Waterloo, Ontario

There are five main parks in the city:

1. RIM Park occupies 200 hectares (490 acres) and is home to a variety of indoor and outdoor sporting facilities, including an eighteen-hole golf course, and the heritage Martin Farm House.
2. Waterloo Park is in Uptown Waterloo, and contains historical buildings, a bandshell, and animal displays in its 45 hectares (110 acres).
3. Bechtel Park occupies 44 hectares (110 acres) and has many outdoor sporting facilities along with wetlands, meadows and hardwood forest. The park also includes an off-leash dog park, and adjacent city-operated cemetery. Hillside Park covers 25 hectares (62 acres) and includes two lighted ball diamonds.
4. Lexington Park includes a ball diamond and a soccer pitch on the former site of the K-W Municipal Airport.
5. Laurel Creek Conservation Area, at 300 hectares (740 acres), lies in the northwest of the city.

The Grand River flows southward along the city's east side. Its most significant tributary within the city is Laurel Creek, whose source lies just to the west of the city limits and its mouth just to the east, and crosses much of the city's central areas, including the University of Waterloo lands and Waterloo Park; it flows under the uptown area in a culvert. In the city's west end, the Waterloo Moraine provides over 300,000 people in the region with drinking water. Much of the gently hilly Waterloo Moraine underlies existing developed areas. Ongoing urban growth, mostly low-density residential suburbs (in accordance with requests by land developers), will cover increasing amounts of the remaining undeveloped portions of the Waterloo Moraine.

Uptown looking Northwest from the Uptown Parkade. Landmarks visible include the Marsland Centre on the extreme left and Waterloo City Hall on the extreme right.

The Climate of Waterloo is Humid continental (Köppen) (Dfb)

Waterloo has a humid continental climate of the warm summer subtype (Dfb under the Köppen climate classification); this means that there are large seasonal differences, usually very warm to hot (and humid) summers and cold (to very cold) winters. Compared to the rest of Canada, it has moderate weather. Winter temperatures generally last from the middle of December until the middle of March, while summer temperatures generally occur between the middle of May to close to the end of September. Temperatures can exceed 30℃ (86℉) several times a year. Waterloo has approximately 140 frost-free days per year.

The largest employers in the city of Waterloo are:[30]

• BlackBerry (4,500 employees worldwide)[31]
• Manulife Financial (3,800 employees)
• University of Waterloo (3,726 employees)
• Sun Life Financial (3,300 employees)
• OpenText (1,500 employees)[32]
• Wilfrid Laurier University (1,047 employees)[33]

• Winterloo (previously called the Ice Dogs Festival) – February
• GO! Music Festival – March
• Waterloo County & Area Quilt Festival – May
• Uptown Country Festival – June
• Canada Day Fireworks, Columbia Lake Fields – July 1
• Waterloo Jazz Festival – July
• Afro Festival- July
• Serbian Food Festival - July
• Waterloo Busker Carnival: Canada's premier busker carnival - August
• Serbian Days – St. George and Holy Trinity Orthodox Church of KW
• CAFKA: International Biennale of Contemporary Art – September
• KW Flying Dutchmen Scale Rally Model Airplane Show - September
• Royal Medieval Faire – September
• Expressions of Social Justice Festival – September
• Oktoberfest Parade – October
• Kitchener–Waterloo Oktoberfest: the largest Oktoberfest celebration outside of Germany – October
• Santa Claus Parade – November
• World Religions Conference : the largest multi-faith event of its kind in Canada featuring the world's major religions – October–November
• Waterloo Festival for Animated Cinema – November
• Wonders of Winter (festival of lights) – December
• Cinematheque Waterloo – Year round
• International Olympiad in Informatics(IOI)
• Tour De Waterloo - June

The Kitchener-Waterloo region is home to tri-Pride[34] and the Rainbow Reels Queer and Trans Film Festival.[35] Unlike most LGBT pride events, tri-Pride does not currently organize a parade, but instead is centred on an afternoon music festival on the final weekend.

