How cities in southern Ontario are preparing for St. Patrick’s Day street parties

To the chagrin of communities, schools and emergency services, St. Patrick’s Day parties have become an annual tradition for university students.

Thousands crowd the streets almost every March 17th to mark the holiday.

Some community members, however, argue these unsanctioned parties are “culturally offensive.”

This year St. Patrick’s Day falls on a Sunday, so it’s not guaranteed that we’ll see the same massive crowds as past years.

Here’s a roundup of how communities across southwestern Ontario are preparing for the day.

Kitchener-Waterloo

A number of steps have been taken ahead of the infamous St. Patrick’s Day street party in Waterloo’s University District.

Crews began putting up fencing along Ezra Avenue on Wednesday morning, which has typically been the centre of the unsanctioned street festivities. In recent years, however, the fencing has prompted students to move over to the nearby Marshall Street.

A worker erects fencing along Ezra Avenue in Waterloo's University District on March 13, 2024 in preparation for St. Patrick's Day. (Chris Thomson/CTV Kitchener)

“We would absolutely prefer [the party] not happen,” Waterloo Mayor Dorothy McCabe said in 2023. “If it is happening, one of our priorities is to ensure the people who are attending are safe, or as safe as possible. So that’s really the reason for moving off Ezra, because it’s a very contained area and difficult to get into if there is an emergency to respond to.”

Parking restrictions are also in effect on Saturday and Sunday, between Albert Street, Columbia Street, Weber Street and Bridgeport Road. The city said any vehicle parked within those boundaries will be ticketed, even if they have a registered overnight parking exemption.

MORE: See where fencing has gone up and street parking restrictions

Waterloo regional police, meanwhile, have installed surveillance cameras around the University district. A post on their website said the CCTV pilot project, over a four-day period, would “support police response to crowd management issues and respond to criminal events in relation to St. Patrick’s Day.” Signs indicating their presence have been set up on Noecker Street, Brighton Street and Elgin Street. Police added any video not needed for prosecution of criminal actions will be permanently deleted after March 19.

CTV News spotted signs like this on Noecker Street, Brighton Street, and Elgin Street in Waterloo's University District. (Chris Thomson/CTV Kitchener)

CTV News reached out to the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario about the CCTV cameras and were told that local police services must comply with the privacy act and delete all unnecessary files within a reasonable timeframe. They also said: “We have not been notified of any other St. Patrick’s Day program like the one described in media reports.”

Police laid 232 charges over St. Patrick’s Day weekend in 2023. They said 80 per cent of those were for liquor or traffic violations. Two officers also had minor injuries after responding to a report of property damage on Marshall Street.

Back in 2022, 147 charges were laid by police, 19 people were arrested and within a 22-hour period there were 328 calls for service. An estimated 4,000 people turned out for that unsanctioned party, the first big St. Patrick’s Day celebration since the start of the pandemic.

Previous years, the crowd size has ranged from 15,000 to 20,000 people.

Thousands of people flooded into Ezra Avenue in Waterloo to celebrate St. Patrick's Day on Thursday, March 17, 2016. (Marc Venema / CTV Kitchener)

Guelph

According to the City of Guelph, police and bylaw officers responded to 23 noise complaints stemming from St. Patrick’s Day parties in 2023. Only one ticket was issued for loud music. Guelph police also stopped nearly a thousand cars through their RIDE program, with only 12 charges laid, including one arrest for impaired driving.

Ahead of this year’s celebrations, the University of Guelph announced it would once again set up a Campus Alcohol Recovery Room with the goal of alleviating pressure on the local hospital. The school said the six-bed site offers a “non-judgemental, safe space where students who have overconsumed alcohol can recover with supervision from a team of nursing staff, addiction support workers and paid student staff.”

The Campus Alcohol Recovery Room (CARR) will be open from 10 p.m. Saturday to 6 a.m. on Sunday.

No street closures have been announced in the City of Guelph, but police previously said additional officers will be on campus to monitor the situation. Residents can report noise or nuisance complaints to Guelph Police at 519-824-1212, ext. 0. Parking issues can be called in to the bylaw department at 519-837-2529, or emailed to [e-mail].

Guelph also has plans to put video surveillance cameras in the downtown core, but they won’t be installed for this years festivities. The 14 closed-circuit cameras will be set up to “support a reduction of crime and increase feelings of safety,” the city previously explained a media release. While they won’t be actively monitored, the city said they will be used to keep an eye on future gatherings like St. Patrick’s Day and Homecoming celebrations.

London

Police, bylaw and emergency services are preparing for a busy weekend in the City of London.

Fanshawe College, with support from its student union, said they planned to distribute between 400 and 500 care packages to students living in residence. Those included water and snacks.

The city doesn’t want to see a repeat of St. Patrick’s Day 2012.

A riot broke out in the rowdy and intoxicated crowd of nearly 1,000 people. Authorities were attacked, a CTV News truck was flipped and set on fire, and Fleming Drive was left looking like a war zone. Close to 70 people were arrested and more than 170 charges were laid.

A vehicle burns during a riot on London, Ont., in the early hours of Sunday, March 18, 2012. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/London Community News-Mike Maloney)

Hamilton

The City of Hamilton has enacted a nuisance party bylaw to deter large streets gatherings near the McMaster University campus.

First enacted last year, the bylaw prohibits the “planning, promoting, attending, or participating in any street parties.” Anyone who violates it could be fined anywhere from $300 to $500, as well as further penalties. The current bylaw remains in effect until Monday.

Despite these efforts from the city, they received 49 calls about unsanctioned parties near the Westdale and Ainslie Wood neighbourhoods in March 2023. Five people were ultimately arrested and 10 provincial offence notices were laid.

- With files from CTV Toronto and CTV London