kitchener ready to double in size

The Colt Canada weapons plant in Kitchener is ready to grow, but city council gets the final say.

An expansion plan for the factory at 1036 Wilson Ave., near Wabanaki Drive, would see the plant essentially double in size.

Documents presented to council describe it is as “an addition to the existing Colt Canada manufacturing plant as well as the construction of a parking lot, three-storey enclosed stairway and a pedestrian bridge connecting to the manufacturing plant.”

Kitchener Senior Planner, Tim Seyler, said the plan would mean rezoning two neighbouring properties, and demolishing the houses there for the expansion of the parking lot.

But he emphasized, “all of the development is not within any of the natural heritage lands that are currently on the properties at the back.”

Seyler said up next in the process will be a public meeting on August 12, then it goes to council on August 26, followed by another couple months of paperwork if approved.

He said shovels could be in the ground at the end of the year, or at the start of 2025.

Developer, GSP Group, in Kitchener, which is handling the project for Colt, declined to be interviewed by CityNews 570.

The Colt site was the location of a protest demonstration on February 28, with pro-Palestinian, anti-war activists denouncing the plant for alleged involvement in the Israel/Hamas war.