Kitchener–Waterloo
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The Regional Municipality of Waterloo (Waterloo Region or Region of Waterloo) is a
metropolitan area A metropolitan area or metro is a region consisting of a densely populated urban area, urban agglomeration and its surrounding territories which share Industry (economics), industries, commercial areas, Transport infrastructure, transport network ...
of
Southern Ontario Southern Ontario is a Region, primary region of the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario. It is the most densely populated and southernmost region in Canada, with approximately 13.5 million people, approximately 36% o ...
, Canada. It contains the cities of
Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...
, Kitchener and
Waterloo Waterloo most commonly refers to: * Battle of Waterloo, 1815 battle where Napoleon's French army was defeated by Anglo-allied and Prussian forces * Waterloo, Belgium Waterloo may also refer to: Other places Australia * Waterloo, New South Wale ...
(KWC or Tri-Cities), and the townships of
North Dumfries The Township of North Dumfries is a rural township in Ontario, Canada, part of the Regional Municipality of Waterloo. Communities North Dumfries includes the following communities: Ayr, Branchton, Clyde (formerly from Beverley Township, Wentw ...
, Wellesley, Wilmot and
Woolwich Woolwich () is a town in South London, southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. The district's location on the River Thames led to its status as an important naval, military and industrial area; a role that was mainta ...
. Kitchener, the largest city, is the seat of government. The region is in area, with a population of 587,165 as of the 2021 Canada census, though an end of 2023 estimate puts the population above 673,910 people. Waterloo Region forms the tenth-largest metropolitan area in Canada, with recent population growth almost entirely fuelled by
international students International students or exchange students, also known as foreign students, are students who undertake all or part of their Secondary education, secondary or tertiary education in a country other than their own. In 2022, there were over 6.9 m ...
. In 2016, the Kitchener-Waterloo-Cambridge area was rated Canada's third-best area to find full-time employment. The region was formerly called
Waterloo County Waterloo County was a county in Canada West in the United Province of Canada from 1853 until 1867, then in the Canadian province of Ontario from 1867 until 1973. It was the direct predecessor of the Regional Municipality of Waterloo. Situated on ...
, created in 1853 and dissolved in 1973. The county consisted of five townships: North Dumfries, Waterloo, Wellesley, Wilmot, and Woolwich.


History

Early Archaic Early may refer to: Places in the United States * Early, Iowa, a city * Early, Texas, a city * Early Branch, a stream in Missouri * Early County, Georgia * Fort Early, Georgia, an early 19th century fort Music * Early B, stage name of Jamaican d ...
hunters of the Bifurcate Base tradition were present in the area around 8300 years ago. They occupied the Kassel site ( AiHd-71), a base camp, and the Blue Dart site (AiHd-89), which was likely a kill site; this followed typical
hunter-gatherer A hunter-gatherer or forager is a human living in a community, or according to an ancestrally derived Lifestyle, lifestyle, in which most or all food is obtained by foraging, that is, by gathering food from local naturally occurring sources, esp ...
occupation patterns. Up to the 17th century, the
Attawandaron The Neutral Confederacy (also Neutral Nation, Neutral people, or ) was a tribal confederation of Iroquoian peoples. Its heartland was in the floodplain of the Grand River in what is now Ontario, Canada. At its height, its wider territory extend ...
(Neutral) nation inhabited the Grand River area. European explorers admired their farming practices. In the wake of a smallpox epidemic and European incursions, the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) and the Wendat (Huron) Confederacies waged war from 1642 to 1650. Invasion by the Haudenosaunee's Seneca and Mohawk nations ended Attawandaron independence. In 1784, in recognition of Haudenosaunee support during the American War of Independence and the consequent loss of its land in New York state, the British government granted the Grand River valley to the Confederacy. The latter settled in the lower Grand River Valley, the present
Brant County The County of Brant (2021 population 39,474) is a single-tier municipality in the Canadian province of Ontario. Although it retains the word "county" in its name, the municipality is a single-tier municipal government and has no upper tier. The C ...
, and sold land in the upper Grand, now part of Waterloo Township, to Loyalist Colonel Richard Beasley. In 1816, William Dickson, a Scottish-born land speculator, acquired along the Grand River, in present North and South Dumfries Townships, and the city of Cambridge.


North and South Dumfries Townships

Dickson planned to divide the tract into lots to sell to Scottish settlers. He and American-born miller, Absalom Shade, chose the confluence of Mill Creek and the Grand River to found Shade's Mills. In 1825, the growing settlement had a post office. Despite settlers' reluctance, Dickson renamed the settlement Galt in honour of John Galt, a Scottish novelist and Canada Company Commissioner. Galt's visit in 1827 brought wider acceptance to the name change. Initially serving local farmers, Galt's industrial development in the late 1830s eventually earned it the nickname "The Manchester of Canada". It remained the area's main town until Berlin overtook it at the beginning of the 20th century.


Kitchener-Waterloo


Pre-modern era

According to the City of Waterloo, indigenous people lived in the area, including the
Haudenosaunee The Iroquois ( ), also known as the Five Nations, and later as the Six Nations from 1722 onwards; alternatively referred to by the Endonym and exonym, endonym Haudenosaunee ( ; ) are an Iroquoian languages, Iroquoian-speaking Confederation#Ind ...
,
Anishinaabe The Anishinaabe (alternatively spelled Anishinabe, Anicinape, Nishnaabe, Neshnabé, Anishinaabeg, Anishinabek, Aanishnaabe) are a group of culturally related Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous peoples in the Great Lakes region of C ...
and the
Neutral Nation The Neutral Confederacy (also Neutral Nation, Neutral people, or ) was a tribal confederation of Iroquoian peoples. Its heartland was in the floodplain of the Grand River in what is now Ontario, Canada. At its height, its wider territory extend ...
. One report states that at least two "aboriginal settlements from the 1500s can now be identified near Schneider and Strasburg Creeks" in Kitchener. The finds include the remains of a First Nations village, estimated to be 500 years old, discovered in 2010 in the Strasburg Creek area with "artifacts going back as far as 9,000 years". In 2020, a site at Fischer-Hallman Road was found to include artifacts from a "Late Woodland
Iroquois The Iroquois ( ), also known as the Five Nations, and later as the Six Nations from 1722 onwards; alternatively referred to by the Endonym and exonym, endonym Haudenosaunee ( ; ) are an Iroquoian languages, Iroquoian-speaking Confederation#Ind ...
village" that was inhabited circa 1300 to 1600. Archeologists found some 35,000 objects including stone tools and a 4,000 year old arrowhead.


