Now in its ninth year running, the need for backpacks continues to grow. This year, the Waterloo Regional Police are calling out for more backpacks as they currently do not have enough to meet the demands of the program. Cherri Greeno is the director of corporate affairs with the WRPS and speaks about how the challenge got its start, and the needs of this year’s challenge. Radio Waterloo also speaks with Yasmin Haloubi, the fundraising manager with Reception House, one of the receiving organizations that distribute the backpacks to the community about the impact and importance of the program.
Find out more about the WRPS backpack challenge here.
Kitchener, ON — Waterloo Region Council has unanimously passed a motion to study the potential impacts of future data centre development in the Region, following concerns raised by residents about water use, electricity demand and infrastructure.
Regional Councillor Colleen James brought the motion during Tuesday’s Sustainability, Infrastructure and Development Committee meeting. It directs Regional staff to examine the economic, environmental, infrastructure and fiscal implications of data centres, as well as community safeguards and best practices in other jurisdictions.
The council approved the motion with two amendments, including additional consideration of source water protection and impacts on traditional lands. Regional staff will report their findings back to Council by the first quarter of 2027.
The discussion comes as the rapid growth of artificial intelligence drives demand for larger and more energy-intensive data centres across Canada and beyond.
Waterloo Region already hosts data centres, including Ascent’s facility in Cambridge. James says the motion is not intended to approve or reject any specific project, but to help the Region understand how future facilities could affect its infrastructure and environment.
Residents who spoke at the meeting raised particular concerns about water consumption and the Region’s reliance on groundwater.
James says the goal is to gather information now so future councils can make informed decisions about data centre development.
Kitchener, ON — St. John’s Kitchen in Kitchener has permanently expanded its services to operate around the clock, responding to growing demand from people experiencing homelessness in Waterloo Region.
The kitchen, operated by The Working Centre, began its new 24/7 schedule on July 27. It now welcomes drop-ins from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., before providing overnight support from 9 p.m. to 7:30 a.m. The facility closes briefly each morning for cleaning and setup.
The expansion comes as homelessness continues to grow across the region. The Region of Waterloo reported in 2024 that chronic homelessness had increased by an average of 28 per cent each year since 2020. Joe Mancini, director and co-founder of The Working Centre, says the growing number of people experiencing homelessness has put increasing pressure on services.
In this story, we speak with Mancini, St. John’s Kitchen staff and volunteers, and a person experiencing homelessness about the impact of the kitchen The interviews explore what the 24/7 operation means for people using the facility, how staff respond to the growing demand, and the broader housing, employment and drug-related factors contributing to homelessness in Waterloo Region.
Kitchener, ON — For the first time, King Street in downtown Kitchener has been transformed into a week-long pedestrian-only space as the City launches King Street Unplugged, a pilot project aimed at creating a more people-focused downtown.
Running from July 26 to 31, the event closes a section of King Street between College and Young Streets to vehicle traffic, replacing it with live entertainment, games, workshops, markets and family-friendly activities. Mayor Berry Vrbanovic says the initiative builds on previous car-free events but marks the city’s first attempt at a week-long pedestrian experience.
Manager of Downtown Development and Innovation Aura Hertzog says the project responds to community feedback seeking more welcoming public spaces where residents can connect while supporting local businesses. If successful, the pilot could become an annual event.
The city will evaluate the initiative by gathering feedback from businesses and visitors, monitoring attendance and measuring community engagement throughout the week.
Local businesses are already seeing positive signs. Mandy Kowitz, owner of Square Peg, says she noticed increased foot traffic on the first day and expects more customers throughout the week.
Visitors also welcomed the idea. Resident Mila Purcell says closing King Street for a full week creates a more enjoyable downtown experience and hopes the event returns next year.
by: dan kellar
Waterloo, ON – Throughout the summer, youth in Waterloo region will be organizing weekly fresh produce markets with vegetables grown at 6 communities gardens and sourced from several local farms. Dozens of youth, aged 14-19 are participating in theYouth in Food Systemsprogram which involves innovative approaches to garden and market management.
