As one of Ontario’s fastest growing municipalities, Waterloo Region prides itself on working to find the right balance between its urban and rural communities and economic development and responsible stewardship, allowing the 534,000 residents of diverse backgrounds and lifestyles to enjoy employment, education, culture and a high quality of life.
With the Region’s population expected to reach 729,000 by 2031, continuing to maintain this balance will depend, in part, on being to able to choose the right land for the right purposes and ensuring adequate access to the aggregate materials needed to build and maintain roads, bridges, schools, homes and other buildings.
Waterloo Region is currently home to 85 active aggregate sites that provide the stone, sand and gravel commonly referred to as “aggregates.” These sites are regulated by the Aggregate Resources Act and must meet provincial standards in order to operate.
However, a new provincial poll by Ipsos Reid has found that even after meeting these provincial regulations, 37 per cent of Ontarians feel that they cannot support aggregate operations, as they feel they are “often reckless and irresponsible.”
The study also found that the majority of respondents (85 per cent) believed aggregate operations were good job and revenue generators for the local communities, but that many (65 per cent) were also concerned that they create too much noise, truck traffic and damage to the community where they reside.
Local groups are addressing these community concerns.
BridgeKeepers is concerned about the welfare of the community of West Montrose and is actively involved in aggregate issues. Gravel Watch Ontario is a coalition that originated in Wellington County and has become a province-wide watchdog concentrating on management of aggregates.
These groups speak to the strong interest that residents in the area have in the responsible development of this provincially important resource.
Aggregates are undeniably a critical construction material. As Waterloo Region and the province continue to grow, they will continue to be needed.
The challenge is to find that ‘sweet spot’ that addresses the concerns and aspirations of local residents while ensuring a long-term supply of aggregates.
Interestingly, the same Ipsos study found that if aggregate sites are independently certified and audited against voluntary world-class environmental and social standards, the number of Ontarians saying they would be unwilling to support aggregate operations drops from 37 per cent to 13 per cent.
While not a cure-all for the aggregate-related challenges facing local communities and industry, the study results do suggest that voluntary independent certification of the industry can be one way the aggregate sector can address citizens’ concerns and strengthen its ‘social license’ to operate.
As a new, not-for-profit organization, Socially and Environmentally Responsible Aggregate (SERA) is now developing voluntary certification that will seek to address these concerns and help strike that balance.
With draft standards released earlier this summer, SERA has recently been assembling a balanced group of interests representing the industry, environmental and community groups, First Nations and municipalities to reach consensus on creating a robust certification system that truly sets the bar for excellence in the aggregate industry.
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Guest columnist Nic Schulz is a University of Guelph
graduate who spends much of his time visiting family
in Waterlo Region. He is currently director of
communications and outreach at SERA.
