Wilmot mayor proposes hospital tax for regional residents

By Lee Griffi

“You can pay me now, or you can pay me later.”

That’s the old Fram Filters advertising slogan and it is the approach of Wilmot Township mayor Natasha Salonen when it comes to Waterloo Region taxpayers paying their share of a future hospital in north Waterloo.

Waterloo Regional Health Network is planning a massive new hospital campus on lands owned by the University of Waterloo. The project is intended to replace aging infrastructure and serve one of Ontario’s fastest-growing regions. It is expected to open around 2035.

For major hospital projects, the province typically covers 100 per cent of planning and design costs, and about 90 per cent of eligible construction costs. Waterloo Region officials have said municipalities and the community may need to cover roughly 25-30 per cent of the costs not funded by the province, including equipment, furnishings and other ineligible expenses.

Salonen said her motion for a 0.5 per-cent yearly tax levy at the regional level, if approved, will be less of a burden for ratepayers.

“Our taxpayers only have so much money, and we know that every level of government draws taxes from our residents. My concern is we have so many other big-scale projects across the region at different levels of government, and they directly impact the purses of our taxpayers.”

The region has no idea what the bill from the province will be for the new facility, but the mayor said they need to prepare to avoid what could be a massive bill down the road.

“We know it's coming and we know it's going to be significant. I don't genuinely believe that we can afford everything that we are striving to do at this exact moment in time, and for me, I would say the acute care and hospital upgrades and new hospital are pretty important, as we know that access to healthcare is a huge driving factor in both life and health outcomes.”

She added the health and wellbeing of a community is an economic driving force and should be a priority for investment.

“If we start collecting now, we can invest that money in a safe portfolio. That interest can also build up towards what we're going to owe in the end. My idea is to get it going now, get it on the books and be able to weigh it against all of the other projects and aspirations that we have at different levels of government in the region.”

Salonen is also hoping big donors will step up for the cause and added the 0.5 per-cent proposal won’t scratch the surface of what the final bill will be.

“My estimate is not even scratching close to the surface … based on what other municipalities have paid for similar projects. It's not even close to what those local share amounts are when we're talking about hundreds of millions of dollars. So again, I'm just asking to get it on the list, start weighing some of these other projects, and perhaps putting off some since we know this is coming.”

Salonen made it very clear she does not want the tax to be over and above what residents are paying for the regional portion of their taxes. She is confident savings can be found elsewhere to offset it.

“My expectation is we are going to find that money elsewhere in our budget because we don't have the ability in the tax room to just keep on taxing residents. I guess we're in the same boat as every other municipality across Ontario, that we have an infrastructure-deficit gap. These are the things that keep me up at night.”

She explained she first brought the motion to council during the 2026 budget deliberations, but it was deferred. She admitted bringing it back mid-year isn’t ideal but something she felt needed to be addressed.

“Staff are expected to find that tax room. And I want to be very clear, I'm not anti-staff in this. We all collectively need to be working to make something that's getting services our residents need and plans for the future. We need to work collectively on a solution that is still something residents are able to actually pay.”