Kitchener council votes ‘yes’ to new water allocation policy with focus on affordable housing
Posted Jul 2, 2026 04:06:04 AM.
Last Updated Jul 2, 2026 12:22:41 PM.
The City of Kitchener has a new way of dealing with the region’s water capacity problems, with a policy to prioritize water for development projects with affordable housing.
Council voted in favour of the plan at Monday’s special council meeting.
Mayor Berry Vrbanovic said, “we are now moving into this world where the allocation will be provided to us, and based on that and this policy, will allocate the water supplies going forward. And with a little bit of luck we’ll be able to meet the need that’s there.”
A statement from city hall says the policy prioritizes projects “that deliver community benefits such as affordable housing, essential services, economic development and other housing initiatives that support the needs of current and future residents.”
Council also voted in favour of the bylaw that will enforce this framework policy.
At the meeting, Garett Stevenson, the city’s Director of Development and Housing Approvals, explained to council that the framework is based on use.
He said there are affordability criteria, and then there’s what he calls “a secondary criteria” for overall shovel readiness, and in some cases, priority for applications that already exist.
Stevenson went on to say, “The language we’ve been using is buckets. So the (Region of Waterloo) gives us a bucket, and we take it out of our bucket and give it to a development application.”
Mayor Vrbanovic said of the framework plan that he was happy council and the city are at this point.
He echoed the sentiments of other councillors that the water capacity problem “was not a situation of our making. It came as a surprise to all of us, including Regional Council, quite frankly, in December.”
Vrbanovic said this is based on the region having approved its interim risk management framework earlier this month. He said the municipality is set to provide information about this first water allocation in the coming days.
He pointed out that Woolwich was the first community to approve its water allocation policy.
And he expects Cambridge, North Dumfries, Waterloo, and Wilmot will approve their own policies this month.
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