March 25, 2025
An internship opportunity with the City of Waterloo is empowering Wilfrid Laurier University students to drive change on critical local issues.
Offered through the Faculty of Arts, the Laurier-City Hub internship invites students to take part in changemaking initiatives and shape policy innovations through the university's partnerships with cities and municipalities. The internship is open to students who have completed Social Innovation in the City, a third-year course offered by the Department of Global Studies that provides students hands-on opportunities to research, design and test social and policy innovations working with the City of Waterloo.
During the summer of 2024, Laurier student and City of Waterloo intern Paige Mignotte researched short-term rental policies in eight Ontario municipalities and the associated costs of their implementation to help inform the development of Waterloo’s short-term rental licence policy. Short-term rental properties typically offer stays of 30 days or less and are often booked through third-party websites like Airbnb and Vrbo. The boom in short-term rental properties in many Ontario communities is prompting municipal administrators to regulate short-term rentals through policy change.
“Short-term rentals can play an important role within communities, providing accommodation options for students and visitors while allowing homeowners to realize additional income from their homes,” says Mignotte. “But communities need to ensure that short-term rentals do not take away from the stock of housing options that could be used for long-term rentals or negatively impact the integrity of neighbourhoods.”
In some communities, entire floors of apartment buildings are rented by companies who then re-rent the units for short-term use. Mignotte says this practice commodifies housing and removes long-term rentals from the local housing supply. Some communities have also struggled with short-term housing rentals being used as party houses, resulting in increased traffic, noise and garbage in residential areas.
“Working with community policies really excites me. I feel like I have the opportunity to build a better foundation for the world I am living in.”
Paige Mignotte, Political Science master's student
With help from Mignotte, the City of Waterloo announced its short-term rental licence policy in January 2025.
Under the policy, short-term rental operators must obtain a rental licence to offer short-term stays advertised on third-party platforms such as Airbnb and Vrbo, as well as for private bookings. Operators must reside on-site, as short-term rentals in Waterloo are restricted to primary residences in single-detached homes, duplexes, townhouses or apartment buildings under three stories and with more than four units. Enforcement of the policy begins in May 2025.
“Paige’s work provided the City of Waterloo with excellent research in order to move forward with changes to the residential rental licence,” says Michelle Lee, executive officer to the chief administrative officer at the City of Waterloo. “With housing in short supply, it is important to protect the local inventory of long-term rental units. The changes seek to balance the preservation of housing with short-term accommodation needs and will still allow homeowners to offer short-term rentals provided they are in owner-occupied homes.”
The policy change will see about 100 short-term rental units returned to long-term housing options.
“I think the short-term rental licence policy gives the City of Waterloo a great place to work from,” says Mignotte. “This allows the city to gather data and further engage community members on the use of short-term rentals in Waterloo. The policy can evolve if it needs to.”
Laurier is one of five Ashoka Changemaker campuses in Canada.
Mignotte began studying short-term rental policies as part of a group project during the winter 2024 offering of Social Innovation in the City, taught by Laurier Assistant Professor Ehaab Abdou. Engaging students in local changemaking initiatives allows the City of Waterloo to tap into innovative ideas and emerging talent.
“Laurier students bring fresh perspectives to our projects and their contributions are important,” says Lee. “The City of Waterloo values its partnerships with local postsecondary institutions and opportunities to engage students in projects that drive change in Waterloo.”
Laurier is an Ashoka Changemaker Campus and one of only five postsecondary institutions in Canada with the coveted Ashoka international designation, which recognizes global leaders in entrepreneurship and social innovation education. Coursework, experiential learning and extra-curricular initiatives are among some of the ways Laurier empowers student changemakers to address complex local and global challenges.
The Laurier-City Hub initiative, part of the university’s Changemaking programming, sparked Mignotte’s interest in housing availability and affordability. Mignotte is pursuing a master’s degree in Political Science at Laurier and conducting research on chronic homelessness for the Region of Waterloo as part of the graduate course PO627: Policy Research in Action, led by Assistant Professor Laura Pinn. Mignotte’s research will provide regional administrators insight into how other Ontario communities plan to end chronic homelessness.
“Working with community policies really excites me,” says Mignotte. “I feel like I have the opportunity to build a better foundation for the world that I am living in. Being involved with changemaking experiences at Laurier has opened my eyes to career paths in policy and municipal affairs.”