1800 to 1820

Settlement of the later Waterloo Township started in 1800 (in an area that is now Kitchener) by Joseph Schoerg (later called Sherk) and Samuel Betzner Jr. (brothers-in-law),
Mennonites Mennonites are a group of Anabaptism, Anabaptist Christianity, Christian communities tracing their roots to the epoch of the Radical Reformation. The name ''Mennonites'' is derived from the cleric Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland, part of ...
, from
Franklin County, Pennsylvania Franklin County is a County (United States), county in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 155,932. Its county seat is Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, Cha ...
. Joseph Schoerg and his wife settled on Lot No.11, B.F. Beasley Block, S.R., on the bank of the Grand River opposite Doon, and Betzner and his wife settled on the west bank of the Grand River, on a farm near an area that is now the village of Blair. As of March 2021, the homes built by these families' next generation still stand on Pioneer Tower Road, Kitchener. Built circa 1830, they are listed as historically important: the John Betzner homestead (restored) and the David Schoerg farmstead (not yet restored). Other settlers followed, mostly from Pennsylvania, and also purchased land in Block Number 2, German Company Tract from Richard Beasley who had acquired a massive territory previously owned by the Six Nations. The first school opened in 1802 near the village of Blair, then known as Shinglebridge; it became part of
Preston, Ontario Preston is a community in Cambridge, Ontario, Canada in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo, Ontario. Prior to 1973 it was an independent town, incorporated in 1915, but amalgamation with the town of Hespeler, Ontario, the city of Galt, Onta ...
and then part of
Cambridge, Ontario Cambridge is a city in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, located at the confluence of the Grand River (Ontario), Grand and Speed River, Speed rivers, in the central part of the Ontario Peninsula. The city had a population ...
. The first teacher's name was Mr. Rittenhaus. After 1803, many Pennsylvania pioneers bought lots from the German Company, established by
Mennonites Mennonites are a group of Anabaptism, Anabaptist Christianity, Christian communities tracing their roots to the epoch of the Radical Reformation. The name ''Mennonites'' is derived from the cleric Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland, part of ...
from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. The 60,000-acre section included most of Block 2 of the former Grand River Indian Lands acquired by Beasley and previously owned by the Six Nations Indians. Many farms were 400 or more acres in size. Most settlers before 1830 were Pennsylvania Mennonites, often called
Pennsylvania Dutch The Pennsylvania Dutch (), also referred to as Pennsylvania Germans, are an ethnic group in Pennsylvania in the United States, Ontario in Canada, and other regions of both nations. They largely originate from the Palatinate (region), Palatina ...
(an anglicization of ''Deutsch'') because of the German dialect they spoke from their origins in Germany and Switzerland. By the early 1800s, a
corduroy road A corduroy road or log road is a type of road or timber trackway made by placing logs, perpendicular to the direction of the road over a low or swampy area. The result is an improvement over impassable mud or dirt roads, yet rough in the best ...
had been built along what is now King Street in Waterloo; its remains were unearthed in 2016. The road was probably built by Mennonites using technology acquired in Lancaster County Pennsylvania, between the late 1790s and 1816. The log road was buried in about 1840 and a new road built on top of it. A historian explained that the road had been built for access to the mill but was also "one of the first roads cut through (the woods) so people could start settling the area". In 1806, Abraham Erb, from Franklin County, bought 900 acres (360 ha) from the German Company in what would be later part of the City of Waterloo. The putative founder of the city, Erb built a sawmill in 1808 and a gristmill in 1816; the latter operated for 111 years and still stands in Waterloo Park. Benjamin Eby arrived from Lancaster County in 1806. The putative founder of Kitchener, he purchased a large tract in that area. The settlement, Ebytown, was on the south-east side of present-day Queen Street. Ordained a Mennonite pastor in 1809, and later a bishop, Eby oversaw the building of the first church in 1813 and the confession's subsequent growth. Many Mennonite meeting houses, or places of worship, were basic frame buildings, a structure still common among
Old Order Mennonite Old Order Mennonites (Pennsylvania Dutch language, Pennsylvania German: ) form a branch of the Mennonite tradition. Old Order Movement, Old Order are those Mennonite groups of Swiss people, Swiss German and south Germans, German heritage who prac ...
s in rural Waterloo Region. Settlers often held a "bee" to help newcomers erect large buildings, a custom that persists today among traditional Mennonite communities. In 1806, Joseph Schneider, of south German stock, arrived from Lancaster County. He bought lot 17 of the German Company Tract of block 2. A farmer, he helped build what became "Schneider's Road". By 1816, he had built a sawmill. In 1807, Pennsylvanians John and Jacob Erb, among others, purchased 45,195 acres (182.9 km2) of Block 3 (Woolwich township). The War of 1812 interrupted immigration from the United States. The pacifist Mennonite settlers were employed in camps, hospitals and transportation. Samuel and Elia Schneider arrived in 1816. A network of small settlements emerged. Abram Weber settled on the corner of later King and Wilmot Streets, and David Weber by the later Grand Trunk Railway station. Benjamin Eby encouraged manufacturers to move to Ebytown. Jacob Hoffman arrived around 1830 to start the regions's first furniture factory.


