The city of Waterloo was granted an injunction order for St. Patrick’s Day weekend from Friday, March 14 at 12 a.m. to Monday, March 17 at 11:59 p.m.

The order, granted by the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, means that anyone attending, hosting, creating, sponsoring, or allowing a nuisance party or unsanctioned street gathering, or otherwise violating the city’s nuisance bylaw in the university district could be arrested, detained, and charged with disobeying a court order.

Jen Davis, Deputy Chief of the Waterloo Regional Police Service (WRPS), explained that the order creates more jeopardy for those found to be in contravention of the nuisance bylaw. 

“Now it attaches a criminal charge to anyone who would be contravening that bylaw,” Davis said. “So you would actually be charged with breaching a court order now, because the injunction is actually a court order – that’s the difference. So instead of it being a ticket for a bylaw offence, you can actually be charged with a criminal code offence for breach of a court order.”

The university district includes Northdale and MacGregor neighbourhoods, the southern portion of the Sugarbush neighbourhood, and a majority of the uptown neighbourhood. It also includes Waterloo Park.

Nicholas Pfeifle, the president of the Waterloo Undergraduate Student Association (WUSA), said he felt blindsided by the decision, and that it is the wrong approach. He said that Waterloo Town and Gown Committee, a group he is part of that consists of UW students, other postsecondary institutions, the city of Waterloo, police and the community, had been working on long-term plans for how to resolve issues around street parties. 

This group was not informed or included in discussions about this injunction. “Having received a court injunction does feel like we’re ignoring all the work we’ve done so far,” Pfeifle said. He added that the timing of the announcement allows no room for discussion or for students to delegate at Waterloo city council, as the next meeting is scheduled for March 24, after St. Patrick’s Day weekend. 

Nicole Papke, director of municipal enforcement for the city of Waterloo, noted that the city applied for the injunction last week. “The idea of using an injunction happened in Wasaga Beach a couple of years ago,” Papke explained, referring to an incident that occurred in August 2023. “They were having some challenges with street racing every weekend, so they used that as a way that they could remediate that.”

“It probably seems like a really extreme measure, but it is the hope that with this advanced communication and the information, we can deter people from wanting to attend. We encourage people to celebrate responsibly, whether it be at our local establishments or local gatherings,” Papke said.

The city of Waterloo and WRPS will continue with measures from previous years, including a parking ban within areas bounded by Albert Street, Bridgeport Road, Columbia Street and Weber Street North, fencing installed on and around Ezra Avenue, and closed circuit television cameras installed on streetlights in the area. There will also be signage mentioning the injunction, featuring a QR code that will provide further information. 

“I’m worried about the precedent this sets,” Pfeifle said, of the injunction. “It really is framing the issue as residents against themselves, and I don’t think that is a fair way of putting it. It’s been a really disappointing decision, and it has some other consequences that I don’t know if people really thought through.

“A great example of this is once Ezra was shut down a few years ago, [students] just moved things to Marshall. We’re really just burdening private individuals with the cost of this, as opposed to dealing with it socially.”

Pfeifle said he did not think that this injunction would necessarily stop students from attending. He added that if students were not going out in the street, there could be many more fire alarm calls in buildings from students partying indoors. “So I’m wondering if we’re trading off paramedic responses for fire responses.”

He added that WUSA is not against students engaging in nightlife, and that students provide an economic boon for the region of Waterloo. “The potential upsides here are quite substantial, and by being so heavy handed, we’re kind of killing our golden goose,” Pfeifle said.

In 2024, WRPS laid 257 charges and spent about $318,000 in connection to St. Patrick’s Day weekend, from March 15 to 17. Most of the charges were related to the Highway Traffic Act (147) and the Liquor Licence and Control Act (90). Other charges were related to the Criminal Code (8), bylaw (1), Trespass to Property Act (1), Cannabis Control Act (1) and Other (1). The WRPS report specified that eight of these were UW students. Papke noted that regional paramedics received 32 calls for service in the area last year, and had 17 transports to hospital.

Compared to 2023, there were a similar number of charges laid (232) and a $51,000 increase in spending. 

Davis noted that the WRPS has continually taken different approaches to address the St. Patrick’s Day festivities, and that since 2022, the number of people attending has increased. “We aren’t at our pre-pandemic levels, but we’ve seen those numbers creep up to over 9,000 people again last year, and that’s even more than the previous two years,” Davis said.

“Our priority really is public safety, not only for the students that are attending, but also for the communities that are impacted by these events. It’s not about trying to disrupt their ability to enjoy themselves and enjoy their friendships, but it’s really about how do we do it in an environment that’s safe,” Davis said. “That’s why we’re encouraging them to celebrate, but celebrate in licensed establishments instead of the unsanctioned street gathering.”

Papke noted that the events has been going on for many years, and reached a “tipping point” in 2019 when more than 33,000 people in attendance. “That resulted in 69 transfers to hospital by regional paramedics,” Papke said.

Papke added that the unsanctioned way that this event happens differs from gatherings such as Oktoberfest. “It’s really different when it’s a sanctioned event, there’s cost associated, a budget associated, you’re monitoring it, you’re monitoring what people are drinking and being served,” Papke said.

Pfeifle encouraged students to be aware of their legal options and to check out WUSA’s legal services.