In a press release, Grace Ihejiamaizu, the Program Manager for Youth in Food Systems wrote “This year, youth Market Leaders have also helped design different Pay What You Choose approaches for their markets, exploring how fresh, local food can be made more accessible while giving young people practical experience in leadership, teamwork and community engagement.”
The markets run every Wednesday until August 26 at Eastwood Collegiate Institute and Victoria Hills Community Centre in Kitchener, from 4:00pm – 6:00pm, and at the Fiddlesticks Community Centre in Cambridge from 3:00pm – 5:30pm.
This show features an interview with Luma Abuarqoub, the summer Youth Program Assistant for the Youth in Food Systems program. Luma details the work of the youth, and we discuss where the program fits in larger efforts of food security, and how the hazardous air quality brought on by climate change fueled forest fires in northern Ontario have affected their operations this summer.
The YFS program, now in its 5th year, is organised by Seeds of Diversity, a Waterloo based charity focused on seed-saving and resilience in local food systems.
Cambridge, ON – A Cambridge bus driver is bringing a piece of history to local transit terminals through his passion for music. Tracy MacDonnell, a Grand River Transit (GRT) operator, uses his route breaks to step off the bus and play the fife, an 18th-century military instrument similar to a flute, for waiting passengers.
MacDonnell has been playing the fife for 36 years, after first learning the instrument while working at Toronto’s Historic Fort York. What started as a job requirement became a lifelong passion for traditional fife and folk music.
Over the past two decades as a GRT driver in Cambridge, MacDonnell has continued using music as a way to manage the stress of the job and connect with the public. Passengers have often responded positively, with some applauding his performances and sharing their appreciation.
In this CKMS News interview, MacDonnell discusses the history of the fife, how he became a bus driver, and why sharing a brief moment of happiness through music remains meaningful to him.
by: dan kellar Kitchener ON – Ahead of the official municipal campaign period, community builder, housing advocate, and mayoral candidate David Alton has started hosting a series of community townhalls which will focus on how to ensure that all residents share the same rights to live their lives and be integrated in efforts to “build a joyful city”.
The first event, which took place in June was The Right to Belong, with the second in the series The Right to Housing happening Saturday July 25th at the Chandler Mowat Community Centre in Kitchener. The other events will take place once per month in the lead up to the October election.
According to government data including the “Point in Time” count, nearly 2,400 people were experiencing homelessness in Waterloo Region, with about 78% of those folks experiencing “chronic homelessness. Provincially, the rate of homelessness increased by 25% between 2020 and 2024 and across the country according to the federal government “Over the past five years, the total population experiencing homelessness on a single night has increased by 59%”. The total number of homeless folks on any given night in Canada is over 65,000.
Candidate Alton, who was a recipient of the Region of Waterloo’s “Community educator award in housing” told CKMS News that “I see this campaign as a public education opportunity” and that each townhall will lead to calls to action and it is their intent to “Spread these calls to action and these platforms that are community built, to every candidate to try to get them as far as possible.”
The Long Dash Festival is a free, two-day event running between July 25 and 26, exploring the creative intersections between art and science. Hosted at rare Charitable Research Reserve in Cambridge, Ontario, and co-presented by Musagetes, the festival takes its name from the Long Dash Skipper, a brown and orange butterfly found in grassy habitats, including at the site of the festival.
In this segment, I’ll be in conversation with Elwood Jimmy, Indigenous Programs Curator at Musagetes, who highlights how Indigenous knowledge systems and ways of relating to the land inform the approach to programming the festival, and how the festival being sited at rare Charitable Research Reserve has helped shape the experience of the festival over the last three years.
In this conversation, Jimmy mentions Elder Peter Schuler, Elder of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation of the Anishnaabek Peoples. His collection of literary works, “The Sound of the Homeland Drum” was launched at the ArtsEverywhere Festival in Guelph in May 2026 through the Indigenous Otherwise Program, and printed by Publication Studio Guelph, both supported by the Musagetes Foundation. Learn more at publicationstudio.biz/books/the-sound-of-the-homeland-drum/.
