Region of Waterloo updating 10-year plan for housing and homelessness
Posted Apr 8, 2026 02:00:00 PM.
Last Updated Apr 8, 2026 11:40:12 AM.
The Region of Waterloo, with direction from the Ontario government, is working to update its 10-year Housing and Homelessness Plan.
The document, shown to regional councillors at a Community and Health Services Committee meeting on Wednesday, acts as an amalgamation of all the work the region is already doing to move the needle on plans to address issues of homelessness.
Councillors were shown a preliminary copy of the plan at the committee meeting on Tuesday. It gets forwarded to the province, where provincial officials make their own remarks, and then it is sent back to the region for final approval from council.
The last 10-year plan ended in 2025.
The region’s Plan to End Chronic Homelessness is one of the pillars of work included in the overall Housing and Homelessness Plan.
Some stats included in the report gave an updated number of people in Waterloo Region experiencing homelessness. According to the report, data from February shows that just over 1,400 people in the region are experiencing some form of homelessness. Just under three-quarters of those people are experiencing chronic homelessness.
That number is well below the last Point in Time count, which is often used as a barometer for the number of people in the region experiencing homelessness. The last count showed just over 2,300 people experiencing homelessness in Waterloo Region.
According to the report, funding continues to be an issue in tackling issues of homelessness. The report explains that affordable housing continues to be difficult to build because of high construction and financing costs, and staff said three planned affordable housing projects are currently being reviewed and are on pause.
The region invested $218 million last year in housing and homelessness services. That number is set to rise to more than $265 million in 2026. With help from the province, the 10-year plan will help guide those investments into the future.