1820 to 1852

Immigration continued strongly in the 1820s, driven by a severe agricultural depression in Lancaster County. John Eby, druggist and chemist, arrived from Pennsylvania about 1820 and opened a shop west of present-day Eby Street. In the same year, after clearing a farm and creating a rough road, Joseph Schneider built a frame house on the south side of the future Queen Street; the renovated home still stands. The settlement around "Schneider's Road" became the nucleus of Berlin. In 1830, Phineas Varnum established the centre of later Berlin (Kitchener). Leasing land from Joseph Schneider, he opened a blacksmith shop on the site of the later Walper House (now the Walper Hotel). A tavern and store opened there at the same time. Still considered a hamlet, Ebytown became Berlin in 1833. By 1830, the village of Preston was a thriving business centre under the impulse of Jacob Hespeler, a native of
Württemberg Württemberg ( ; ) is a historical German territory roughly corresponding to the cultural and linguistic region of Swabia. The main town of the region is Stuttgart. Together with Baden and Province of Hohenzollern, Hohenzollern, two other histo ...
. He later moved to the village of New Hope, renamed Hespeler in 1857 in recognition of his enterprise and public service. Jacob Beck, from the Grand Duchy of Baden, founded the village of Baden in Wilmot Township and started a foundry and machine shop. Jacob Beck was the father of Sir
Adam Beck Sir Adam Beck (June 20, 1857 – August 15, 1925) was a Canadian politician and hydroelectricity advocate who founded the Hydro-Electric Power Commission of Ontario. Biography Beck was born in Baden, Canada West to German immigrants, Ja ...
, founder of the Hydro-Electric Power Commission of Ontario. By 1835, many immigrants were coming to Waterloo County from Germany and the British Isles. The Germans settled in areas like New Germany in the Lower Block of Block Two. In 1835, some 70% of the population was Mennonite; by 1851, that number had declined to 26% of a much larger population. The county's first newspaper, ''Canada Museum und Allgemeine Zeitung,'' came off the press on August 27, 1835. Written mostly in German with some English articles, it was published for five years. By the 1840s, the growing German-speaking population had made the area a popular choice for German immigrants. They founded communities in the south of the Mennonite area. The largest was Berlin (now Kitchener). In 1841, the population count was 4,424. ''Smith's Canadian Gazetteer'' of 1846 states that the population of Waterloo Township, within Waterloo County, consisted primarily of Pennsylvania Mennonites and German immigrants who had brought money with them. Many spoke no English. There were now eight grist and twenty saw mills in the township. In 1846 the village of Waterloo had a population of 200, "mostly Germans". It had a grist mill, a sawmill and some tradesmen. Berlin (Kitchener) had a population of about 400, also "mostly German", and more tradesmen than the village of Waterloo.


After 1852

Previously part of the United County of Waterloo, Wellington and Grey, Waterloo became a separate entity in 1853, with five townships. Galt and Berlin contended to be the
county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...
; one requirement was the construction of a
courthouse A courthouse or court house is a structure which houses judicial functions for a governmental entity such as a state, region, province, county, prefecture, regency, or similar governmental unit. A courthouse is home to one or more courtrooms, ...
and jail. When local merchant Joseph Gaukel donated a small portion of his land for that purpose at the corner of present current Queen and Weber streets, Berlin was selected. A courthouse and
gaol A prison, also known as a jail, gaol, penitentiary, detention center, correction center, correctional facility, or remand center, is a facility where people are imprisoned under the authority of the state, usually as punishment for various cri ...
were built within a few months. The first county council meeting was held in the new facility on 24 January 1853. Both buildings figure in the
Canadian Register of Historic Places The Canadian Register of Historic Places (CRHP; , ), also known as Canada's Historic Places, is an online directory of historic places in Canada which have been formally recognized for their heritage value by a federal, provincial, territorial ...
. The council included 12 members from the five townships and two villages; Dr. John Scott was appointed as the first warden (reeve). In the following years, the region's physical and social infrastructure developed to include roads, bridges, agricultural societies, markets, and schools. The Grand Trunk railway reached Berlin in 1856, accelerating industrial growth. Over the next decade, comfortable homes replaced the early settlers' log cabins.


House of Industry and Refuge

In 1869, the county built a large "
Poorhouse A poorhouse or workhouse is a government-run (usually by a county or municipality) facility to support and provide housing for the dependent or needy. Workhouses In England, Wales and Ireland (but not in Scotland), "workhouse" has been the more ...
" with an attached farm, the House of Industry and Refuge. It accommodated some 3,200 people before being closed down in 1951 and later demolished. Located on Frederick St. in Kitchener, behind the now Frederick Street Mall, it sought to help indigents and convicts before social welfare programmes became available. A 2009 report by the ''
Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part of Torstar's Daily News Brands (Torstar), Daily News Brands division. ...
'' stated that "pauperism was considered a moral failing that could be erased through order and hard work".


Electric streetcar

A new streetcar system, the Galt, Preston and Hespeler electric railway (later called the
Grand River Railway The Grand River Railway was an interurban electric railway (known as a radial in Ontario) in what is now the Regional Municipality of Waterloo, in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. History Background Preston and Berlin Railway Starting in ...
) began operation in 1894, connecting Preston and Galt. In 1911, the line reached Hespeler, Berlin (Kitchener) and Waterloo; by 1916 it had been extended to Brantford/Port Dover. The electric rail system ended passenger services in April, 1955.


