‘Closed for business’: Region urged to continue development amidst water concerns
Posted Jan 13, 2026 07:31:28 AM.
Last Updated Jan 13, 2026 11:18:11 AM.
The Region of Waterloo is set to field questions on the water capacity issues at a Sustainability, Infrastructure, and Development Committee meeting on Tuesday as concern grows for the economic future if developments are put on pause.
The municipality shared an update on its water capacity issues at a meeting last week; however, the update led to more questions than answers as the region noted that developments and projects may need to be pushed back or rejected as a whole until the full issue, as well as potential solutions, are all properly laid out.
The capacity issue was identified in December, with the region alerting the public that it had identified it in the Mannheim Service Area. The region may not have enough water to support the growing populations in Kitchener, Uptown Waterloo, and the Preston area of Cambridge.
“In a municipality as sophisticated and well-resourced as the Region of Waterloo, there is no reasonable justification for a critical infrastructure issue of this magnitude to surface without warning and with apparent surprise,” said John Perks, a resident signed on to delegate at the meeting on Tuesday.
In Kitchener, council approved a pair of developments on Monday, including a nearly 1,000-unit development on Courtland Avenue, but the approvals were made with a “Holding Provision” in place. That provision means that no physical work on those developments can take place until the region has found solutions to the water capacity issue.
“Waterloo Region has been a community of choice for both business investment and new residents for decades. Today, the shingle over the region would have to say, ‘closed for new business’, given the development pause in place,” said Ian McLean and Greg Durocher, the CEO’s of the Kitchener Waterloo and Cambridge chambers of commerce, in a written delegation.
In their letter to council, McLean and Durocher urged the region to lift the pause on developments to continue to attract investment, especially with Phase 2 of the LRT expansion on the horizon.
GSP Group, a Kitchener-based planning firm, also urged the region for clarity on the pause.
“It would be helpful to understand which application types under the Planning Act are intended to be affected, and whether some categories of applications may continue to proceed during this interim period,” said GSP Group in the delegation.
More in politics