The Waterloo Award, established in 1997, is the highest civic honour a person can receive from the City of Waterloo.[38]

The Conestoga Parkway, numbered as Highway 85 within Waterloo, connects Waterloo with Kitchener, Highway 7/8 (the continuation of the Conestoga Parkway), Ontario Highway 8, Highway 401 and Cambridge south of Highway 401.

Waterloo shares several of its north–south arterial roads with neighbouring Kitchener. They include (from east to west) Bridge Street, Weber Street, King Street, Westmount Road, Fischer-Hallman Road, and Ira Needles Boulevard. Regina Street (between Weber and King Streets) and Albert Street (between King Street and Westmount Road) are north–south collector roads entirely within Waterloo.

The city's east–west thoroughfares are almost entirely within city limits, with the exception of Union Street, which has a small section in Kitchener, and Bridgeport Road which has its eastern end in the Bridgeport area of Kitchener. Waterloo's major east–west arterial roads are (from south to north) Union Street, Erb Street, Bridgeport Road, University Avenue, Columbia Street, and Northfield Drive.

There are numerous bicycle pathways. The Iron Horse Trail, which originates in Kitchener, enters Uptown Waterloo and links with the Laurel Trail that extends into the northern part of the city.

GRT iXpress bus (to be adapted for the ION bus service)

Public transport throughout Waterloo Region is provided by Grand River Transit, created by a merger of Kitchener Transit (which served Waterloo) and Cambridge Transit in January 2000. As of 2020, GRT operates a number of local and express bus routes in Waterloo, with several running into Kitchener. The Kitchener Public Utilities Commission operated electric streetcars serving Kitchener and Waterloo until 1946. Electric trolley coaches replaced the streetcars, operating from on January 1, 1947 to March 26, 1973. In September 2005 an express bus route called iXpress was added for runs from downtown Cambridge to Fairview Park Mall in south Kitchener to Conestoga Mall in north Waterloo. The ION light rail system travels between Conestoga station in Waterloo and Fairway station in Kitchener, with a total of 19 stations along the route. At Fairway station, ION light rail connects to ION bus (Route 302) and travels to the Ainslie Street Terminal in Cambridge. Stage 2 will see the ION bus converted to light rail allowing for a full integration of the Waterloo Region.[39]

The Galt, Preston and Hespeler electric railway (later called the Grand River Railway) began to operate in 1894 connecting Preston and Galt. In 1911, the line reached Hespeler, Kitchener (then called Berlin) and Waterloo; by 1916 it had been extended to Brantford/Port Dover.[40][41] The electric rail system ended passenger services in April, 1955, leaving the city and region with no local rail services for more than 60 years.

In June 2011, Waterloo Region council confirmed approval of the plan for a light rail transit line between Conestoga Mall in north Waterloo and Fairview Park Mall in south Kitchener, with rapid buses through to the "downtown Galt" area of Cambridge.[42] Service began June 21, 2019. In the current Stage 1, the Ion rapid transit trains run through the downtown/uptown areas of Kitchener and Waterloo.

Waterloo is not currently served by any regularly scheduled passenger rail service. Via Rail trains between Sarnia and Toronto stop at the nearby Kitchener railway station southeast of uptown Waterloo at the corner of Victoria Street and Weber Street. The station is accessible by local buses via Kitchener's downtown Charles Street transit terminal. A tourist train that previously ran out of Waterloo Station was moved to depart from St. Jacobs Farmers' Market when construction began on the ION Light Rail line.

The nearest GO Transit railway station is Kitchener GO Station, as the Kitchener Line (formerly the Georgetown Line) has extended to Kitchener on December 19, 2011. In addition, Waterloo is served by GO buses which stop at the University of Waterloo and Wilfrid Laurier University, with destinations of Square One City Centre Terminal, Milton GO Station, and York University.