German heritage

Some sources estimate that roughly 50,000 European Germans arrived in the Waterloo area from 1830 to 1860. Unlike the largely German-speaking Mennonites from Pennsylvania, the later arrivals – from Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and present day and Poland, France and Russia, were of other denominations. The first groups were predominantly Roman Catholic; those who arrive later were primarily Lutheran. In 1862, German-speaking groups held a ''Sängerfest'' ("Singer Festival") that attracted an estimated 10,000 people. The festival continued for several years. By 1863, Berlin's German population exceeded 2,000. the community started the ''Friedenfest'' to celebrate the German victory in the Franco-Prussian war. The event continued annual until the start of World War I. By 1871, nearly 55 percent of the population had German origins, including the Pennsylvania Mennonites and European Germans. This group greatly outnumbered the Scots (18 per cent), the English (12.6 per cent) and the Irish (8 per cent). Berlin, Ontario was a bilingual town, with German being the dominant language spoken. More than one visitor commented on the necessity of speaking German in Berlin. In 1897, the Canadians with origins in Germany raised funds to erect a large monument, with a bronze bust of Kaiser Wilhelm I, in Victoria Park. The monument would be destroyed by townspeople just after the start of World War I. By the early 1900s, northern Waterloo County – the Kitchener, Waterloo, Elmira area – exhibited a strong German culture and those of German origin made up a third of the population in 1911. Lutherans were the primary religious group. There were nearly three times as many Lutherans as Mennonites at that time. The latter primarily resided in the rural areas and small communities. Before and during World War I, there was some
anti-German sentiment Anti-German sentiment (also known as anti-Germanism, Germanophobia or Teutophobia) is fear or dislike of Germany, its Germans, people, and its Culture of Germany, culture. Its opposite is Germanophile, Germanophilia. Anti-German sentiment main ...
in Canada and some cultural sanctions on the community, particularly in Berlin, Ontario. However, by 1919 most of the population of what would become Kitchener-Waterloo and Elmira were Canadian by birth; over 95 percent had been born in Ontario. Those of the Mennonite religion were pacifist, so they could not enlist, while others who were not born in Canada refused to fight against the country of their birth. Anti-German sentiment during World War I was the primary reason for renaming Berlin Kitchener in 1916 to honour British Field Marshal Lord Kitchener, who had died that year when his cruiser was sunk by a German submarine. The
Waterloo Pioneer Memorial Tower The Waterloo Pioneer Memorial Tower was built in 1926 in Kitchener, Ontario, Kitchener to commemorate the arrival of the Pennsylvania Dutch to Southwestern Ontario. It was conceived by William Henry Breithaupt, who wanted to heal wounds of nationa ...
built in 1926 commemorates the settlement by the
Pennsylvania Dutch The Pennsylvania Dutch (), also referred to as Pennsylvania Germans, are an ethnic group in Pennsylvania in the United States, Ontario in Canada, and other regions of both nations. They largely originate from the Palatinate (region), Palatina ...
(''Pennsilfaanisch Deitsch'' or Pennsylvania German) of the Grand River area in what later became Waterloo County. The region is still home to the largest population of Old Order Mennonites in Canada, particularly in the areas around St Jacobs and Elmira. Over time, after WW II, the anti-German sentiment faded. The Kitchener-Waterloo Oktoberfest event, with beer halls and German entertainment, and a large parade, was established in 1969 to honour the Region's German heritage. The events typically attract an average of 700,000 people to the county. During the 2016 Oktoberfest parade, an estimated 150,000 people lined the streets along the route. In the year 2000, the Government of Ontario declared an annual German Pioneers Day to recognize the achievements of settlers from Germany. Each year since then, the Waterloo Region area honours the current families of several such pioneers who had settled in the area. The Waterloo region remained predominantly German-speaking until the early 20th century, and its German heritage is reflected in the region's large
Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...
community and the annual Kitchener-Waterloo Oktoberfest. There are still traditional Mennonite communities located north of Kitchener-Waterloo. While the best known is St. Jacobs, with its very popular thrice-weekly outdoor market, the community of
Linwood Linwood may refer to: Places Many of the place names for Linwood come from the presence of linden trees. Australia * Linwood, South Australia *Linnwood, Guildford, 11-35 Byron Road, Guildford, New South Wales Canada * Linwood, Ontario * Linwood, ...
has attracted increased tourist volume in recent years due to its highly authentic Mennonite lifestyle.


Restructuring

In 1973, the regional municipality style of government was imposed on the county by the provincial government. The cities of Galt, Kitchener, and Waterloo were previously independent single tier municipalities prior to joining the newly formed regional municipality. In that major reorganization, the fifteen towns and townships of the county were reduced to just seven in the new Region of Waterloo. The new city of
Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...
was created through the amalgamation of the City of Galt, the towns of Preston and Hespeler, the Village of Blair, and various parcels of township land. One township vanished when the former Waterloo Township was divided among Woolwich Township and the three cities of Kitchener, Waterloo, and Cambridge. The settlement of Bridgeport was annexed to the city of Kitchener. The settlement of Erbsville was annexed to the city of Waterloo. The former county government was given broader powers as a
regional municipality A regional municipality (or region) is a type of Canadian municipal government similar to and at the same municipal government level as a county, although the specific structure and servicing responsibilities may vary from place to place. R ...
. Regardless of the resistance, the amalgamation proceeded and became effective 1 January 1973, creating the Region of Waterloo, with Jack A. Young appointed by the provincial government as the first Regional Chair. The region took over many services, including police, waste management, recreation, planning, roads and social services. Further municipal amalgamation began discussions in the 1990s, with little progress. In late 2005, Kitchener's city council voted to visit the subject again, with the possibility of reducing the seven constituent municipalities into one or more cities. A new proposal in 2010 would study only the merger of Kitchener and Waterloo, with a public referendum on whether the idea should be looked into. Kitchener residents voted 2–1 in favour of studying the merger while Waterloo residents voted 2–1 against. Waterloo city council voted against the study.


Government

The region's governing body is the 16 member Waterloo Regional Council. The council consists of the Regional Chair, the mayors of the seven cities and townships, and eight additional councillors – four from Kitchener and two each from Cambridge and Waterloo. Beginning in 1978, the Regional Chair was appointed for a 2-year term by the councillors, who were elected by the citizens of Waterloo Region. James E. (Jim) Gray was appointed in 1978. In 1982, the Chair's term was extended to 3 years and Jim Gray was appointed for his third term. He retired in 1985. Ken Seiling held the position of Regional Chair from 1985 to 2018, when he declined to run again for the seat. His successor is Karen Redman. Beginning with the 1997 election, the citizens of Waterloo Region have directly elected the chair. Of the nine regional municipalities in Ontario, Waterloo Region and the
Regional Municipality of Halton The Regional Municipality of Halton, or Halton Region, is a regional municipality in Ontario, Canada, located in the Golden Horseshoe of Southern Ontario. It comprises the city of Burlington and the towns of Oakville, Milton, and Halton H ...
are the only ones that allow for direct election of the chair.


