Waterloo Region may use region-owned parking lots, other lands for affordable housing

During a meeting on Wednesday, Waterloo Regional Council directed staff to look into new ways of building affordable housing projects on region-owned land.

The motion, which was put forward by Cambridge Coun. Pam Wolff, notes rental prices increased in Waterloo Region by 141 per cent between 2021 and 2022 as the population boomed.

Get daily National news

Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day.

Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up

By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.

There are now more than 8,000 people on the waitlist for affordable housing in the area with the average wait time being seven years.

Staff are now being asked to look into possible locations and project ideas in an effort to find new ways to deal with the housing crunch.

Earlier this week, Kitchener council also made a similar ask of staff, requesting they look into options such as parking lots and other empty lands to create alternative housing projects.