Waterloo diving into details on new aquatic facility
Posted Nov 25, 2025 07:03:11 AM.
Last Updated Nov 25, 2025 10:41:24 AM.
The City of Waterloo councillors have swim trunks and goggles on the mind, now agreeing to look into the feasibility of a new, competition-ready aquatic facility.
That vote came unanimously from Waterloo city councillors, passing the first hurdle, and agreeing that city staff can begin examining the possible capital and operating costs, as well as the overall impact a new aquatic facility would have on the municipality.
The vote doesn’t mean the project is fully approved; it allows staff to begin some of that research.
“I’m a bit taken aback by the overwhelming support for this,” said Waterloo Mayor Dorothy McCabe, who brought forward the motion to council. “I heard, and maybe others have heard, some concerns about this as well because we all know that pools come with a bit of a pretty hefty price tag.”
The possible aquatic facility would include a 50-metre competition-ready pool, training rooms, a practice pool, meeting rooms, and more, all to meet the various needs and various athletic levels in the city.
“From 2020 to now, we’ve increased our swimmers from 200 to 250 competitive swimmers, with an additional 75 learn-to-swimmers,” said Liz Ackroyd, board chair for the Region of Waterloo Swim Club, who spoke during the recent council meeting. “Right now, we actually have 40 plus kids on our waitlist just because we don’t have the capacity to take them on.”
She said the addition of a facility to the scale of what’s been proposed in these early motions is incredibly needed, with Allister Scorgie, Director of Sports Hosting with Explore Waterloo Region, mirroring those same sentiments.
He said the city is very sports-focused, making it an attractive destination for current and future athletes, but right now, aquatics has not met the level of other disciplines.
“That’s a significant gap for our sport infrastructure in Waterloo Region, especially when compared to other sports,” Scorgie said. “We have very robust resumes when it comes to ice sports, field sports, ball, and gymnasiums. Aquatics is one of the weakest areas that we have in our resume.”
Other delegates who attended the meeting spoke to the benefits that a new aquatic facility could bring to the city, including the economic boost that would come with the added competition potential.
“These events drive hotel stays, restaurant and local spending, tourism exposure for the city and the region as a whole,” said Dean Boles, CEO of Swim Ontario. “A well-designed, energy-conscious, environmentally friendly aquatic center becomes a community hub, fostering social connection, volunteerism, employment, youth engagement, and for us old folks as well.”
Boles added that the primary option for aquatics competitions in the city is at the Olympic-length pool at Wilfrid Laurier University, but he said that it’s an option that is starting to head towards the end of its lifecycle. A for PAC Pool at the University of Waterloo, he said, it’s in a similar situation.
“The University of Waterloo pool is aging and is considerably undersized for today’s community and sports demands,” Boles said. “The region currently lacks a modern 50-metre facility, forcing clubs, university teams and residents to seek training and programming outside the community.”
The approval from council now allows staff to also reach out to federal and provincial governments for potential funding options, to see just how much it could reduce the financial impact looking ahead.
McCabe and other councillors stressed to residents that this is an introductory step in the process; they shouldn’t expect the project to have an impact on those property taxes this year or heading through 2026.
With the approval in hand and staff now able to get a jump on researching the full bounds of the project, details are expected to be brought forward once again in a full report at a future council meeting.
