Region could be $2.2M over winter maintenance budget by year’s end
Posted Nov 28, 2025 11:38:03 AM.
Last Updated Nov 28, 2025 11:38:08 AM.
The hefty bout of winter weather may be costing the region more than it had initially thought as road-clearing efforts continue for the late November storm.
A new winter debrief report is showing that the Region of Waterloo could end up being $2.2 million over budget by the time 2025 comes to a close, a 14 per cent overage.
The region currently has $15.8 million set aside for its winter maintenance budget, responsible for maintaining the roads across Kitchener, Cambridge and Waterloo.
Kitchener accounts for the largest chunk of that budget, at $4.8 million, with Cambridge next at $3.1 million, and Waterloo seeing $2.3 million.
While plenty of attention is on the latest snowfall — causing a slew of closures, collisions, and lengthy commutes — much of the issues in the region stems from storms seen earlier this year.
One particular instance, back in February, saw more than 75 cm of snow pile onto Waterloo Region, which is on top of other larger-than-expected amounts of snowfall seen at the beginning of 2025.
It meant that the region had to spend upwards of 70 per cent of that total budget between January and March alone.
While it’s a large expenditure and potential overage for the Region of Waterloo, there is some good news as far as taxpayers’ wallets are concerned.
The winter debrief specifies that the overage is not expected to be included in any sort of tax levy increases, detailing that the funds are set to be pulled from temporary staff savings within the transportation operations budget.
That report is expected to be brought in full to the region’s sustainability, infrastructure and development committee next week for a full run-through and breakdown.