In May 2007, city council gave approval for a non-profit tourist train to run between Waterloo Station[43] and St. Jacobs, reviving the route of the Waterloo-St. Jacobs Railway from the late 1990s. In 2015, the railway lost regular running rights south of Northfield Drive to make way for the Ion rapid transit project. All Market Train service now departs from the St. Jacobs Farmers Market. The Waterloo Central Railway are run on trains at 10am, 12pm, and 2pm from April to November. The Waterloo Station continues to operate as a Visitor & Heritage Information Centre[43] and is at 10 Father David Bauer Drive.

In addition to GO bus services mentioned above, Coach Canada offers service from the Charles St. Terminal in Kitchener to McMaster University and Hamilton, Ontario, with various stops, including Sheffield, Rockton and Dundas in between.[44] Greyhound buses to Toronto Bus Terminal also service Waterloo at a stop on the University of Waterloo campus, with some trips operating via Guelph.

The closest airport to Waterloo is the Region of Waterloo International Airport in nearby Breslau, but while it is a thriving general-aviation field, it is not heavily served by scheduled airlines. Most air travelers use Toronto's Lester B. Pearson International Airport or John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport. WestJet has scheduled daily non-stop service to Calgary from Waterloo International Airport using Boeing 737-700 aircraft in winter season and larger Boeing 737-800 aircraft in spring and summer season. They started service out of Region of Waterloo International Airport on May 14, 2007, for the summer season and then decided to fly year-round due to strong passenger demand. During the winter months Sunwing Airlines offers service to Dominican Republic. Recent upgrades to the runways, approach lighting and terminal building have permitted larger aircraft to use this airport. Airlines that no longer serve the airport include Trillium and Bearskin (to Ottawa), Mesaba (Northwest Airlines' feeder to Detroit), American Airlines (to Chicago) and Sky Service (to sun destinations).

St. Mary's General Hospital

Hospital services in the region are provided by Grand River Hospital which includes a Freeport Campus and St. Mary's General Hospital, both in Kitchener, as well as Cambridge Memorial Hospital.[45] All three were highly ranked for safety in a national comparison study in 2017–2018, particularly the two in Kitchener, but all would benefit from reduced wait times.[46] Long-term care beds are provided at numerous facilities.[47]

Region of Waterloo Paramedic Services and Waterloo Fire Rescue respond to medical emergencies within the city of Waterloo. Region of Waterloo Paramedic Services may transport patients to either Grand River Hospital or St. Mary's General Hospital emergency departments, depending on proximity, anticipated wait times and the type of emergency.

Grand River Hospital has a capacity of 574-beds; the Freeport location was merged into it in April 1995.[48] That secondary campus provides complex continuing care, rehabilitation, longer-term specialized mental health and other services.[49] The King St. location is also the home of the Grand River Regional Cancer Centre which opened in 2003.[50] St. Mary's General Hospital is a 150-bed adult acute-care facility and includes the Regional Cardiac Care Centre with two cardiovascular operating rooms, an eight-bed cardiovascular intensive care unit and 45 inpatient beds.[51][52] As of late 2018, Cambridge Memorial had 143 beds but was in the midst of a major expansion expected to be completed in 2021.[53]

Family doctors are often in short supply, and a source of great concern among residents. Recruiting efforts over the previous 15 years certainly achieved some success as of September 2018, but needed to be continued.[54]

Announced January 2006, as a new School of Medicine, the Waterloo Regional Campus of McMaster University was completed in 2009. In 2018, the Waterloo campus included "a complete on-site clinical skills laboratory with 4 skills rooms and 2 observation rooms, classrooms with video-conferencing capabilities and a state-of-the-art anatomy lab that was built in 2013 with a high definition video system", according to the University. Its Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine building includes the Centre for Family Medicine and the University of Waterloo School of Optometry and Vision Science.[55]

