Region of Waterloo passes 2026 budget

Lee Griffi, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

“Region of Waterloo budget delivers affordability and service investments.”

That’s how a press release from the region described the recently passed 2026 budget, which represents a 5.1 per-cent tax increase for total regional services. This translates into a $129 increase for the average household in Wilmot before the township completes its budget in the near future.

“I remain critical of a lot of the items that did get passed, but this certainly is the lowest increase the region has passed in my term on council,” said Wilmot Mayor Natasha Salonen, who has a seat at the region table.

The region saw a tax hike of just under seven per cent in 2024, a number that jumped to 9.5 per cent last year. Salonen said, on the positive side, budget requests by departments were generally around the level of inflation. On the other hand, she did not support the Waterloo Regional Police Services plan to build a new $174 million communications centre, an expense that was ultimately passed by a single vote.

“It’s not that I don’t understand and appreciate the need for it, but it is taking a step back in a bigger scope at everything that’s happening across the region. We only have one taxpayer and the police budget isn’t the only thing they pay for.”

She added for her, it came down to what the region can afford, and in her opinion, the scale and scope of the project is a luxury versus what is attainable and affordable for residents. Salonen also raised concerns about a future bill from the province related to a new hospital planned for the region in the coming years.

The Waterloo Regional Health Network is planning a new state-of-the-art hospital to be located on the University of Waterloo’s north campus. Under Ontario’s current model for hospital funding, local partners are responsible for a portion of the project cost known as the local share plan. According to recent presentations to local councils, it is expected to be about 25 per cent of the hospital’s total cost.

“That is a huge ask coming on our tax base. …There is still only one taxpayer, and that share we know will be in the half-billion to billion-dollar range if we look at other comparables in Ontario for community shares for hospitals.”

Salonen said the region needs to start saving now for the expense and weigh it against what the other needs in the community are, something that was not approved during budget deliberations. Another worry is the future cost of infrastructure work on the region’s water system.

“That money comes from water reserves and user rates, but still, the person paying that bill is the homeowner. I think there was still room to cut some things from the regional budget that were a bit more of a nice-to-have versus a need.”

“Regional council has passed a 2026 plan and budget that provides critical services today and invests wisely for future growth. This year’s budget focuses on affordability while making progress on community priorities,” added the release.

Investments in the budget include public health programs and services to improve prenatal and child-health outcomes and creating new child-care spaces across the region. Also included is a low-cost transit fare card program for community agencies, offering a new one-day-a-week free ride pilot for seniors and purchasing an additional bus for Kiwanis Transit serving Wilmot, Woolwich and Wellesley townships. 

Other spending that does not provide a direct benefit to Wilmot includes the development of a 10-year strategy for seniors services and the Sunnyside Campus, as well as the launch of a new 20-bed women’s overnight warming centre in Cambridge.

“The Region of Waterloo provides critical services that our community depends on each and every day. Waterloo Region continues to grow, and investing now gives us a solid foundation for the future,” said Regional Chair Karen Redman.

“This budget has seen investment in housing affordability, child care, accessible transit and local economic growth to name just a few. No budget is ever easy, and we heard loud and clear that the cost of living is a challenge for residents. With that in mind, affordability has been a top priority for council and the 2026 plan and budget prioritizes what matters most for residents.”

Wilmot’s draft budget to be released Friday

Salonen gave the Gazette a sneak peak into Wilmot’s draft budget during a Wednesday morning interview, just before press deadline. Her first Strong Mayor Power budget was expected to be released sometime Friday, Jan. 9.

The mayor hired consulting firm KPMG to work with township staff to create the document. Salonen explained the process has been a deep dive into a zero-based exercise for each expense.

“And what that means is instead of taking numbers from last or previous years and adding on an increase relevant to the cost of living, instead, they have had to justify every single line item. That’s been done through looking at multiple years of actuals in comparison to the budgets.”

Salonen said she is encouraged by the use of grounded, factual numbers in the budget, which she said will help lay the groundwork for future documents.

“I see this budget as a foundational one going forward for the community in terms of knowing what things actually cost us to run and then properly accounting for that.”

She added bringing in a third party to have fresh eyes on the township’s finances has provided the results she expected and has filled in the staffing gaps at Wilmot, at least for now.

“We’ve gone through some structural changes at the municipality which did leave us without any certified accounting professionals in the building. (KPMG) really filled that expertise gap. We have great financial staff on our team, but we do need an accountant to do the books at the end of the day.”

2026 is an election year, and while Salonen doesn’t know if she will be in the mayor’s seat come early December, she added the potential for a hybrid budget program going forward is possible.

“You will see we have made investments in our financial team to ensure we can build in-house capacity and resiliency. However, that’s not to say we might not come out of this thinking there could be some other process in the future.”

Salonen said the second part of the KPMG engagement was to have them perform long-term financial planning for the municipality.

“That work is starting this month and it’s also to help set up our financial team. We will see where that goes, what makes sense and what future councils think.”