Introduction

We’re exploring different ways to grow!

Just as they always have, Kitchener’s neighbourhoods are growing to meet the changing needs of our community members, both existing and new. Responsible and equitable ways to accommodate growth will lead to a more vibrant and sustainable Kitchener with more to offer, including homes, shops, services and community spaces that can meet all our needs.

This means directing most of our future growth toward areas of the city with a higher concentration of buildings and infrastructure, in support of our collective objectives for Kitchener, as reflected in our Strategic Plan and Kitchener 2051 Community Values.

Doing so will:

  • Help limit sprawl and protect farmland and natural areas

  • Make public transit more accessible to more people

  • Create more opportunities to shop locally, and allow people to spend more time in more vibrant spaces in all our neighbourhoods

  • Enable more housing choice, with the goal of providing a home within every neighbourhood that meets the needs of our diverse and diversifying community

Why are we doing this?

Kitchener is forecasted to grow by approximately 150,000 residents and 57,000 new jobs by 2051. Historically, the City focused on growing outwards in new suburbs. Starting in the early 2000s, City Planners created the “Kitchener Growth Management Strategy” to shape growth within the existing built-up area. This informed the City of Kitchener’s 2014 Official Plan which focuses on new growth in “nodes” such as major intersections or commercial areas, and along “corridors” being streets served by transit.

Now, Kitchener 2051 is exploring ways to complement this approach by allowing different types of housing growth and directing civic investment in other parts of the city in support of our collective objectives.

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