As of 2019, the city maintained three public library branches and late in the year, announced plans to construct a fourth branch, to commence in April 2020. The new University Avenue location was to be attached to RIM Park, a recreational facility. The 1,440 square meter facility was expected to stock about 35,000 books, as well as DVDs and print publications.[56]

Fire protection and rescue services are provided by Waterloo Fire Rescue, a service of the City of Waterloo. As of 2020, there are four active fire stations in Waterloo. Waterloo Fire Rescue responds to fires, medical emergencies, car accidents and chemical incidents.[57] (Region of Waterloo Paramedic Services also responds to medical emergencies.) When the two tier regional government system was implemented in the early 1970s, police service was moved to the regional government, but fire service remained at the local municipality (city or township) level. From time to time, the media and interested parties raise the question of whether this service should remain at the city level, or whether there might be cost savings or service improvements if the various fire services were merged into a regional fire service. A 2019 newspaper article stated that "there would likely be no cost savings, but service would improve under [a] regionalized system," in the view of some former fire chiefs.[58]

Waterloo Regional Police Service, the seventh largest police service in the province of Ontario, provides general police service in the city of Waterloo.[59] The Waterloo Regional Police North Division is located at 45 Columbia Street East, Waterloo. Waterloo Regional Police also serve the municipalities of Kitchener and Cambridge and the Townships of Wellesley, Wilmot, Woolwich and North Dumfries. City of Waterloo bylaws controlling matters such as parking, weeds and noise are enforced by city bylaw enforcement officers.[60] The two universities each have special constables who are first responders to all emergencies at their respective university campuses. Special Constables may lay charges and/or make arrests under the same legal authority as police officers.[61] As of 2019, University of Waterloo Police Service had twenty-four Special Constables.[62][63] Wilfrid Laurier University also has a Special Constable Service. The Ontario Provincial Police patrols provincial highways.[64]

Until the 1960s, with a few minor exceptions, Waterloo students would attend high school in Berlin/Kitchener. In 1914, Waterloo Lutheran Seminary added a high school department, named the College School, primarily to provide secondary education for prospective seminary students. The College School was discontinued in 1929. Between 1940 and 1950, due to overcrowding in Kitchener–Waterloo Collegiate and Vocational School, some grade nine classes were housed in Elizabeth Ziegler Public School.

Starting in the 1960s, several high schools opened in Waterloo. In 1958 it was announced that Waterloo would have its own secondary school. A $1,247,268 school was built on a 20-acre (81,000 m²) site on Hazel Street. Waterloo Collegiate Institute opened on September 6, 1960. In 1968, Laurel Vocational School (later University Heights Secondary School) opened, and in 1972 Waterloo's third public high school, Bluevale Collegiate Institute, opened. In 1965, St. David Senior School, which served grades 7–10, opened in the north of the city. St. David was turned into a high school in 1985 and was renamed St. David Catholic Secondary School. University Heights Secondary School closed in 2004 and Sir John A. Macdonald Secondary School opened that same year.

As of 2007, there were five high schools based in Waterloo. Three are operated by the Waterloo Region District School Board: Bluevale Collegiate Institute (east), Sir John A. Macdonald Secondary School (west), and Waterloo Collegiate Institute (central). two are operated by the Waterloo Catholic District School Board: St. David Catholic Secondary School and Resurrection Catholic Secondary School.

The main campuses of the University of Waterloo and Wilfrid Laurier University are in Waterloo. This includes the many associated universities and colleges, including St. Jerome's University, St. Paul's University College, Conrad Grebel University College, Renison University College and the Balsillie School of International Affairs. Kitchener-based Conestoga College also has a Waterloo campus, at the former University Heights Secondary School on University Avenue near Weber Street. Conestoga purchased the building in January 2006 for nearly $6 million from the Waterloo Region District School Board. It is double the size of its previous Waterloo campus on King Street, which was sold after the University Heights building was acquired.