Police say ‘operational plan’ remains in place for St. Patrick’s Day celebrations in Waterloo

As locals don green and get their celebratory Irish “jig” on, the Waterloo Regional Police Service (WRPS) says an “operational plan” remains in place to manage unsanctioned St. Patrick’s Day festivities.

Thousands of post-secondary students and visitors gather every March 17th in Waterloo’s university district, with large crowds filling the neighbourhood near Ezra Avenue and Marshall Street.

In an email to CTV News on Tuesday morning, police said officers will be patrolling the university district and Uptown Waterloo as celebrations get underway.

“We continue to have an operational plan in place for today to ensure public safety,” they wrote. “We encourage anyone choosing to celebrate to do safely and respectfully.”

The city, in the meantime, said they were “prepared to provide education and enforcement as needed.”

In the past the street party was held on March 17 no matter what day of the week it fell on, and no matter what the weather had in store. However, in recent years, the party has happened on a Saturday instead.

Laurier student Danika Lindsay said it makes more sense to hold the party on a Saturday when St. Patrick’s Day falls during the week, so students don’t have to worry about class the following day.

“And it gives student from other schools the opportunity to come as well,” Lindsay said.

Still, some students planned to go out on Tuesday evening for one more round of celebrations – but indoors.

Laurier student Sydney Krndija is one of them.

“I think people will definitely be out again tonight for St. Paddy’s, the real holiday,” Krndija told CTV. “Moreso the bars and stuff .”

Nearby businesses in Uptown Waterloo were bracing for a busy night – among them, Roost, which was decorated with shamrocks.

“I think it will be as busy as it was on Saturday,” predicted general manager Terry Bick.

Bick said on Saturday, students flocked to establishments and Roost was busy all evening and into the early morning hours.

Bick said some people even tried to get in through a window to avoid the long line outside, something he’s never seen in his approximately two decades working in the industry.

“I’ve seen a lot of kids play antics to get inside – you know, go through the back door, say they’re staff, even put a security vest on to try to come in as security. But this year they opened the front windows and were crawling in, to get in through the lines,” Bick described.

Across the street at Ethel’s Lounge, they’re also expecting crowds, especially given that St. Patrick’s coincides with their usual Taco Tuesday.

“Tuesday night is busy anyway, so with the added St. Paddy’s Day it should be good tonight,” owner Glenn Smith said.

But not all students say they have plans for actual St. Patrick’s Day. Some, like Lindsay and fellow student Josefina Silveira, said they’ll be staying in because it is a school night.

“We’re doing nothing! Doing homework,” they tell CTV.

Tactical deployment draws attention

The update followed widespread debate, both online and within the community, over images and videos which showed an armed officer, with what appeared to be a “sniper” rifle, surveying crowds during an unsanctioned St. Patrick’s Day street party on Saturday.

Police confirmed one of their officers was deployed as part of a “broader safety plan” for the gathering.

“As with all operational deployments that involve large gatherings with mass casualty considerations, a comprehensive safety plan for St. Patrick’s Day celebrations was developed that included members of our Public Order Unit and Emergency Response Team,” Const. Melissa Quarrie explained Monday in an email to CTV News.

Police said tactical officers were positioned at elevated locations to monitor the area and identify “potential safety concerns that may not be visible to officers on the ground.”

“The magnitude of unfortunate mass casualty events that have occurred across North America, and around the world in recent decades, have shaped emergency response strategies for all large gatherings,” a statement from WRPS Chief Mark Crowell said. “In accordance with legislated standards for emergency response and public order deployment, our officers effectively managed a large unsanctioned gathering upholding safety for all involved.”

Barriers, to prevent vehicles from entering pedestrian areas, were another measure used to manage the crowds and maintain safety on the street.

Waterloo Mayor Dorothy McCabe was “surprised and shocked” about the deployment of tactical teams.

On Monday, in a written statement to CTV News, she said she had spoken with the police chief and gained “a more fulsome understanding” of their safety plan.

In an interview on Tuesday, the mayor said she will meet with Waterloo Regional Police, paramedics and city staff to review this year’s response.

“As we normally do, we do a debrief a couple of weeks after [the event],” McCabe explained. “The operational planning is left up to WRPS. We put in place as many safety measures as we can to try and keep people safe. It was a surprise to me that this was the level to which WRPS’ operational planning went.”

On St. Patrick’s Day, the streets in the university district were empty. The bitter cold and icy conditions may have played a part in the lack of a turnout.

“It seems like the only thing that will actually stop or delay this unsanctioned street gathering is bad weather,” McCabe commented.

Chris Lewis, a former Ontario Provincial Police commissioner and public safety analyst for CTV News, said it’s not uncommon to see tactical officers at large public gatherings.

“To be frank, I didn’t react at all. It’s really commonplace in public order situations,” he said. “Depending on the intelligence received ahead of time, for police to have tactical teams supporting [officers], that’s just reality.”

Lewis noted their presence at past protests and gatherings in other cities.

“I absolutely stand by what they did. Ultimately, they know the intelligence. I think that, ultimately, police made the decision they made and thankfully, they did not have to use that rifle.”

Past parties

Large and unsanctioned St. Patrick’s Day gatherings have taken place in Waterloo’s university district for more than a decade.

According to WRPS, approximately 20,000 people gathered at the peak of last year’s party on Marshall Street, despite a court injunction that gave officers the power to arrest and criminally charge anyone deemed to be a nuisance.

WRPS said they arrested 17 people and laid 254 charges over the course of the 2025 event.

Both police and the city have promised an update on this year’s enforcement later in the week.

With files from The Canadian Press