The Long Dash Festival is free to attend, and listeners can find the full schedule and learn more about the festival at longdashfestival.ca.
Photo Credit: Illustration by Cai Sepulis courtesy of the Long Dash Festival
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This program is a part of the Local Journalism Initiative and is funded by the Community Radio Fund of Canada, Heritage Canada, and the CKMS Newsroom.
You can access archived versions of this program at radiowaterloo.ca/news, and listen to all the Local Journalism Initiative content at frequencynews.ca
If you want to get in touch with comments, or ideas about stories to cover, email us at news@radiowaterloo.ca
The theme music on today’s show was “Polyvinyl” by Anemoia, courtesy of the Free Music Archive, under the Creative Commons Attribution License. You can find it at the Free Music Archive—freemusicarchive.org
CKMS News -2026-01-27- Water woes in Waterloo Regiondan kellarKitchener, ON – After several years in a row that the aquifers in Waterloo Region have been drawn down more than they have recharged, the municipal government has announced serious water capacity issues and have put a stop fully approving any new developments which require their approval.
The water issues were first publicly disclosed in December 2025, and on January 13th the regional council held a lengthy discussion with staff, residents, and land developers regarding the immediate actions and effects regarding the water issue, and some short and medium term actions the regions will be taking to address the water woes.
This show features an interview with Kevin Thomason, Vice-Chair of the Grand River Environmental Network. Kevin has been following water related issues in Waterloo Region for years and has reviewed the staff report which describes in detail what the problems are.
Additionally, this show features a clip of Sam Nabi of Hold The Line WR delegating at regional council on January 13th.
dan kellar
Kitchener, ON – A new tool for assessing how levels of various services differ between neighbourhoods across Waterloo Region has launched by the One Million Neighbours WR coalition. The first version of its Neighbourhood Services Map ranks each neighbourhood for access levels based on availability of transit, amount of green space, number of schools, libraries, and healthcare infrastructure, and how many community spaces exist.
A key feature of the map is that the calculations account for population, and as the number of residents that call Waterloo Region home grows to over 1,000,000 in the coming decades, keeping track of the equity of resource distribution across communities as they grow will be key to understanding a neighbourhood’s needs.
This show features an interview with KW local Sam Nabi, the project coordinator of One Million Neighbours W, and a board member of Hold the Line WR. The map was created with open source data by Civic Tech WR volunteers who will update the data on the map “at least annually”. You can access the map from Connected KW‘s webpage.
dan kellar Kitchener, ON – As the Waterloo regional police ask for another $20,000,000 dollars to be added to their yearly budget, in addition to $173,000,000 for a new “communications centre”, residents and even some regional councillors are questioning the ballooning expenditures. A primary concern is that yearly multi-million dollar increases to the police budgets are starving other services of funding since council is pressured to keep tax increases low.
The Waterloo Region police budget, which was over $230,00,000 in 2025, has increased by more than $100,000,000 since 2014, and has more than doubled since 2013. This year’s request of over $250,000,000 will represent over 30% of the regional budget. In comparison, housing and homelessness services are budgeted at $165,200,000 for 2026.
The police presented their budget to the Regional Council at the end of November and in a council meeting on December 3rd council heard from the police association and residents. While the police say more money to the force and more cops “will help save residents” delegates noted that funding upstream services, such as housing options and mental health supports, have more impact on reducing crime than more armed cops with “boots on the ground”.
In a surprise move ahead of the budget vote on December 16th, Kitchener Mayor Berry Vrbanovic put forth a motion to block the police’s capital budget saying the new communications centre is “beyond their mandate” and it “is highly unlikely that all three emergency services would engage in this partnership in any foreseeable future”. However the same motion calls for the approval of the $20,000,000 yearly increase to the police budget.
This show features audio from both the December 3rd and November 26th council meetings.
dan kellar
Kitchener, ON – A new space for folks to escape from the cold and receive food and social supports has opened in Kitchener as cold winter weather has set early in Waterloo Region. Thresholds Homes and Supports opened the doors to the new 30 bed overnight warming centre at 298 Lawrence Avenue in November. The new centre will serve any who is 18+ and is inclusive of all gender identities.
