Waterloo Regional Police Service Board proposes $24M budget increase

The Waterloo Regional Police Services Board is looking for a 10.5 per cent budget increase.

The 2025 police budget, for $252.5 million, was approved by the police board on Wednesday afternoon. The proposal is $24 million more than last year’s budget, meaning the average taxpayer could pay an additional $67 on their regional taxes if approved by Waterloo Regional Council.

What’s driving the increase?

Some of the major factors cited for the increase include contractual salary obligations and benefits agreements. Staff changes also account for some of the bump, including 18 new officers hired this year and another 18 officers scheduled to be brought on next year.

“We have overtime costs and demands that are much higher than we would like,” said Chief Mark Crowell of the Waterloo Regional Police Service. “The onboarding of each new officer is a 12-month undertaking.”

Police said nearly 24,000 overtime hours were logged this year, up 19 per cent from 2023. The bulk of the overtime was attributed to the neighbourhood policing and investigations division.

In a document included in the meeting notes, police reported they were over their budget by $4,468,000 for overtime expenditures. The document also stated the extra costs were due primarily to being under-staffed.

Plans to build a new three-storey communications centre at the Maple Grove headquarters also factored into the increase. Approximately $610,000 was earmarked for the building in the 2025 budget.

The WRPS budget also included $9 million for regional services and programs, such as upgrading 911 phone lines and streamlined dispatch services.