Methodology: Between July 9 & July 21 we distributed a digital poll via Google, Twitter & Facebook Ads. The ads were geographically restricted to only be displayed within Waterloo Region. In order to cast the widest net possible within our Region, no other targeting was used (e.g. age, gender, etc). In addition, we distributed the poll to those that had previously opted-in or or subscribed to receive our polls (however this represented less than 3% of responses).

You can see the exact ads used for distribution on Twitter: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] and Facebook: [1] [2] [3] [4]. Google Display Ads cannot be linked but they used a very similar wording & structure.

Reach: The ads garnered >300,000 impressions (views) from which 1747 usable responses were received. An additional 60 responses were received that were unusable; they were identified as duplicate submissions or with locations outside Waterloo Region.

Interested in particpating in future polls? Sign up to subscribe to being emailed 1 to 2 polls per month regarding local Waterloo Region issues. We ask for postal code so that we can organize data by ward/city.

Official Plan

The questions asked were:

- Before today, did you know the Region of Waterloo had an Official Plan? (prior to this question was a preamble explaining the Official Plan, including a link to a summary created by the Region)
- How do you feel the choices/decisions in the Official Plan matter to you and/or your family?
- Would you like to share any thoughts regarding how our region should develop into the future (between now & 2051)? These comments will be delivered in aggregate & anonymously to your ward's Regional Councillor & Regional Staff working on the Official Plan.

1542 people in Waterloo Region responded, as follows:

Official Plan awareness was lowest (albeit not significantly) in groups that think new housing is unimportant and that don’t plan vote. Open/Expand detailed chart

Respondents who were previously aware of the plan were slightly more inclined to say it mattered to them. Open/Expand detailed chart

633 people chose to leave written comments, totalling over 25,000 words. Available upon request, contact team@waterlooregionpolling.ca. A word cloud of the responses weighted by recurrence looks like:

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Housing

The questions asked were:

-How important is it to build new housing?
-Sometimes building new housing and preserving heritage properties can be at odds. Heritage properties include buildings/structures that are of historic and/or architectural interest. In general, how do you feel the two considerations should be prioritized?
-Sometimes building new housing and preserving existing neighourhood attributes can be at odds. Neighborhood attributes include things like average height of buildings (low/mid/highrise), type of housing (townhouse, detached, studio, family, multi-family, etc) etc. In general, how do you feel the two considerations should be prioritized?

1436 people in Waterloo Region responded, as follows:

The most significant variation can be seen among the group that supports the potential removal of Queen Victoria’s statue. There was minimal variation by 2022 vote intent or Official Plan awareness. Open/Expand detailed chart

There was minimal variation by municipality, but more pronounced variation seen by Ward:

Open/Expand municpality chart

Open/Expand Kitchener Wards

Open/Expand Cambridge Wards

Open/Expand Waterloo Wards

The 2nd question was around the desired prioritization between building new housing and preserving heritage:

The most prominent variation was among the group that supports the potential removal of Queen Victoria’s statue. Open/Expand detailed chart

The 3rd question was around the desired prioritization between building new housing and preserving existing neighourhood attributes:

The most prominent variation was among the group that supports the potential removal of Queen Victoria’s statue. Open/Expand detailed chart

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2022 & 2018 Municipal Election

The questions asked were:

-Do you intend to vote in the October 2022 Municipal election? This election is for your city councillor, mayor, region councillor, regional chair and school board trustees.
-Did you vote in the 2018 Municipal election?

1435 people in Waterloo Region responded, as follows:
Observational commentary: Considering that voter turnout is generally between 25-35% for our Region’s municipal elections [CBC Source], we’re not sure if the above illustrates sample bias (e.g. someone likely to click an ad about municipal issues might be more likely than average to vote), optimistic self assessment (planned invent vs. actually getting out to vote in Oct), or something else.

The most prominent variation (albeit not major) in 2022 vote intent was among the groups that did or didn’t previously know about the official plan. Open/Expand detailed chart

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Queen Victoria's Statue

The questions asked were:

-The City of Kitchener is beginning an engagement process to determine the future of the Queen Victoria statue in Victoria Park. One possible outcome of this process could be the removal of the statue from the park. How do you feel about the possible removal of the statue?
-Learn more about the proposed engagement process. Regardless to the outcome, how confident are you in the engagement process mentioned above?
-Sometimes building new housing and preserving existing neighourhood attributes can be at odds. Neighborhood attributes include things like average height of buildings (low/mid/highrise), type of housing (townhouse, detached, studio, family, multi-family, etc) etc. In general, how do you feel the two considerations should be prioritized?

1625 people in Waterloo Region responded, as follows:

The municpalities in order of least supportive to most were: Townships, Cambridge, Kitchener, Waterloo. Open/Expand municpality chart

672 respondents live in Kitchener, their responses by ward are shown below. Of note, Victoria Park is in Ward 9 with Ward 8 and 10 being the next closest to Victoria Park.
Viewing the 672 Kitchener responses relative to other questions asks looks as follows. The most prominent variation was among the small group (6.5% of responses, 43 total) that thinks new housing is unimportant. There was minimal variation by 2022 vote intent or Official Plan awareness.
Looking at the 2nd question around confidence in the outlined City of Kitchener engagement process showed overall lack of confidence. 55% were (very or mildly) unconfident while only 17% were (very or mildly) confident, 28% were neutral.
Of note, desire for the removal was positively correlated with confidence in the process. Confidence did not materially differ by previous knowledge of the Official Plan or vote intent.

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We have additional data analysis available. If further data or analysis could be useful to you to help make Waterloo Region the best it can be, please reach out to us at contact@waterlooregionpolling.ca. Per our terms/privacy policy, we will never share personal information but we will do our best to enable anonymized/aggregate data to be used to help Waterloo Region decision makers and stakeholders.

Are you interested in commissioning your own local poll or recommending topics we should poll on? Let us know. We can make it happen. contact@waterlooregionpolling.ca