Communities

Within the townships are many communities. Some were once independent and had their own reeves and councils but lost this status in amalgamation. These communities include:
Ayr Ayr ( ; ; , meaning "confluence of the River Àir"), is a town situated on the southwest coast of Scotland. A former royal burgh, today it is the administrative centre of South Ayrshire Council, and the historic county town of Ayrshire. With ...
,
Baden Baden (; ) is a historical territory in southern Germany. In earlier times it was considered to be on both sides of the Upper Rhine, but since the Napoleonic Wars, it has been considered only East of the Rhine. History The margraves of Ba ...
, Bloomingdale, Breslau, Conestogo, Doon, Elmira, Freeport, Heidelberg, Mannheim,
Maryhill Maryhill () is an area in the north-west of Glasgow in Scotland. A former independent burgh and the heart of an eponymous local authority ward, its territory is bisected by Maryhill Road, part of the A81 road which runs for a distance of ro ...
, New Dundee, New Hamburg,
Petersberg Petersberg may refer to: * The Hotel Petersberg near Bonn, the site of the ** Petersberg Agreement, 1949, regarding the international status of West Germany. ** Petersberg tasks, 1992 and 1997, regarding European security cooperation. Also known as ...
, Roseville, St. Agatha, St. Clements, St. Jacobs, Wellesley, West Montrose, and Winterbourne.


Demographics

As a
census division Census divisions, in Canada and the United States, are areas delineated for the purposes of statistical analysis and presentation; they have no government in and of themselves. The census divisions of Canada are second-level census geographic uni ...
in the
2021 Census of Population The 2021 Canadian census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population with a reference date of May 11, 2021. It follows the 2016 Canadian census, which recorded a population of 35,151,728. The overall response rate was 98%, which is sli ...
conducted by
Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; ), formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and culture. It is headquartered in ...
, the Regional Municipality of Waterloo had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of . With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021. Immigrants accounted for 22.6% of the region's total population according to the
2016 Canadian Census The 2016 Canadian census was an enumeration of Canadian residents, which counted a population of 35,151,728, a change from its 2011 population of 33,476,688. The census, conducted by Statistics Canada, was Canada's seventh quinquennial census. ...
, while visible minorities accounted for 19.0% of the region's total population.


Language


Ethnicity


Economy

Waterloo Region is also experiencing significant commercial growth. The presence of two universities, the
University of Waterloo The University of Waterloo (UWaterloo, UW, or Waterloo) is a Public university, public research university located in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is on of land adjacent to uptown Waterloo and Waterloo Park. The university also op ...
and
Wilfrid Laurier University Wilfrid Laurier University (commonly referred to as WLU or simply Laurier) is a Public university, public university in Ontario, Canada, with campuses in Waterloo, Ontario, Waterloo, Brantford, Ontario, Brantford and Milton, Ontario, Milton. The ...
, acts as a catalyst for high-tech growth and innovation. The region is known for its high concentration of tech companies, such as
BlackBerry BlackBerry is a discontinued brand of handheld devices and related mobile services, originally developed and maintained by the Canadian company Research In Motion (RIM, later known as BlackBerry Limited) until 2016. The first BlackBerry device ...
(formerly Research In Motion),
OpenText OpenText Corporation (styled as opentext) is a global software company that develops and sells information management software. OpenText, headquartered in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, is Canada's fourth-largest software company as of 2022, and r ...
,
Kik KiK Textilien und Non-Food GmbH is a German clothing discount store chain headquartered in Bönen. Overview KiK was founded in 1994 by Stefan Heinig and the holding company Tengelmann Group. ''KiK'' is an Acronym and initialism, acronym for "" ...
, and
Maplesoft Waterloo Maple Inc. is a Canadian software company, headquartered in Waterloo, Ontario. It operates under the trade name Maplesoft. It is best known as the manufacturer of the Maple computer algebra system, and MapleSim physical modeling and ...
. As such, it has often been referred to as "Canada's Silicon Valley". Canada's top three fastest growing tech companies are located in the Region: Kitchener's ApplyBoard, Intellijoint Surgical, and Waterloo's Auvik Networks. The list also includes Kitchener's Smile.io, and Vidyard.


Major employers in the region

*
Waterloo Region District School Board Waterloo Region District School Board (WRDSB, known as English-language Public District School Board No. 24 prior to 1999) is the public school board for the Region of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada. It operates 105 elementary schools, 16 secondar ...
(5,000 employees) *
Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada (TMMC) operates automobile manufacturing factories in Ontario, Canada. It is a subsidiary of Toyota Motor North America, itself a subsidiary of Toyota Motor Corporation of Japan. The plant assembles compact cr ...
(6,500 employees) *
Manulife Financial Manulife Financial Corporation ( French: Financière Manuvie) is a Canadian multinational insurance company and financial services provider headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. The company operates in Canada and Asia as "Manulife" and in the Unite ...
(3,800 employees) *
University of Waterloo The University of Waterloo (UWaterloo, UW, or Waterloo) is a Public university, public research university located in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is on of land adjacent to uptown Waterloo and Waterloo Park. The university also op ...
(3,500 employees) *
Sun Life Financial Sun Life Financial Inc. is a Canadian financial services company. It is primarily known as a life insurance company. Sun Life has a presence in investment management with over CAD$1.3 trillion in assets under management operating in a number ...
(3,300 employees) *
BlackBerry Ltd BlackBerry Limited, formerly Research In Motion (RIM), is a Canadian software company specializing in secure communications and the Internet of Things (IoT). Founded in 1984, it developed the BlackBerry brand of interactive pagers, smartphon ...
(3,000 employees) *
Grand River Hospital Grand River Hospital is a hospital located in Kitchener, Ontario, Kitchener, Ontario, Canada. The hospital operates two campuses, Kitchener-Waterloo Health Centre and Freeport Health Centre, which were independent hospitals that merged to form Gra ...
(2,200 employees) *
ATS Automation Tooling Systems ATS Corporation is a Canadian company based in Cambridge, Ontario, that designs and builds factory automation systems. It is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange. History ATS was founded by Klaus Woerner in 1978. Woerner, who immigrated to C ...
(1,800 employees) * City of Kitchener (1,700 employees)


Real estate

As of October 2023, the average (mean) selling price of a detached home sold on the Multiple Listing System of Waterloo Region was $890,591 (in Canadian dollars), an increase of 1.1 per cent compared to October 2022. The average selling price for an apartment style condominium was $476,166, an decrease of 2.6 per cent from October 2022. These prices are significantly less than prices in Toronto, where the average selling price for a detached home in the 416 area code was $1,718,440 in October 2023, and the average selling price for an apartment style condominium was $729,160.