In a press release ahead of the opening Jessica Hill, the new warming centre’s team lead is quoted “We are working hard to go beyond giving people a place to warm up, and will have staff on site, including a peer support worker, to connect folks with other supports, and provide a hot meal and snacks to take with them when they leave.”.
The new warming centre comes at a critical time as homelessness continues to plague an increasing number of local residents. The provincial 2024 “Point-in-time” count found that nearly 2,400 people were experiencing homelessness in Waterloo Region, with about 78% of those folks experiencing “chronic homelessness. At the time only 301 shelter beds were available regionally, and with the new overnight 30 bed warming centre, the number is still well below the required capacity.
This show features an interview with Jessica Hill, the team lead of Thresholds Homes and Supports’ new overnight warming centre in Kitchener.
dan kellar Kitchener, ON – Adding to the tool box to build housing in Kitchener faster, the city has fully endorsed the federal government’s new Housing Design Catalogue, which makes full “off the shelf” building design plans available free of charge. Further the city has fast tracked parts of the application process to make sure that zoning compliance approval is done within 15 days of application, and building permit review is completed within 10 days.
In a recent press release from the city, Kitchener Mayor Berry Vrbanovic said “Together, with Kitchener’s flexible planning frameworks and resources and Canada’s new guide, we’re making it easier to build more housing across our city.”
The press release also claims that the housing design catalogue “aims to make housing more affordable and accessible, providing pre-designed, adaptable housing plans for homeowners and builders, including backyard homes, fourplexes, stacked townhouses and sixplexes.
You can check out the approved designs on the City of Kitchener’s and the CHMC’s websites.
This show features an interview with Katie Anderl from Kitchener’s housing and policy division and Tim Benedict, the manager of building in the city’s building division.
dan kellar Kitchener, ON – Following years of development and adhering to a provincial edict, the Kitchener Fire Department has launched the “next generation” of 911 services in the region. The upgrades reflect the changes in the ways people communicate with 911, primarily the uptake of mobile phones and the abandonment of land lines.
Next generation 911 will use Internet Protocol tracking to get a more precise location of the caller and allow for faster communication of details between the caller, the dispatch centre, and fire crews rushing to a scene.
The changes to 911 services have been underway since 2022 when the mandate to upgrade was announced by the federal Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission.
The government of Ontario has been supporting the transition over the past three years with $208,000,000 in grants across the province since 2022. The Kitchener Fire Department has received $650,000 of those provincial grants while the Waterloo regional police service has been given $3,8000,000.
This show features an interview with Jamal Alam, who has spent the past 3 years as the Program Manager of Fire Systems and Projects with the Kitchener Fire Department. Alam has been with the Kitchener Fire Department for 9 years.
dan kellar
Waterloo – Becoming the first Canadian to hold the role, Waterloo NDP MPP Catherine Fife was elected to lead the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians (CWP) at the organization’s conference in early October. Fife becomes the 8th chairperson in the organization’s history.
According to the group’s website, the CWP is the network of women members of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association’s Parliaments and Legislatures and is a means of” building the capacity of women elected to Parliament to be more effective in their roles”. Fife notes that it is a “huge responsibility” but adds that “this is the kind of work that also gives me energy”.
MPP Fife says she hopes to focus her efforts around access to education, democratic engagement, human rights and climate change.
The CWP over 3,000 Women Parliamentarians, in over 180 Commonwealth national and sub-national Parliaments, .
This show features an interview with MPP Fife, who is excited to take on the role which she says is “a great opportunity to learn, and take things to the next level.”
dan kellar Kitchener, ON – A proposed development 1700 Strasburg Road in Kitchener’s ward 5 received preliminary approval at the planning committee meeting on October 27th. Saying “the people we hire and create these reports are experts… and no offense to any of the delegates, but we are not all experts… we didn’t all go to school for this” ward 3 councilor Jason Denault supported the decision.
