Ontario Big City Mayors discuss shared priorities in Waterloo
Posted Jun 12, 2026 04:46:06 PM.
Last Updated Jun 15, 2026 03:29:02 PM.
It appears there is a confluence of crises impacting municipalities across Ontario.
From homelessness and addiction to a lack of affordable housing and overall affordability, nearly every corner of the province is being impacted in some way.
The Ontario Big City Mayors (OBCM) caucus meets quarterly to discuss the major issues facing the province and to find ways to work together to help solve them.
Twenty-nine big city mayors were in Waterloo this week, talking all things Ontario. Waterloo Mayor, Dorothy McCabe, hosted the event at the Delta Hotel on Erb Street West.
She told 570 NewsRadio, discussions centered primarily around the Canada-Ontario Partnership to Build program.
“We were all pleased to see the federal and provincial governments come to the table with the $8.8 billion infrastructure funding program. We’re really pleased they recognize that they have a significant role to play with infrastructure funding.”
Representatives from the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing were on hand to discuss the program. McCabe said there remains some uncertainty about the specifics.
“There were a lot of questions, a lot of back-and-forth dialogue. There are still some answers that we need from the Ministry staff. They’ve committed to get back to us as soon as possible because we know the timelines are really tight with this program,” said McCabe.
Another topic of discussion was one that McCabe has been bringing attention to for a few years.
“Municipalities operate with a very old, 19th-century property tax funding model that is just not at all set up to deal with the complexities of the issues that municipalities deal with in this day and age,” McCabe mentioned.
“We do continue to call on the federal and provincial governments to sit down with us and to discuss a new deal for municipalities and a new way of working together so we can really collaborate to solve issues in our communities.”
The 29 members of the OBCM caucus represent almost 70 per cent of the population of Ontario and nearly 30 per cent of the entire population of Canada.
