Wilmot Township staff to draft bylaw allowing WRPS cameras on municipal property

By Galen Simmons

The Waterloo Regional Police Service (WRPS) could soon be permitted to install CCTV cameras on municipal property in Wilmot Township following direction given to staff at Wilmot council’s Feb. 2 committee of the whole meeting.

Council directed staff to bring forward a bylaw that would authorize the Township of Wilmot to enter into an agreement with the WRPS for the installation and operation of CCTV cameras and related infrastructure for law-enforcement purposes, including public safety, crime prevention and evidence collection.

“The Waterloo Regional Police Service intends to access video footage from their own CCTV cameras to support the reduction of crime and create public safety, improve quality of evidence for criminal investigations, and to extend the front-of-line and investigative resources for the police service,” Wilmot director of community services Christ Catania said. “The Waterloo Regional Police Service has approached various municipalities that make up the region to implement video-camera capacity to support the frontline operations and improve investigative outcomes.”

The direction follows a report from community services staff outlining WRPS’ regional CCTV initiative, which is being rolled out across municipalities in the region after the police service secured provincial funding through a Ministry of the Solicitor General grant program. WRPS received matching provincial funding in 2025 after applying for support to expand its use of fixed surveillance technology.

If approved by council, the agreement would allow WRPS to install cameras on township-owned or operated infrastructure such as light poles along roadways. The cameras would be used to support frontline policing, improve investigative outcomes and reduce crime while balancing public safety with privacy considerations.

According to WRPS Insp. Jarrett Brown of the police service’s innovation and modernization unit, the potential use of CCTV cameras on municipal property is part of a broader, collaborative community safety approach.

“The request for permission to install cameras is intended to support policing and community safety in large geographic and rural areas,” Brown told the Gazette. “Strategically placed cameras on township property can improve public safety by assisting with investigative outcomes, support identification of vehicles or individuals involved in serious crimes, enhance situational awareness during major incidents and serve as a crime prevention and deterrence strategy.

“Proposed camera locations are identified through an evidence-based process. WRPS reviews multiple years of crime data and citizen-generated calls for service, with particular attention to patterns related to violent crime and repeat victimization. This analysis is used to identify locations where cameras may have the greatest public safety and investigative value. By partnering with townships and municipalities, WRPS can leverage existing infrastructure to install the cameras.”

Brown said privacy considerations are a central component of the program. The report by township staff states WRPS has completed a Privacy Impact Assessment and would be required to comply with the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act. Video footage would be retained for 30 days unless required for an active investigation, and stored using encrypted, cloud-based systems compatible with WRPS’ digital evidence management platform. Access to footage would be audited and restricted.

“On one hand … I am in favour of obviously assisting the police through investigations and making sure they have access to the information that they need and in a timely manner; and obviously, video surveillance can help in that matter,” said Coun. Kris Wilkinson. “At the same time, in terms of keeping in mind privacy and people’s rights to it, I don’t know how I feel about endorsing this. So … I will take a wait-and-see approach, I guess, to see what the final (bylaw and agreement) will look like.”

According to the report, the proposed system would include a mix of camera types, including pan-tilt-zoom cameras, fixed “bullet” cameras and quad cameras. Some cameras would be used as automatic licence plate readers at key entry and exit points into the region, while others would be installed at traffic intersections or in areas identified as crime “hotspots” through WRPS data analysis. Cameras would not be used for speed enforcement.

“There are regional pieces to this as well like regional roads, provincial Highway 7/8 as well,” Catania said. “Ultimately, they’re going around to the lower-tier municipalities to get … some endorsement because as much as they can put these cameras up potentially at regional intersections, I think it could be problematic for local municipalities if they don’t understand why this is happening if they don’t have their endorsement from council first.

“So, they’re … trying to engage with the local municipalities first before they go ahead with any of these programs. I think at this point, their analysis would suggest they’d be looking at certain key areas that might warrant an installation of a camera. Based on this program … you’d see more cameras, probably, in the bigger cities than you would in the lower-tier townships. I don’t see a big influx in CCTV cameras (in Wilmot) at this point based on the grant funding they’re receiving.”

Cameras would be powered using existing streetlight infrastructure and accessed through WRPS’ real-time operations centre. While the system would have live-monitoring capabilities, cameras would not be routinely monitored in real time except during major incidents. Access would be limited to a small number of authorized WRPS personnel.

The township would retain oversight through the agreement, including reviewing WRPS privacy documentation and receiving notice of proposed camera locations. While cameras would be installed on municipal property, ownership, maintenance, repair and liability would remain the responsibility of WRPS, with no cost to the township.

The township, Catania explained, would retain the ability to opt out of the agreement to allow cameras on municipal properties at any time with 60 days notice. In response to a question from Coun. Stewart Cressman about whether the police service would share data about when the cameras are used and how successful they are in assisting police, Catania said he would take that question back to WRPS for more information.

As part of the rollout, WRPS has already held public consultation meetings and plans to post a map identifying CCTV camera locations on its website. Any agreement with Wilmot would align with provincial guidelines issued by the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario regarding video surveillance by public institutions.

Staff will return to council with a bylaw and finalized agreement for consideration at a future meeting.