Rooted here
The decisions made by councils, school boards, police services, transit agencies, developers and public institutions directly affect daily life across Waterloo Region. They deserve careful, persistent and independent scrutiny.
About The Waterloo Journal
Local news should belong to the community it serves.
Locally owned. Independent. Free for everyone.
The Waterloo Journal is a locally owned, independent news publication serving Kitchener, Waterloo, Cambridge and the surrounding communities.
Founded by students at the University of Waterloo, the Journal is built by volunteers who believe reliable local journalism should be available to everyone—not restricted by a paywall or shaped by the priorities of a distant corporate office.
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Our independence matters.
Many local news outlets are part of large media organizations, including Metroland Media Group and Torstar. The Waterloo Journal is different. We are owned locally, accountable to our readers and focused entirely on the communities we cover.
That gives us the freedom to pursue stories because they matter to Waterloo Region—not because they fit a national strategy, satisfy a corporate mandate or generate the greatest number of clicks.
Free to read
We do not charge readers to access our journalism. Important community information should be available regardless of a person’s income or ability to purchase a subscription.
Accountable
Independence gives us freedom, but it also creates responsibility. We strive to report accurately, distinguish facts from allegations or analysis, link to original documents and correct significant errors transparently.
What we are building
More than a collection of headlines.
Our goal is to help people understand what is happening now, what is coming next and how the region is changing.
Free journalism still requires time, care and resources. As the Journal grows, we will work toward a sustainable model that protects open access while preserving our editorial independence.
The Waterloo Journal is still growing. So is Waterloo Region.