Crime rate

The national average for the crime severity index was 78.10 per 100,000 people in 2022, while the rate was slightly higher for Waterloo Region at 79.12 per 100,000 people. By comparison, the rate for Ontario was 58.47 per 100,000 people, and nearby cities Guelph and London were 60.56 and 73.98 respectively. By comparison, "Canada's most dangerous place",
North Battleford North Battleford is a city in west-central Saskatchewan, Canada. It is the seventh largest city in the province and is directly across the North Saskatchewan River from the town of Battleford. Together, the two communities are known as "The B ...
,
Saskatchewan Saskatchewan is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and to the south by the ...
, had an index of 353 in 2016. An updated report by Maclean's in 2019 ranked the Region as the 49th most dangerous community in Canada, with robbery approximately as prevalent as the Canadian average of 60 incidents per 100,000 people. The region has a homicide rate of 0.89 per 100,000, below the Canadian average of 1.68 per 100,000.


Services

Over time, many services have come to be delegated to the jurisdiction of the municipal government. These include police, emergency medical services, waste management, licensing enforcement, recycling, a food bank, and the
public transit Public transport (also known as public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) are forms of transport available to the general public. It typically uses a fixed schedule, route and charges a fixed fare. There is no rigid definition of wh ...
system. The main administration of these services is run from Kitchener, however many service offices may be found in different parts of the Region. For example, from a geographically central location in north Cambridge, maintenance operations and the police headquarters are able to manage operations and provide services to the entire service area.


Health care

Hospital services in the region are provided by
Grand River Hospital Grand River Hospital is a hospital located in Kitchener, Ontario, Kitchener, Ontario, Canada. The hospital operates two campuses, Kitchener-Waterloo Health Centre and Freeport Health Centre, which were independent hospitals that merged to form Gra ...
which includes a Freeport Campus and St. Mary's General Hospital, both located in Kitchener, as well as Cambridge Memorial Hospital. All three were highly ranked for safety in a national comparison study in 2017–2018, particularly the two located in Kitchener, but all would benefit from reduced wait times. Long-term care beds are provided at numerous facilities, including the Village of Winston Park in Kitchener and Saint Luke's Place in Cambridge which were promised additional funding by the province in 2018 for expansion. Grand River Hospital has a capacity of 574-beds; the Freeport location was merged into it in April 1995. That secondary campus provides complex continuing care, rehabilitation, longer-term specialized mental health and other services. The King St. location is also the home of the Grand River Regional Cancer Centre which opened in 2003. 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. As of late 2018, Cambridge Memorial had 143 beds but was in the midst of a major expansion. The general contractor went into receivership in late 2018 and that stalled the process; the new section was not expected to be completed until approximately 2021. The expansion will eventually add 54 new beds and double the size of the Emergency department. 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. Announced January 2006, as a new School of Medicine, the Waterloo Regional Campus of
McMaster University McMaster University (McMaster or Mac) is a public research university in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The main McMaster campus is on of land near the residential neighbourhoods of Ainslie Wood, Ontario, Ainslie Wood and Westdale, Ontario, Westd ...
was completed in 2009. In 2018, the 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.


Transportation

Public transportation is provided by
Grand River Transit Grand River Transit (GRT) is the public transport operator for the Regional Municipality of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. It operates daily bus services in the region, primarily in the cities of Kitchener, Waterloo, and Cambridge, alongside the I ...
, which is an amalgamation of the former Cambridge Transit and Kitchener Transit systems, the latter of which had also served the City of Waterloo for many decades. In June 2011, regional council approved the plan for a
light rail Light rail (or light rail transit, abbreviated to LRT) is a form of passenger urban rail transit that uses rolling stock derived from tram technology National Conference of the Transportation Research Board while also having some features from ...
transit (LRT) line from Conestoga Mall in north Waterloo to Fairview Park Mall in south Kitchener, with rapid buses through to Cambridge. In Stage 1, the
Ion rapid transit Ion, stylized as ION, is an integrated public transportation network in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada. It is operated by Keolis and is part of the Grand River Transit (GRT) system, partially replacing GRT's Route 200 ...
system runs between Waterloo and Kitchener, passing through the downtown/uptown areas. This phase opened in 2019. Until light rail transit is extended to the downtown Galt area of Cambridge from Kitchener in Stage 2, the rapid transit link will use specially branded buses between Fairview Park Mall and the Ainslie Street Transit Terminal. Other stops for this Ion bus are at Hespeler Road at the Delta, Can-Amera, Cambridge Centre, Pinebush, and Sportsworld. The rapid transit bus uses bus-only priority traffic signals at Pinebush, Sportsworld, and other places to minimize slowdowns at times of heavy traffic. Construction on the light rail system began in August 2014, and the Stage 1 service was expected to begin in late 2017. In 2016, however, the start date was changed to early 2018 because of delays in the manufacture and delivery of the vehicles by
Bombardier Transportation Bombardier Transportation was a Canadian rolling stock and rail transport manufacturer, with headquarters in Toronto and Berlin. It was one of the world's largest companies in the rail vehicle and equipment manufacturing and servicing industry. ...
. By March 2017 a single sample-only train car had arrived. All trams were eventually delivered by December 2018 and the service started operating on June 21, 2019. By late February 2017, plans for the Stage 2 (Cambridge section) of the Ion rail service were in the very early stage with public consultations just getting started. (At least one journalist has pointed out the similarity between this plan and the electric
Grand River Railway The Grand River Railway was an interurban electric railway (known as a radial in Ontario) in what is now the Regional Municipality of Waterloo, in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. History Background Preston and Berlin Railway Starting in ...
of the early 1900s.) As the original plan to share the CP Rail line had become unworkable since the original route had been planned, a new route between Kitchener and Preston was proposed. Multiple options for the new Stage 2 route were researched and presented to the public, with Regional Council approving the final route and preliminary design on April 22, 2020, and starting the required environmental assessment later in December. Waterloo Region was the home of the first carsharing organization in Ontario in 1998. Community CarShare Cooperative (previously known as Grand River CarShare) provides access to vehicles on a self-serve, pay-per-use basis. Cars are located in many neighbourhoods around the Region. It is meant to complement other sustainable modes of transportation such as public transit, biking, and carpooling, or act as a transition out of owning a vehicle. Community CarShare has 27 vehicles stationed in the Region of Waterloo. The region also owns and operates the
Region of Waterloo International Airport Region of Waterloo International Airport or Kitchener/Waterloo Airport is an international airport serving the Regional Municipality of Waterloo in Woolwich, Ontario, Canada, west of Toronto. It has year round daily flights to Edmonton, Vancou ...
, near Breslau. The airport is the 20th busiest in Canada as of December 2010 and underwent a major expansion in 2003.
GO Transit GO Transit is a regional public transit system serving the Greater Golden Horseshoe region of Ontario, Canada. With its hub at Union Station in Toronto, GO Transit's green-and-white trains and buses serve a population of more than seven mil ...
and
Via Rail Via Rail Canada Inc. (), operating as Via Rail or Via (stylized as VIA Rail), is a Canadian Crown corporation that operates intercity passenger rail service in Canada. As of December 2023, Via Rail operates 406 trains per week across eight ...
provide rail services to the region on the
Kitchener line Kitchener is one of the seven passenger lines of the GO Transit system in the Greater Toronto Area, Ontario, Canada. It extends westward from Union Station in Toronto to Kitchener, though most trains originate and terminate in Brampton in off-p ...
.


