BESTFORSCHOOL BOARD

School report · Winston Churchill PS, Waterloo

Fund aChurchill rebuild.

Ontario needs to fund a rebuild of Winston Churchill Public School. The school opened in 1965. Its published enrolment already exceeds permanent capacity, and thousands of homes are approved or proposed in the surrounding area. I want the board to bring forward a rebuild business case and press Queen’s Park to fund it.

My rebuild commitment See the evidence

Brian Best · Updated October 1, 2026

Queen’s Park needs to fund a rebuildOur best. For every student.

The school

A 1965 school. Pressure on permanent space.

The published figures show why Churchill needs a permanent accommodation plan. Each number has a date. Portables are excluded from permanent capacity.

320

Students · 2024–25

Ministry headcount, rounded to five. This is not today’s enrolment.[1]

216

Permanent places · 2020 plan

The board’s published capacity excludes portables and portapaks.[2]

148%

Of permanent capacity

About 148% using those dated figures: 320 ÷ 216. About 48% above permanent capacity.

61

Years since opening

Opened September 7, 1965. Age as of October 1, 2026.[3]

320 students. 216 permanent places.

  • 216 published permanent places
  • 104 students beyond that figure
This comparison excludes temporary classrooms. It does not mean 104 students have no classroom.[1][2]

Can it absorb the growth?

The dated record shows no spare permanent capacity at Churchill. A firm answer about additional pupils needs current enrolment, usable temporary space and a forecast tied to each development’s occupancy. Those figures were not established in the records reviewed.

Age and condition

The 2020 plan records a 45% Facility Condition Index from a 2019 assessment and a 5.2-acre site.[2] That is an older repair-needs measure, not a current safety finding. A rebuild business case needs an updated assessment, scope and cost.

Housing growth

Albert Street is one part of the picture.

At 446 Albert Street, council approved 2,823 homes in 12 towers, planned in five stages.[4] Other nearby projects also need to be part of the school forecast.

Homes are not a pupil forecast. The Albert approval includes 2,185 one-bedroom, 590 two-bedroom and 48 three-bedroom units.[4] Bedroom mix, tenure, occupancy and school choices affect demand. The board needs to publish the expected pupils by grade and phase.

Selected nearby developments · city records checked October 1, 2026
ProjectDwelling unitsPlanning statusWhat the record says
446 Albert Street2,823Approved · June 8, 202612 towers, five stages. Residential construction and first occupancy timing unconfirmed.[4][5][18]
143 Columbia Street West632Approved · June 22, 2026Three towers. Water servicing holding provision remains part of the approval.[10]
170–180 Columbia Street West1,968Revised proposal · under reviewFive towers, 25–35 storeys. Use the second submission, rather than the earlier 2,438 units.[11]
239–241 Hemlock Street113Revised proposal · under review16 storeys, 218 bedrooms. Earlier proposal was 119 units.[12]
277–279 Hazel Street40Proposal · under reviewSix storeys; studios and one-bedroom homes.[13]
170–200 Northfield Drive West / 570–655 Weber Street North3,084Proposal · council meeting scheduled11 towers. Formal public meeting scheduled October 5, 2026; checked October 1.[14]
79 Columbia Street WestNot statedHolding removal · under review51 bedrooms in five storeys. Bedrooms are not dwelling units.[15]
247–251 Hazel StreetNot statedHolding removal · under review94 bedrooms in 12 storeys. Unit count not stated in the summary.[16]
258 Albert StreetNot statedHolding removal · under review21 bedrooms in three storeys. Unit count not stated in the summary.[17]

The representative address points for these projects fall in Churchill’s 2026–27 JK–6 boundary.[7] Large sites can require more detailed parcel checks. Future boundaries or holding-school assignments may change where students attend.

Planning approval does not confirm construction. The September 30 permit check at the exact address 446 Albert finds completed industrial demolition, which does not establish residential tower construction or an occupancy date.[18]

The board’s own warning

School space is already in the development record.

