Region of Waterloo’s plan to remove homeless encampment at site of future transit hub

CTV’s Colton Wiens walks us through what comes next as the Region of Waterloo plans to move forward with plans for a new transit hub.

The Region of Waterloo is sharing new details about its future transit hub in downtown Kitchener and what it will take to rehouse the residents currently living at the homeless encampment on the land.

The Kitchener Central Transit Hub will connect the region’s LRT trains and Grand River Transit buses to the train station at Weber Street West and Victoria Street North for VIA Rail and GO Transit.

The next phase of the project involves Metrolinx. The transit service has informed the region it needs to start work at 100 Victoria Street North by March 2026, but they will also need a three-month head start for site clean up, investigations and geotechnical testing.

According to the region, the encampment must be cleared by Dec. 1, 2025. Which means the people living there will need to move.

To achieve this, the region is proposing a site-specific bylaw covering Victoria Street between King Street and Weber Street.

If approved by council, anyone living at 100 Victoria Street North must leave by the end of November. If new tents or shelters go up after that, they will be removed by the region.

“The bylaw does account for the current residents there as of today and provides time to facilitate their transition to new accommodation,” said Fiona McCrea, the region’s acting regional solicitor. “But the bylaw does not permit new people to come and reside at 100 Victoria Street.”

The region said in the lead up to the deadline outreach staff will be ramping up efforts to place encampment residents in alternative housing.

“We have many options available to us that we will utilize. Specifically, we will be looking at rental supports and transitional supportive housing. It’ll be important that we add social supports for individuals,” said Peter Sweeney, the region’s commissioner of community services."

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“We recognize that every individual currently residing at 100 Victoria has their own unique story and their own unique needs,” he continued. “We’ll be spending the intensive time to build those relationships, and enhance those relationships, to do everything we can to meet their unique and specific needs.”

The region also said staff have already started warning encampment residents of the proposed bylaw.

On Wednesday, garbage bins and a trailer were moved onto the property. The region said the trailer was there to “facilitate meetings with residents.”

Encampment costs

The region said it costs $793,944 a year, or $66,162 a month, to maintain 100 Victoria Street North. That covers security, pest control, portable toilets, garbage removal, servicing and maintenance. Excluded from that is the cost of social supports, outreach, facilities and visits from bylaw officers, who are called to the site regularly.

On Wednesday, the region provided a projected cost breakdown from April to November.

The net amount was estimated at $814,333. The included items are as follows:

• Supportive housing units (new) - $271,250
• Scattered site rent supplements with social supports (existing) - $183,750
• Motels with social supports (new) - $466,083
• Site Remediation (new) - $77,000
• Internal reallocation - $183,750 deducted

The region also provided a cost projection for 2026 and 2027 if the proposed bylaw is approved by council.

Court battle

The encampment has been a contentious issue from the start.

The region initially announced an eviction deadline of June 30, 2022. At that time, there were more than 50 tents set up at the site. On what was supposed to be move out day, the encampment remained in place as demonstrators joined residents in protest.

The region then filed court papers to remove the encampment and, the following day, a free legal clinic was held for those living at 100 Victoria Street.

The court battle began in November 2022. The region maintained the encampment was unsafe, dangerous and chaotic, while the opposing side argued the region didn’t take adequate measures to address the concerns of residents. In January 2023, the judge ruled the encampment could stay because the region did not have “adequate, accessible shelter spaces for its homeless population.”

Now that the December 2025 deadline has been set, the region said it intends on “seeking further direction from the Superior Court of Justice to the extent this is feasible and compatible with the anticipated construction schedule.”

Kitchener Central Transit Hub

Plans for the Kitchener Central Transit Hub have been in the works since 2013.

The region said the goal was to create a centralized location for all regional transit and strengthen the Toronto-Waterloo corridor.

“Connecting services like ION light rail, Grand River Transit buses, GO trains and buses, VIA Rail, car shares, neuron scooters and bikes,” explained Doug Spooner, the region’s acting commissioner of transportation. “It really offers us an opportunity to start and end trips in one place, and a bit of a gateway for the region.”

Once remediation of the site is complete, Metrolinx will be raising a section of the rail tracks between King Street and Weber Street, then move the rail platform from Weber Street and Ahrens Street to the rail corridor between King Street and Duke Street. Metrolinx will then build up the ground and make rail modifications before constructing a diversion track immediately behind 100 Victoria Street North.

Crews will then move onto the demolition of the parts of the Rumpel Felt building that is not covered by a heritage designation.

“We’ll do some work with the heritage features of the Rumpel Felt building and then we’ll move through more mixed use and community development,” Spooner explained.

As for the businesses already located on the property, the region said they will not be closing anytime soon.

“The tenant businesses continue to operate under their existing leases at 70 Victoria,” an email to CTV News read. “Tenants and the community will be updated as things progress.”

Construction on Victoria Street North is expected to begin in 2026. Then, from 2027 to 2030, crews will build the hub, as well as a bus loop, pedestrian bridge and ramp.

“There are obviously transit functions, transportation functions,” Spooner said. “But we also see it as a community space and then a potential gathering space.”

Once construction of the transit hub is complete, the remaining land will be used for commercial and residential development. The region promised those projects will also include affordable housing.

Next steps

Construction of the Kitchener Central Transit Hub coincides with other big transportation projects in the Region of Waterloo.

“I think we’re excited about all the projects we’ve got in front of us,” Spooner said. “We’ve got LRT stage two, an initial business case. We’re working with the province on the Cambridge to Guelph GO [Transit] connection. We’ve just started talking about the GRT business plan and improvements there, and a new Cambridge garage. We can do a lot of things at once, and we’re excited to do them all.”

- With additional reporting by Colton Wiens