Waterloo Regional Police saved $2.4 million worth of overtime pay in eight months in 2025 after implementing measures to stop ballooning overtime costs.

Waterloo Regional Police Service Board heard Wednesday the service’s overtime committee, which was formed in 2024 and meets bimonthly to concentrate on reducing high overtime hours by officers, has managed to whittle down overtime by 25,631 hours, or 21 per cent, between Jan. 1, 2025, and Aug. 31, 2025, from the same time frame in 2024.

Even with the reduction, police still spent $3.71 million on overtime in the first half of 2025, exceeding the midway budget of $2.03 million.

In 2024, the service exceeded the overtime budget by $5.6 million. With an overtime budget last year of $3.58 million, police paid out $9.13 million in overtime.

See Full Page