WRDSB commented on 446 Albert. Its September 2025 response names Churchill for JK–6, MacGregor for grades 7–8 and Waterloo Collegiate for grades 9–12.[6]

Accommodation pressure

Temporary classrooms may continue.

The board says its plan projects long-term over-utilization at all three schools. Temporary classrooms may be needed while other accommodation is considered.[6]

Where students attend

Nearby placement is not assured.

The board raises possible boundary changes or holding schools and requests notices to buyers and renters about temporary facilities, attendance outside the area and later transfers.[6]

These are board comments and requested conditions in the consultation record. The final registered school conditions have not been verified. The board has identified accommodation pressure; families need to see the permanent response.

Where Churchill sits

No Churchill rebuild in the published project list.

The latest public partnership project list reviewed is dated September 28, 2026. It names projects elsewhere in Waterloo, including Lexington and WCI, but no Churchill addition or rebuild.[8]

  1. 2020 plan
    WRDSB accommodation planning

    Monitor the area. Consider boundaries.

    Churchill’s E24 area is part of possible boundary work across E23, E24 and E25, with community partnership exploration. The area-wide outlook is not evidence of spare permanent places at Churchill.[2]

  2. September 2024
    Capital Priorities submission report

    Churchill is not among the named submissions.

    The report identifies Huron Heights, North Cambridge and Rosenberg II. Churchill is also absent from its future-project table.[9]

  3. September 2026
    Public partnership project list

    No named Churchill addition or rebuild.

    Appendix A contains no Churchill or E24 capital project. There is no Churchill ranking to quote from this list.[8]

The funding gap needs a public answer. This planning list is not a ranked Ministry decision. Its omission does not establish that Ontario rejected a Churchill application. My demand for a provincially funded rebuild is a campaign position; the board has not approved that project in the records above.

What I would do as trustee

Bring forward the rebuild. Press Ontario to fund it.

I’m Brian Best, running for public school trustee in Waterloo and Wilmot. I want a Churchill rebuild funded by the province, with permanent space planned around the students here now and the growth ahead.

Put a rebuild business case before the board.

I would move for a public Churchill report with current enrolment, temporary capacity, an updated condition assessment and pupil forecasts by development phase. Ask staff to bring forward a rebuild business case, including costs, site feasibility and a timetable.

Make the provincial funding request explicit.

I would press the board to make Churchill a capital priority and submit a rebuild request to the Ministry. Ontario’s Capital Priorities program funds major school construction; the Ministry decides which requests receive funding.[19]

Give families a request they can stand behind.

I would bring the evidence and the rebuild request to local MPPs with families and the community. Publish the submission, the province’s response and the next decision date, and follow up in public until we have an answer.

A trustee can move a motion and advocate for funding. Board approval and provincial funding require decisions by others. The rebuild’s size, cost and delivery date need a completed business case.

School facts

The dates behind the argument.

School
Winston Churchill Public School · Waterloo · JK–6[2]
Opened
September 7, 1965[3]
School site
5.2 acres in the 2020 plan[2]
Condition measure
45% FCI · assessed 2019 · not a current condition rating[2]
Feeder schools at 446 Albert
Churchill → MacGregor → Waterloo Collegiate, subject to board accommodation decisions[6][7]
Capital project status
No named Churchill rebuild or addition in the September 28, 2026 public partnership list[8]

Check the work

Sources you can open.

School records were checked September 30. Additional development pages were checked October 1, 2026. Counts and approvals can change; each project above is labelled with the status found on those dates.

  1. Ministry of Education: enrolment by school, 2024–25

    School 615889: 320 students. October headcount, rounded to five; not a 2026–27 count.

  2. WRDSB Long-Term Accommodation Plan, 2020–2030

    Printed page 97 / PDF page 98: 216 permanent places, 1965 construction year, 5.2 acres and a 45% Facility Condition Index assessed in 2019. E24 planning responses include monitoring and possible boundary work.

  3. Winston Churchill Public School: school history

    Opened September 7, 1965. The history describes later expansion plans and portables; it does not give a current portable count.

