On October 26, 2026, communities across Ontario will elect the municipal leaders responsible for shaping how their communities grow over the next four years.
For Waterloo Region, the next term will be an important one. The region continues to face a housing shortage, pressure on infrastructure, rising municipal costs and an uncertain economic environment. At the same time, the decisions municipalities make about growth will have a direct impact on whether we can build the homes and employment opportunities our communities need.
The Mannheim water capacity constraint showed us what happens when infrastructure planning and growth are not aligned. For months, projects in the Mannheim Service Area were unable to proceed because the region claimed there was not enough available water capacity. Whether that is true or not, the consequences of the development freeze went well beyond developers. Tradespeople lost work, suppliers lost business, municipal revenues were affected, and investment was put on hold.
More importantly, Mannheim exposed some major governance and infrastructure challenges in our community.
We need municipal leaders who will plan infrastructure upgrades proactively, maintain the infrastructure we already have and ensure that available capacity is allocated in a way that supports housing and economic growth. We cannot continue to plan infrastructure after the need has already arrived.
The same principle should apply to the development approvals process. Developers understand that responsible planning takes time and that projects need to meet appropriate standards. But there is a difference between responsible planning and unnecessary delay. Third-party reviews, overlapping studies, inconsistent requirements and poorly coordinated approvals can add months to the process without necessarily producing better outcomes.
The next term of municipal government should be an opportunity to take a hard look at the approvals process: What is actually necessary? What is creating value? What is simply adding time and cost? Municipalities should establish clear timelines, coordinate reviews, ensure third-party consultants are properly managed and make sure planning departments have the resources they need to keep applications moving.
Development charges must also be part of the conversation. The development industry has been asking municipalities for meaningful relief from development charges because the cost of building new housing has become increasingly difficult to absorb. The Province’s Development Charge Reduction Program provided an important opportunity for municipalities to reduce those costs, but the results have not been consistent across the region. Kitchener, for example, provided significant relief for suburban development, while urban development did not receive comparable treatment.
If municipalities are serious about encouraging more housing in existing urban areas, they need to ensure their financial policies support that objective. Deferrals, reductions and other approaches to development charges should be on the table.
And municipalities also need to have a serious conversation about spending. Property taxes have continued to rise across Waterloo Region, putting additional pressure on residents and businesses. Those pressures are unlikely to disappear. Municipalities are facing higher costs and depleting development charge revenues. The next four years will require municipal leaders who are prepared to make difficult choices about what gets funded, when it gets funded and how it gets paid for.
Economic growth should also remain a priority. Waterloo Region’s downtowns need people, businesses and investment to thrive. Municipalities should be looking at the full range of tools available to bring people back into urban cores, support local businesses and make better use of the infrastructure already in place. That includes return-to-office policies, business attraction, events, public realm improvements and other initiatives that increase activity in our downtowns.
There is also an important regional leadership question ahead. For the first time, the Regional Chair will be appointed by the Province rather than elected by voters. The new Chair will take office on November 15, 2026. This makes the selection of the next Chair particularly important. Whoever takes on that role will need to understand the region’s municipalities, its infrastructure challenges and its economy — and be prepared to bring people together around practical solutions.
The challenges facing Waterloo Region are not going to be solved by one policy or one level of government. But municipal governments have significant influence over whether housing gets built, whether infrastructure keeps pace with growth, how much it costs to build and how efficiently projects move through the approval process.
As an industry, we are looking for municipal leaders who understand those connections — leaders who will plan ahead, spend responsibly, improve the approvals process, support housing and employment growth, and work collaboratively with the development industry and other partners.
We have had productive conversations with municipal and regional leaders, and there is encouraging momentum underway. Build Urban looks forward to continuing that work with both returning and newly elected leaders who are prepared to address the challenges holding the region back and build a Waterloo Region where people can find attainable homes, businesses can invest, and communities can continue to grow.