Education

Waterloo Region is home to the
University of Waterloo The University of Waterloo (UWaterloo, UW, or Waterloo) is a Public university, public research university located in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is on of land adjacent to uptown Waterloo and Waterloo Park. The university also op ...
,
Wilfrid Laurier University Wilfrid Laurier University (commonly referred to as WLU or simply Laurier) is a Public university, public university in Ontario, Canada, with campuses in Waterloo, Ontario, Waterloo, Brantford, Ontario, Brantford and Milton, Ontario, Milton. The ...
, and
Conestoga College Conestoga College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning is a public college located in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada. History In 1967, the college was founded as Conestoga College of Applied Arts and Technology by the government of Ontar ...
. For a list of all elementary and secondary schools in the area, see the
List of Waterloo Region, Ontario schools A list is a set of discrete items of information collected and set forth in some format for utility, entertainment, or other purposes. A list may be memorialized in any number of ways, including existing only in the mind of the list-maker, but ...
.


Media


Notable people

* David Bauer, Canadian ice hockey player and coach, educator and Catholic priest, inductee into multiple sports halls of fame * Rich Beddoe is the drummer for the Canadian rock band
Finger Eleven Finger Eleven is a Canadian Rock music, rock band from Burlington, Ontario, formed in 1990. They have released seven studio albums (six as Finger Eleven and one as Rainbow Butt Monkeys), with their album ''The Greyest of Blue Skies'' bringing th ...
. He is from
Cambridge, Ontario Cambridge is a city in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, located at the confluence of the Grand River (Ontario), Grand and Speed River, Speed rivers, in the central part of the Ontario Peninsula. The city had a population ...
. *Hockey player
Todd Bertuzzi Todd Bertuzzi (born February 2, 1975) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey winger of the National Hockey League (NHL). Known as a power forward, he has played in the NHL for the New York Islanders, Vancouver Canucks, Florida Panthers, ...
of the
Detroit Red Wings The Detroit Red Wings (colloquially referred to as the Wings) are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit. The Red Wings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the East ...
makes his offseason home in Kitchener. *
Tim Brent Tim Brent (born March 10, 1984) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey forward who played over 200 games in the National Hockey League (NHL), most notably for the Toronto Maple Leafs and Carolina Hurricanes. Playing career Junior hockey ...
is a hockey player from
Cambridge, Ontario Cambridge is a city in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, located at the confluence of the Grand River (Ontario), Grand and Speed River, Speed rivers, in the central part of the Ontario Peninsula. The city had a population ...
. * Khashayar Farzam, Powerlifter and physician *
Amanda Burk Amanda Burk is an artist from Ontario who specializes in drawing. Burk previously taught as an Associate Professor at Nipissing University in the Department of Fine Arts and Visual Arts. Early life and education Burk grew up in Kitchener-Wa ...
, artist who grew up in Kitchener-Waterloo. *
David Chilton __NOTOC__ David Harold Chilton (1951–1997) was an American pastor, Christian reconstructionist, Reconstructionist, speaker and author of several books on economics, Christian eschatology, eschatology and Christian Worldview from Placerville, C ...
, author of the financial planning guide '' The Wealthy Barber'' was born in Kitchener and lives in the region. *
David Eby David Robert Patrick Eby (; born July 21, 1976) is a Canadian politician and lawyer who has served as the 37th and current premier of British Columbia since November 18, 2022. Eby is a member of the British Columbia New Democratic Party (NDP) a ...
,
Premier of British Columbia The premier of British Columbia is the first minister and head of government for the Canadian province of British Columbia. Until the early 1970s, the title ''prime minister of British Columbia'' was often used. The word ''premier'' is derived ...
, was born and raised in Kitchener. *Author and journalist
Malcolm Gladwell Malcolm Timothy Gladwell (born 3 September 1963) is a Canadian journalist, author, and public speaker. He has been a staff writer for ''The New Yorker'' since 1996. He has published eight books. He is also the host of the podcast ''Revisionist ...
grew up in
Elmira, Ontario Elmira is the largest community in the township of Woolwich, Ontario, Canada. It is north of the city of Waterloo, Ontario, Waterloo near the Regional Municipality of Waterloo's northern border with Wellington County, Ontario, Wellington County. ...
. * Mike Hoffman, hockey player from Kitchener *
David Johnston David Johnston or Dave Johnston may refer to: Politics *David Johnston (governor general) David Lloyd Johnston (born June 28, 1941) is a Canadian academic, author, and statesman who served as the 28th governor general of Canada from 2010 to ...
, former president of the
University of Waterloo The University of Waterloo (UWaterloo, UW, or Waterloo) is a Public university, public research university located in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is on of land adjacent to uptown Waterloo and Waterloo Park. The university also op ...
and
Governor General of Canada The governor general of Canada () is the federal representative of the . The monarch of Canada is also sovereign and head of state of 14 other Commonwealth realms and resides in the United Kingdom. The monarch, on the Advice (constitutional la ...
lives in Wellesley Township. *
Lisa LaFlamme Lisa LaFlamme (born July 25, 1964) is a Canadian television journalist, and formerly the chief anchor and senior editor of ''CTV National News''. She replaced Lloyd Robertson in this role on September 5, 2011. LaFlamme previously served as the ...
, journalist, from Kitchener. *
William Lyon Mackenzie King William Lyon Mackenzie King (December 17, 1874 – July 22, 1950) was a Canadian statesman and politician who was the tenth prime minister of Canada for three non-consecutive terms from 1921 to 1926, 1926 to 1930, and 1935 to 1948. A Liberal ...
