Waterloo seeks $35M to upgrade water systems, bring on new homes

Ontario announced Thursday it will hand out an additional $625 million to upgrade municipal water systems and help spur housing.

Waterloo hopes to secure $35 million of this to help move past its housing slump.

Waterloo council approved an application for funding Monday when the total pot of available money for all communities was limited to $200 million. Odds of success are now improved with a bigger pot of $825 million.

“This is a great opportunity for us,” Coun. Julie Wright said Monday.

If Waterloo is approved for funding, it would be spent on waterrelated upgrades in the city’s northwest corner where more than 2,000 new homes are planned at Beaver Creek Road and Conservation Drive.

The city has budgeted $68 million in upgrades to support homes and traffic planned in that area. This includes reconstructing roads and pipes and wires beneath the pavement, as well as building two sewage pumping stations. Some of this spending would fall on developers and regional taxpayers.

In deciding who receives waterrelated funds, the province says it will prioritize projects that are more advanced in planning and design. One application is allowed per municipality and work must be completed by 2027.

Infrastructure Minister Kinga Surma said the province aims to help “more municipalities repair, rehabilitate and sustain their critical infrastructure so that more homes can be built.” The province wants to add 1.5 million homes by 2031. City planners say timelines are tight, but can be achieved. Council expects to hear back by this summer if its funding application is approved.

Wright asked if city hall plans to be innovative in its housing-related upgrades in its northwest corner. There are constraints around the road’s narrow right-of-way, city staff said, but city hall intends to construct drainage in a way that eases the environmental impacts of runoff.

Also Thursday, the province further announced a new fund of $1 billion to pay for other infrastructure projects that will spur housing. Details on how communities can apply are not yet announced.

Waterloo’s effort to add 16,000 homes by 2031 is not going well, complicating plans to move past a housing crisis that has escalated rents and costs and contributes to homelessness.

The construction of new housing in Waterloo has declined for three years in a row. Last year Waterloo met just over half its housing targets, leading the province to deny the city $4 million in funding from a different program.

Meanwhile, developers of 27 proposed residential towers have bypassed Waterloo city hall in seeking approvals from a provincial planning tribunal. If built at five sites, the towers would provide more than 6,400 units that could house more than 10,000 people.

If Waterloo is approved for funding, it would be spent on water-related upgrades in the city’s northwest corner where more than 2,000 new homes are planned