Region of Waterloo could pause speed camera expansion as Ford eyes ban
Posted Oct 1, 2025 07:17:49 AM.
Last Updated Oct 1, 2025 11:28:57 AM.
The Region of Waterloo could be slowing down its speed camera program.
Councillor Colleen James is set to table a motion at the Administration and Finance Committee on Tuesday that would put a pause on any expansion of the speed camera program until they learn more about the Doug Ford government’s plans to ban speed cameras altogether.
That would include the hiring of additional staff to help with expansion, and the 11 cameras planned to be installed this fall in school zones around Waterloo Region.
Those cameras are set to be installed at:
- Holy Spirit Catholic Elementary School (Cambridge)
- Manchester Public School (Cambridge)
- Monsignor Doyle Catholic Secondary School (Cambridge)
- St. Gabriel Catholic Elementary School (Cambridge)
- Bridgeport Public School (Kitchener)
- Chicopee Hills Public School (Kitchener)
- Courtland Avenue Public School (Kitchener)
- Eastwood Collegiate Institute (Kitchener)
- Forest Heights Collegiate Institute (Kitchener)
- Forest Hill Public School (Kitchener)
- Clearview Mennonite School (Woolwich)
If passed, the motion would also direct staff to research the potential implications of bringing the speed camera program to an end, but it wouldn’t stop any of the 17 speed cameras already up and operating around Waterloo Region.
Last week, the premier announced his government’s intentions to introduce legislation that would ban speed cameras in Ontario. Kitchener Mayor Berry Vrbanovic was also on hand for the announcement.
Kitchener’s mayor has been vocally against the use of speed cameras since before they were installed in Waterloo Region. In an interview with 570 NewsRadio on Monday, Vrbanovic noted that he prefers the use of proactive traffic calming measures like speed bumps and traffic bollards.
“Different tools work better at different points in time, and ultimately what we want to do is make our streets as safe as possible,” he said.
In the first half of 2025, the Region of Waterloo handed out nearly 56,000 speed camera tickets at an average of $108 each. The region notes that its speed camera program had slowed traffic in school zones by an average of 15 km/h.
Although it hadn’t become profitable at the time of their mid-year assessment, the region said that any funds generated by the speed camera program would go back into road safety projects.
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