Back to SearchKitchener, Ontario – The City of Kitchener has enabled more than 35,000 new homes to be built through its new Growing Together East policy. The new policy framework will enable Kitchener to grow through mixed-use projects that emphasize transit, moving the city towards its housing goals through this award-winning project that is one of the most ambitious in Canada.
Growing Together East covers the Block Line, Fairway and Sportsworld neighbourhoods, joining the other seven major transit neighbourhoods that were already covered by Growing Together West. Growing Together is a key component of the City of Kitchener’s commitment under the Housing Accelerator Fund, and a major step forward in ensuring that everyone in Kitchener has a place to call home.
“Growing Together East is a complete vision for how these neighbourhoods will grow in the coming years,” said Kitchener Mayor Berry Vrbanovic. “This plan involves redeveloping large commercial sites, protecting natural ecology, creating a mix of housing types and building as many as 1,700 affordable housing units. We’ve done the research, technical analysis, and public engagement to create this policy – now it’s time to start building.”
In addition to a comprehensive assessment of the target neighbourhoods and their population trends, service requirements, transit capacity and housing needs, a significant amount of public engagement led to the final policy framework. More than 800 people participated in that engagement, with more information about that process available on the project’s Engage Kitchener page.
The proposed zoning for the three neighbourhoods, in addition to enabling more than 35,000 new homes, could include as many as 1,700 affordable housing units. These affordable housing units would be built through “inclusionary zoning,” a new bylaw requiring large development projects to include affordable housing units.
“Growing Together, East and West, is a big part of what we’re calling Building Kitchener Together,” said Planning and Strategic Initiatives Chair Paul Singh. “It’s a combination of initiatives like this that will build all of the types of housing that Kitchener needs, in the right places, with the services and amenities that will get us closer to everyone having the type of home they want.”
Growing Together East is one of the ways that the City of Kitchener is advancing its strategic goal of Building a Connected City Together. You can find out more about this and other strategic goals by visiting the 2023-2026 Strategic Plan page.
For more information
Philip Price
Communications and Marketing Associate
City of Kitchener
media@kitchener.ca
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