, Canada's longest serving prime minister, was born in Kitchener's predecessor Berlin, Ontario. His boyhood home is now Woodside National Historic Site. *
Mike Lazaridis Mihal "Mike" Lazaridis (born March 14, 1961) is a Greek Canadian businessman, investor in quantum computing technologies, and co-founder of Research In Motion, which created and manufactured the BlackBerry wireless handheld device. In November 2 ...
, founder of
Research In Motion BlackBerry Limited, formerly Research In Motion (RIM), is a Canadian software company specializing in secure communications and the Internet of Things (IoT). Founded in 1984, it developed the BlackBerry brand of interactive pagers, smartpho ...
, came as a student to attend the
University of Waterloo The University of Waterloo (UWaterloo, UW, or Waterloo) is a Public university, public research university located in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is on of land adjacent to uptown Waterloo and Waterloo Park. The university also op ...
. *Boxer
Lennox Lewis Lennox Claudius Lewis (born 2 September 1965) is a British-Canadian boxing commentator and former professional boxer who competed in the heavyweight division from 1989 to 2003. He was a three-time world champion, a two-time lineal champion, ...
lived in Kitchener from the age of 12 and began his boxing career there. He maintains a home in Kitchener. *
Lois Maxwell Lois Ruth Maxwell (née Hooker; February 14, 1927 – September 29, 2007) was a Canadian actress. She was best known for portraying Miss Moneypenny in the first 14 Eon Productions, Eon-produced James Bond in film, ''James Bond'' films (1962–1 ...
, Golden Globe winning actress and the original
Miss Moneypenny Miss Moneypenny, later assigned the first names of Eve or Jane, is a fictional character in the James Bond novels and films. She is secretary to M (James Bond), M, who is Bond's superior officer and head of the British Secret Intelligence Serv ...
in the
James Bond The ''James Bond'' franchise focuses on James Bond (literary character), the titular character, a fictional Secret Intelligence Service, British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels ...
movies, was born in Kitchener. *
Jamal Murray Jamal Murray (born February 23, 1997) is a Canadian professional basketball player for the Denver Nuggets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He also represents the Canadian national team and played one season of college basketball fo ...
, professional basketball player from Kitchener *
Helmut Oberlander Helmut Oberlander (15 February 1924 – 20 September 2021) was a naturalized Canadian citizen who was a member of the ''Einsatzgruppen'' death squads of Nazi Germany in the occupied Soviet Union during World War II. Oberlander was on the Simon W ...
, Ukrainian former Canadian who was a member of the Einsatzgruppen death squads of Nazi Germany in the occupied Soviet Union during World War II * Joseph E. Seagram was a partner in 1869, and sole owner in 1883, in the company later known as
Seagram The Seagram Company Ltd. (which trade name, traded as Seagram's) was a Canadian multinational beverage and during the last few years of its existence, entertainment Conglomerate (company), conglomerate formerly headquartered in Montreal, Quebec. ...
. * Donald Shaver created a world leading poultry breeding business. *
Dave Sim Dave Sim (born 17 May 1956) is a Canadian cartoonist and publisher, known for his comic book ''Cerebus the Aardvark, Cerebus'', his artistic experimentation, his advocacy of self-publishing and creators' rights, and his controversial political an ...
, creator of the comic book ''
Cerebus the Aardvark ''Cerebus'' (; also ''Cerebus the Aardvark'') is a comic book series, created by Canadian cartoonist Dave Sim, which ran from December 1977 until March 2004. The title character of the 300-issue series is an anthropomorphic aardvark who takes ...
'', has lived in Kitchener since he was two years old. * Edna Staebler, author and literary journalist, best known for her series of cookbooks, particularly ''Food That Really Schmecks'' *Former
hockey ''Hockey'' is a family of List of stick sports, stick sports where two opposing teams use hockey sticks to propel a ball or disk into a goal. There are many types of hockey, and the individual sports vary in rules, numbers of players, apparel, ...
all-star
Scott Stevens Ronald Scott Stevens (born April 1, 1964) is a Canadian professional ice hockey coach and former player. As a defenseman, Stevens played 22 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Washington Capitals, St. Louis Blues and New Jersey ...
of the
New Jersey Devils The New Jersey Devils are a professional ice hockey team based in Newark, New Jersey. The Devils compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The club w ...
was born in Kitchener and played for the
Kitchener Rangers The Kitchener Rangers are a major junior ice hockey team based in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada. They are members of the Midwest Division of the Western Conference of the Ontario Hockey League. The Rangers have won the J. Ross Robertson Cup as OHL ...
. He also maintains a home there. *Landscape artist Homer Watson was born in the village of Doon (now part of Kitchener).


See also

*
List of municipalities in Ontario Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Canada with 14,223,942 residents as of Canada 2021 Census, 2021 and is List of Canadian provinces and territories by area#Land area, third-largest in lan ...
*
List of townships in Ontario This is a list of township (Canada), townships in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. Townships are listed by List of census divisions of Ontario, census division. Northern Ontario Northeastern Ontario Algoma D ...
*
Quebec City–Windsor Corridor The Quebec City–Windsor Corridor () is the most densely populated and heavily industrialized region of Canada. As its name suggests, the -long region extends from Quebec City in the northeast to Windsor, Ontario in the southwest. With more tha ...


References

*


Notes


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Regional Municipality Of Waterloo
Waterloo Waterloo most commonly refers to: * Battle of Waterloo, 1815 battle where Napoleon's French army was defeated by Anglo-allied and Prussian forces * Waterloo, Belgium Waterloo may also refer to: Other places Australia * Waterloo, New South Wale ...
Southwestern Ontario