Costs up, attendance down at unsanctioned street party

The Waterloo Regional Police Services Board (WRPSB) was presented with the final 2026 St. Patrick’s Day Deployment Report at committee on Wednesday.

For the most part, it was a positive recap that showed measures brought in have helped curb some of the bad behaviour. Specifically, the fencing along the Ezra Avenue corridor to break up the crowds and CCTV cameras were deployed in the area.

A Police Liaison Team was a new addition to the arsenal this year. The team worked to engage with university students and residents to educate them about how the parties negatively impact the community and to let them know about the liabilities associated with the parties. Those include charges and fines where applicable.

Perhaps the most noticeable change in 2026 was attendance.

“At peak, the crowd estimate was 7,500,” said Inspector, Tanya Klingenberg. She told the board that’s a big deal. “That’s at least 50 per cent less than what we saw last year. Which I think is significant as year-over-year the trend has been a 50 per cent increase.”

For reference, the estimated peak crowd size in 2025 was 20,000, truly a significant decline. There were a couple of factors, according to the report, that help keep students off the street; the temperature being a major one.

The high on March 14 this year was 2 C while the previous year, the high was 18 C. Also the fact that St. Patrick’s Day fell on a Tuesday might have helped.

The numbers

It wasn’t just crowd size that was down this year. The report shows declining numbers in almost all categories.

Highway traffic act charges, criminal code offences, arrests and calls for service were all down compared to 2025.

Bylaw charges jumped, likely due to the enhanced bylaw powers brought in a year ago to address these parties.

Tresspass charges also increased, but only slightly.

Crowd control

A portion of the presentation focused on the techniques used to control and disperse the revellers.

Klingenberg described the process to the committee.

“Once we had our resources in place and we felt we were in the best position to disperse the crowd. To do so safely, we immediately began that process. That started at approximately 4:30 (p.m.). We used our LRAD (Long Range Acoustic Device) to help with the communication piece on that, telling members or people that were there as well that they needed to leave the area.”

Images taken from CCTV cameras in the area show the effectiveness of the WRPS crowd control techniques.

Costs

While the number of attendees dropped significantly, the costs to police the weekend did not.

When you factor in overtime, on-duty salaries, planning and analysis costs and logistics, the cost for Waterloo Regional Police for 2026 was $321,100. In 2025, the total was $308,800.

Following the presentation, WRPSB Chair, Ian McLean, expressed his frustration with the entire situation.

“To me this is Groundhog Day and we should put this (the report) on Groundhog Day. As a former city councillor, I’ve been dealing with this since 2010.”

McLean said what is needed is a permanent solution, “It’s probably time for yourself (Police Chief Mark Crowell), and myself and the leadership at those universities, and the mayor of Waterloo. But, having senior people come together to say the goal is ending this.”

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