City of Kitchener council approves two housing developments following water supply capacity issue identified by the Region of Waterloo

The City of Kitchener has approved two housing development applications that were deferred on January 5, enabling these applications to proceed through the use of a holding provision. A holding provision is a legal mechanism in the Planning Act that allows local government to enable development to proceed by placing a temporary restriction on that development until specific conditions set by the municipality are met. The two applications were deferred while CIty staff waited for the release of the Region of Waterloo’s detailed report of its current water supply capacity issue.  

“We are deeply concerned about the Region of Waterloo’s water supply capacity issue. City of Kitchener staff are committed to supporting the Region in solving this urgent issue,” said Mayor Berry Vrbanovic. “We also have a housing supply crisis. It is vital that we ensure planning and development decisions are made at the local level, where and when servicing capacity permits. Council’s direction to approve these two housing projects, with a holding provision, is a thoughtful, responsible, and risk-based approach to achieving this goal.” 

The purpose of a holding provision is to ensure that development occurs in an orderly manner and that necessary infrastructure is in place before a project moves forward. “We understand that engineering solutions will be required to address water supply needs within Waterloo Region,” said Justin Readman, General Manager of Development Services. “While we wait to understand implementation timelines, the City of Kitchener will leverage all the tools we have in our planning toolkit to support housing projects. We know developers have been looking for clarity that they’ll be able to continue their work. Council’s decision on these two projects provides them with reassurance that responsible development that adds to the city’s housing stock will continue, subject to the future lifting of the holding provision.”  

Holding provisions are commonly used while studies such as servicing, noise and traffic are completed. Kitchener will continue to receive and evaluate development proposals through normal channels while we wait for more information from the Region on a plan of action to address their water supply capacity issue.   

About development at the City of Kitchener 

While the Province of Ontario’s Bill 23 removed planning authority from upper-tier governments, this has not impacted approval authority for developments within Kitchener. 

For more than three decades, the City of Kitchener has been the only municipality in Waterloo Region with delegated approval for subdivisions. The City of Kitchener holds authority for all development application types, with the exception of Official Plan Amendments. This includes site plan, committee of adjustment decisions and zoning by-law amendments.  

All development applications including subdivisions, site plans, minor variances, consents, etc. are circulated to the Region of Waterloo for comment. The City of Kitchener provides an annual growth monitoring report to the Region of Waterloo that summarizes all development in that year.  

The 2024 reports can be found on the City’s website:  

• Staff Report 
• Growth Monitoring Report 

For more information:  

Kayla Snyder 

Manager, Corporate Communications 

City of Kitchener 

media@kitchener.ca