The project would see a nearly 40 acre plot of land which abuts the Huron Natural Area (HNA), transformed into a 10 unit industrial space. The proposal will next be considered for approval at the city council meeting on November 10th.
Representatives of the grassroots environmental groupProtect Huron Natural Area delegated at the meeting, alongside other concerned residents, and the project proponent’s consultants. City staff recommended the approval of the project
This show features interviews with Ray Angod and Yvonne Fernandes Protect Huron Natural Area. CKMS News asked the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forests about the inconsistencies between the survey information and the report, but did not receive a response.
dan kellar Waterloo, ON – On Thursday September 18th, retired professor Peter Eglin received word from Wilfrid Laurier University’s Safety, Health, Environment & Risk Management division, that the September 19th event he was helping to organize and speak at, would be postponed because they required more time to “do a proper risk assessment.”
The event was a discussion between Eglin, who released the book Analysing the Israel Effect in Canada: A Critical Auto-Ethnography in 2024, and political activist and author, and NDP leadership hopeful Yves Engler, entitled Canada and the Genocide in Gaza. The event was to be moderated by PhD candidate and peace activist Tamara Lorincz, and was scheduled through the University’s online booking platform on August 27th.
On the 19th, the organizers decided to push forward with the event, and it did take place, without incident, in the common area outside the locked classroom, with 50 people in attendance. Security dropped by the discussion, but did not disrupt the event, and, according to Eglin, did not stick around for too long before leaving.
This show features an interview with Dr. Peter Eglin. CKMS News reached out to WLU and initially received responses which are referenced in the interview. However, the school did not respond to follow-up questions regarding any possible threats the school received, how long an assessment usually takes, or if anyone pressured the school to review the event.
dan kellar Kitchener, ON –The Child Witness Centre is a Kitchener based organisation which provides support to young victims or witnesses to crime or abuse. Among their activities, the organisation provides referrals to counseling services, provides education, guidance, and support through police investigations and court processes, and provides strategies for coping and safety planning.
As Robin Heald, the Executive Director of the Child Witness Centre said to CKMS News, these children are “perhaps having the worst day of their lives”.
During this year’s Doors Open Waterloo Region on Saturday September 20th, Child Witness is opening its doors to the public, for the first time in the organization’s decades long history, to spread awareness about the work done to support child victims or witnesses to crime or abuse.
This show features an interview with Robin Heald, the Executive Director of the Child Witness Centre.
dan kellar
Waterloo Region, ON – Most people that have walked with us say they have been transformed in how they appreciate the water and appreciate the land”. Those are the worlds of Mary Anne Caibaiosai, an Anishnaabe woman who has since 2018 been organising the Grand River Water Walk. Caibaiosai spoke to CKMS News earlier this week.
Now in its 3rd year of its second 4 year cycle, Caibaiosai also reminds folks that the walk is not a “social event or political statement, but a ceremony. This year’s walk, which begins on September 21st at the mouth of the river near Dundalk “is for the water behind the dams”. The walk, down to the river’s mouth at Lake Erie, is for people of all nations and it follows the protocols of Josephine-baa Mandamin, who led water walks around the Great Lakes prior to her passing in 2019.
This show features an interview with Mary Anne Caibaiosai
dan kellar
Woolwich, ON – The Region of Waterloo’s four rural townships are hosting their 5th annual Taste The Countryside initiative, launching on September 15th with the Countryside Harvest Meal. Along with the fundraising dinner, the other main event is a 10-day “Dining Trail”, which begins on September 25th, has been organised to highlight restaurants throughout the townships.
While the overall initiative seeks to support farm-to-table dining in the region, this year’s organizers are also putting a focus on local food security with a portion of the Harvest Meal’s ticket sales going to support local food banks. Taste the Countryside’s support for local food banks is very timely; according to the The Food Bank of Waterloo Region, 1 in 8 households across the region access food from support organizations.
This show features an interview with Kurtis Wells, the Economic Development and Tourism Officer for the Township of Woolwich.
