Federal housing minister Nathaniel Erskine-Smith was at Grand River Transit's maintenance and storage facility in Waterloo on Monday to announce a 10-year, nearly $72 million funding allocation set to improve and maintain the region's transit infrastructure.
A further $18 million in combined funding from the feds and the region will support the region’s homelessness encampment response plans.
Erskine Smith joined Waterloo MP Bardish Chagger and Kitchener South-Hespeler MP Valerie Bradford for to announce the funding coming to the region through the new Canada Public Transit Fund’s Baseline Funding stream.
The funding, beginning in 2026, will upgrade, replace, or modernize the region’s public transit infrastructure, and maintain it in a state of good repair.
This investment, beginning in 2026 until 2036, will help increase the housing supply and affordability as part of complete, transit-oriented communities, while helping to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and mitigate the impacts of climate change.
The combined investments in housing will, over two years, renovate and re-open a women’s shelter in Kitchener, as well as operating temporary shelter space during the renovation.
This will create and operate 66 dedicated shelter spaces for women. Through this work, women experiencing unsheltered homelessness will also be supported in applying for and transitioning to affordable housing.
“We are committed to building affordable, connected and sustainable communities across the country. The federal government’s investments in the Region of Waterloo will make a big difference,” Erskine-Smith said in a press release.
“This long-term investment will help the Region of Waterloo maintain and expand the transit system that our community relies on and is proud of. Providing transit service for people that takes them from where they live to where they want to go is the backbone of a transit system that will support Waterloo Region as it continues to grow," added Regional Chair Karen Redman.