Waterloo - City of Belgium

Waterloo is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is the smallest of the three cities in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo, and is adjacent to the larger city of Kitchener.

Kitchener and Waterloo are often jointly referred to as Kitchener-Waterloo although they have separate city governments. There have been several attempts to amalgamate the two cities but none have been successful.

The Intelligent Community Forum named Waterloo the Top Intelligent Community of 2007.Waterloo had lost to Taipei in 2006.

Waterloo was built on land that was part of a parcel of 675,000 acres assigned in 1784 to the Iroquois alliance that made up the League of Six Nations. Almost immediately—and with much controversy—the native groups began to sell some of the land. Between 1796 and 1798, 93,000 acres were sold through a Crown Grant to Richard Beasley, with the Six Nations Indians continuing to hold the mortgage on the lands.

The first wave of immigrants to the area were Mennonites from Pennsylvania. They bought deeds to land parcels from Beasley and began moving into the area in 1804. The following year, a group of 26 Mennonites pooled resources to purchase all of the unsold land from Beasley and discharge the mortgage held by the Six Nations Indians.

The Mennonites divided the land into smaller lots; two lots initially owned by Abraham Erb became the central core of Waterloo. Erb is often called the founder of Waterloo, as it was his sawmill and grist mill that became the focal point of the area.

Waterloo's city centre is located near the intersection of King and Erb streets. Since 1961, the centrepiece has been the Waterloo Town Square shopping centre, which underwent a thorough renovation in 2006. Much of the mall was torn down and has been replaced by buildings that emphasize street-facing storefronts.

Historically, the city centre was once along Albert Street, near the Marsland Centre and the Waterloo Public Library. The town hall, fire hall, and farmers' market were located there. Amidst some controversy, all were demolished between 1965 and 1969.

The Grand River flows southward along the east side of the city. In the west end of the city, the Waterloo Moraine provides over 300,000 people in the region with drinking water. Much of the gently hilly Waterloo Moraine underlies existing developed areas. Ongoing urban growth, mostly in the form of low-density residential suburbs , will cover increasing amounts of the remaining undeveloped portions of the Waterloo Moraine.


Until the 1960s, with a few minor exceptions, Waterloo students would attend high school in Berlin/Kitchener. In 1914, Waterloo Lutheran Seminary added a high school department, named the College School, primarily to provide secondary education for prospective seminary students. The College School was discontinued in 1929.


As of 2007, there are four high schools based in Waterloo. Three are operated by the Waterloo Region District School Board: Bluevale Collegiate Institute , Sir John A. Macdonald Secondary School , and Waterloo Collegiate Institute , and one by the Waterloo Catholic District School Board St. David Catholic Secondary School.


The main campuses of the University of Waterloo and Wilfrid Laurier University are located in Waterloo. Kitchener-based Conestoga College also has a Waterloo campus, located at the former University Heights Secondary School on University Avenue near Weber Street. It is double the size of its previous Waterloo campus on King Street, which was sold after the University Heights building was acquired.