Background restaurant noise was pulled from WikiCommons and is public domain.
dan kellar Kitchener – Caribana Ignite, a celebration of Caribbean culture, has returned to Waterloo Region, with events taking place throughout the summer and culminating in a two-day family-friendly festival and Carnival parade in late August. For its second year, along with all the new lead-up events, the festival organisers have also teamed up with a costume designer to offer special Carnival costumes, which are only available to residents of Waterloo Region.
From an ongoing weekly patio night in Kitchener, to presenting at an Argo’s game, to a pop-cup caribana in Waterloo and attending regional events, the Caribana Arts Group has organised a summer full of events ending with the a street festival in downtown Kitchener on August 22nd and 23rd. Over 15,000 people attend the inaugural festival in 2024.
This show features interviews with Geraldine Stafford an organiser of the Caribana Ignite festival and Steve Roth, the manager of special events for the City of Kitchener.
dan kellar
Kitchener, ON – Before shutting down the Ontario legislature on June 9th for a four month summer break, Doug Ford’s conservative party rushed through new legislation that gives the government the power to ignore environmental and labour laws and bypass Indigenous rights through the creation of so-called “special economic zones“. Bill 5, also gives the government the ability to ignore planning regulations and municipal by-laws for new developments which it deems “critical”.
This show features an interview with Kitchener Centre Green Party MPP Aislinn Clancy about the new legislation and the ongoing work the Green Party is doing to bring awareness and support Ontario residents in pushing back against the new legislation. Thousands of Ontarians have taken part in protests against Bill 5, and the Green Party has been touring the province speaking with organizers and holding community meetings.
Also included is a statement CKMS News received from the office of Kitchener Conestoga Conservative MPP Mike Harris Jr, defending the legislation.
dan kellar
Kitchener, ON – The Region of Waterloo will be piloting modifications to three roundabouts to find ways to make them safer and more comfortable for pedestrians to traverse the intersections. The pilot program will run for a year from September 2025 when the modifications are installed, and a report is expected to be delivered to the Regional council in late 2026.
The 3 roundabouts included in the pilot are Homer Watson Boulevard and Block Line Road in Kitchener, Franklin Boulevard and Bishop Street in Cambridge, and Erb Street W and Ira Needles Boulevard in Waterloo.
This show features an interview with Darryl Spencer, the Manager of Transportation Engineering for the Region of Waterloo who told CKMS News that “statistically speaking we do have a good track record at our roundabouts… but we do hear feedback from members of the public that some of these roundabouts are a safety concern”.
dan kellar
Kitchener, ON – Kitchener is piloting a new free program this summer aimed to get kids outdoors and interacting with each other and with nature. The program, which started on July 2nd is called Play in the Park and will run weekdays from 10am-noon until August 22nd at three neighbourhood parks spread across Kitchener: Wilson Park, Morgan Park, and Gzowski Park.
In a press release Mayor Berry Vrbanovic said “Play in the Park will offer organized outdoor activities that encourage a greater appreciation of nature, our parks and our environment. Some of the best childhood memories come from exploring the outdoors in the summer and discovering new things with friends.” Play in the Park is a drop-in program which does not require registration.
This show features an interview with Lori Palubeski, the manager of neighbourhood programs and services at the City of Kitchener.
dan kellar Kitchener, ON – The Library of Things of Kitchener-Waterloo has been awarded a big grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation which will facilitate a new project and lead to 5 new part-time staff positions for folks who have developmental or intellectual disabilities. The $440,100 grant was celebrated at the annual community garage sale on June 24th at the organization’s headquarters on Moore St in Kitchener.
The LoT, which freely lends out items such as tools, camping gear, and kitchen appliances, and is the social enterprise of the charitable service organization Extend-a-Family has a mission to “build a sharing economy in Waterloo Region by equipping individuals with the tools and resources they need to create, build, and explore, while fostering equity through meaningful employment opportunities for people with disabilities.”
This episode features clips from speeches given at the event, including from Kitchener-Centre Green Party MPP Aislinn Clancy, and a short interview with Kim Sproul, the Community Program Manager for the Library of Things.
