Waterloo mayor bringing motion to build large swimming facility
Posted Nov 17, 2025 06:23:09 AM.
Last Updated Nov 17, 2025 10:38:07 AM.
Could a high performance swimming facility be coming to your community? The mayor of Waterloo Dorothy McCabe hopes so, and is bringing forward a motion to get the process started.
The motion is asking to explore the idea of building a high-performance aquatics facility to include a 50 metre pool, as well as a practice pool, training rooms and meeting rooms.
McCabe said that thousands of people in the city and the region take part in swimming programs and that the province is falling behind when it comes to building swimming infrastructure compared to population growth.
“Building a new or renovating an existing aquatic facility would enhance access to recreational programming as well as provide improved opportunities for training elite swimmers in the City of Waterloo and in neighbouring communities within the Region of Waterloo,” reads the motion.
Right now, there is only one facility in the region with a 50 metre competition pool, located at Wilfrid Laurier University, but it is coming to the end of its life.
The caveat is that the municipality would only be interested in any project on the condition that it can get funding from the federal and provincial governments, as well as other partners. Swim Ontario, the provincial governing body, has indicated it is interested in the development of a facility.
The city is already planning for, and says it needs, a new multi-use recreation facility on the west side of the city.
The motion is set to be tabled during Monday’s council meeting and will be up for consideration at next week’s council meeting on Nov. 24.
That meeting gets underway at 6:30 p.m.
