As province looks to split up Peel, what does the future hold for Region of Waterloo?

All eyes are on Peel region Thursday after the province announced plans to dissolve the regional municipality by 2025, but it raises the question of whether the same thing could happen to the Region of Waterloo.

A regional facilitator who will assess upper-tier municipalities in Ontario — including the Region of Waterloo — is expected to be named in the coming weeks.

In a press release, the province said the facilitators will look at six upper-tier municipalities:

• Waterloo.
• Halton.
• Niagara.
• Simcoe.
• Durham.
• York.

"These facilitators will be tasked with reviewing whether the upper-tier government continues to be relevant to the needs of its communities or whether the lower-tier municipalities are mature enough to pursue dissolution," the release from the province said.

"Where they recommend that a two-tier government is still required, the facilitators will also make recommendations on how they can more effectively respond to the issues facing Ontario's fast-growing municipalities today, particularly when it comes to meeting municipal housing pledges and tackling the housing supply crisis."

The move is not a surprise. Ontario's Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Steve Clark introduced legislation in November called the Better Municipal Governance Act and said that the government would appoint facilitators to ensure the regions were ready to "deliver on the government's commitment to tackle the housing supply crisis."

Asked in November if the province ultimately plans to do away with regional levels of government, Clark said he was "not going to presuppose the discussions that take place by the facilitator."

Clark was in Kitchener on Friday for an affordable housing announcement where he said the situation in Peel is very different than in Waterloo region.

Clark did not provide a timeline for when a facilitator would be in place but said "it's not something we're going to be spending a lot of time navel gazing, we need to have some action pretty quickly."

When asked what qualifications a facilitator would have, he said whoever is chosen will have a "very strong core competency" to do the job. He added that while there will be five people sitting on the transition board for Peel region, there will be a single facilitator reviewing Waterloo region.

'We do not want to be split'

Waterloo region politicians reacted to the news about Peel. 

"My first reaction is that we do not want to be split like Peel," regional Chair Karen Redman told CBC News.

"We are looking forward to working with the province and the facilitator and I expect the facilitator will hear from all of the municipalities about the incredible services at municipal staff provide on a daily basis."

Redman said the region is "stronger together" and the area has a "strong history of collaboration."

Kitchener Mayor Berry Vrbanovic agreed there's a "strong history locally" of collaborating between the cities, townships and region.

"As a city, we're going to continue doing the great work we do," he said. "I'm committed to working with both [the province] and my neighbours locally."

Woolwich Mayor Sandy Shantz said in an email that the local municipalities "have collaborated and worked together for 50 years. We will work with the facilitator when the time comes and remain committed to review potential efficiencies together."

North Dumfries Mayor Sue Foxton said in an email that the province's move to dissolve Peel region "is specific to the circumstances that present themselves in that region." Foxton said her township believes facilitators won't take "a cookie-cutter approach to decision making" for the other upper-tier municipalities being reviewed.

"The township shares the province's desire to see more homes built faster and we look forward to learning more about our appointed facilitator and the next steps," Foxton said.

Previous amalgamation talks

How the Region of Waterloo does business was the focus of a previous report in 2019. That year, the province tasked two special advisers — Michael Fenn and former Region of Waterloo chair Ken Seiling — with the job of consulting with municipalities, organizations and the public through meetings, open forums and online submissions as part of a review of regional municipalities.

The report by Seiling and Fenn was delivered to Minister Clark in September 2019 and has never been made public.

In October 2019, Clark said he would not force any regional governments in the province to amalgamate. At the time he offered funding to help municipalities audit their financial books and look at better ways to deliver services to residents.