Waterloo Regional Police put forward $272.6M budget for 2026

The Waterloo Regional Police Service has presented their proposed 2026 budget – and it’s a big one. CTV’s Heather Senoran finds out why the force is asking for

The Waterloo Regional Police Service presented its proposed 2026 budget to the police board on Wednesday, which was $20.1 million over last year’s ask.

The $272.6 million budget would represent 30 per cent of the total tax levy for services in Waterloo Region.

“This equates to a tax impact on the police portion of the property tax bill of approximately 6.75 per cent, based upon the latest assessment growth information we have received,” Kirsten Hand, WRPS’ director of finance and assets, explained at the meeting.

The average household would be on the hook for about $57 more next year if the police budget were approved.

Adding more officers

Police also told the board they wanted to add 20 new uniformed officers to the force

“Thirteen sworn officers will be allocated for frontline policing needs, six to investigative services and then one-half member for the public safety team, one-half to organizational culture division,” said Police Chief Mark Crowell, adding that civilian support workers were also needed for those full-time officers.

“In areas of digital disclosure processing, records management, human resources, strategic

planning, payroll support, technology modernization, cadet program and cybercrime digital forensics,” the report read.

According to Crowell, the hiring of 20 officers is needed for a growing region.

“That was our starting point for recognizing when [there] is a sustainable level of growth, recognizing that all the metrics for, say, officer to population, all the criminal case load and all those needs continue to be present year over year, across our organization,” he explained.

During last year’s budget discussion, some regional councillors pushed back on the hiring of additional police staff.

This year, Crowell said he was “very confident” the 20 positions they asked for would be filled.

“We had hired all those who are authorized in our budgetary process and, heading into 2025, we sustain that level of full authorized staffing, meaning that we have hired every officer and civilian that the budget has allowed,” he told the board.

Crowell also promised there would be a deeper discussion about future hiring plans for the force. The police chief said a four or five-year plan was in the works, that would likely start in 2027, and matched the projected growth of the region.

Next steps

A public input session on the police budget is scheduled for Oct. 27. Then, the budget will be presented again to the police board in November. The goal is to have it finalized by December before it goes to regional council for approval.