Canada Day celebrations in Waterloo will be dialed back significantly this year.
The University of Waterloo recently announced they will put on fireworks, but have no day-long celebrations at Columbia Lake.
The community has been given a year’s notice from the university that it will no longer be putting on Canada Day festivities to the same extent in 2020.
Many are now wondering if someone else will pick up the responsibilities.
The university has been paying for and organizing the party for more than 30 years, and says it still wants to deliver some form of celebration for the event in the future.
Going forward, it says it will be working with the city and other community leaders to find different or new ways to deliver Canada Day celebrations in Waterloo.
Rising costs and a lack of volunteers have the school re-thinking its involvement.
It says costs are approaching $250,000, and they believe that's going to increase every year going forward.
“Especially in the last couple of years, the costs to deliver a high impact entertainment event with entertainers, activities, and to cover security costs as well, the costs were growing significantly every year,” said Sandra Banks, the university's vice-president of relations.
CTV Kitchener has reached out to Waterloo Mayor Dave Jaworsky, local businesses, and the region to see if there are any plans in the works for Canada Day 2020.