  4. Waterloo council summary, June 8, 2026

    446 Albert approval: 2,823 units, 12 towers and five stages. Unit mix: 2,185 one-bedroom, 590 two-bedroom and 48 three-bedroom homes.

  5. 446 Albert Street: current application page

    Revised development application. The older city applications index still describes a superseded 2,833-unit design.

  6. 446 Albert: comment-response matrix, September 8, 2025

    Pages 13–14, section 6.3: WRDSB names Churchill, MacGregor and WCI, warns of long-term over-utilization and requests school accommodation notices. These are consultation comments; final registered conditions were not verified.

  7. WRDSB school boundary and location maps

    2026–27 ArcGIS boundaries downloaded September 30. The representative address points for the projects below fall in Churchill’s JK–6 boundary. This is not a parcel-by-parcel assignment or a guarantee of future placement.

  8. WRDSB board package, September 28, 2026

    Community Planning and Facility Partnership report, Appendix A: printed page 104 / PDF page 85. No Churchill addition, rebuild or E24 project is named. This is a planning list, not a ranked funding decision. The ‘2028’ filename is a publisher typo.

  9. WRDSB Capital Priorities report, September 16, 2024

    Printed page 44 / PDF page 45 identifies Huron Heights, North Cambridge and Rosenberg II for submission. Churchill is also absent from the future-project table on printed pages 50–51.

  10. Waterloo council summary, June 22, 2026

    143 Columbia: 632 units approved in three towers. A holding provision prevents development until sufficient water servicing capacity is verified.

  11. 170–180 Columbia Street West: revised application

    February 2026 second submission: 1,968 units, 2,993 bedrooms, five towers of 25–35 storeys. Under review on October 1; replaces the 2,438-unit first submission.

  12. 239–241 Hemlock Street: revised application

    Second submission: 113 units and 218 bedrooms in 16 storeys. Under review on October 1; replaces the 119-unit, 19-storey first submission.

  13. 277–279 Hazel Street: application

    40 studio and one-bedroom units in six storeys. Under review on October 1.

  14. Northfield Drive / Weber Street North: application

    3,084 units in 11 towers. The page schedules a formal public meeting for October 5, 2026; council decision is incomplete as checked October 1. This large site was checked using one representative address point.

  15. 79 Columbia Street West: holding removal

    Five-storey residential proposal with 51 bedrooms. Under review. The summary does not state the number of dwelling units.

  16. 247–251 Hazel Street: holding removal

    Site-plan proposal for a 12-storey residential building with 94 bedrooms. Under review. The summary does not state dwelling units.

  17. 258 Albert Street: holding removal

    Site-plan proposal for three storeys and 21 bedrooms. Under review. The summary does not state dwelling units.

  18. City of Waterloo: building permits

    Downloaded September 30. Exact-address check at 446 Albert finds completed industrial demolition permit 2023 018083 000 00 NR. It does not establish residential tower construction. Work under other addresses or servicing permits may fall outside this check.

  19. Ontario Education Capital Policies and Programs Manual, May 2026

    Page 11: Capital Priorities is the main program for new schools, additions and major renovations. Boards submit accommodation needs, site and design details, costs and milestones for Ministry funding consideration.

How the figures are used

  • 148% is rounded from 320 ÷ 216 × 100. It compares 2024–25 headcount with capacity in the 2020 plan, excluding portables. It is not a current total-capacity or class-size measure.
  • Development unit counts come from revised individual applications or council approvals. Bedrooms are kept separate. No housing count has been converted into students.
  • Boundary checks use representative address points and the current 2026–27 maps. They are not a guarantee that every future resident attends Churchill.
  • Missing information includes current portable capacity, a development-specific pupil forecast, first occupancy dates and a costed rebuild design.

Found a mistake?

Email brian@best4schoolboard.com with a correction or a newer public record and I will update this page.

Read the Lexington school report for another school’s published accommodation and funding history.

Last updated October 1, 2026

Our best. For every student.

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