Dedicated Waterloo Region fibre-optic network marks 25 years
A celebration was held Wednesday to mark 25 years since a high-speed fibre-optic network connected hundred of public organizations in Waterloo Region.
The Waterloo Region Education and Public Network (WREPnet) was created in 2000.
Fibre-optics are thin strands of glass or plastic that sends information through light. The network allowed users to plug in and use the internet at any speed required.
'It is an extremely fast network,' explained Chris Demers, the chief information officer for the Waterloo Catholic District School Board (WCDSB). 'If you look at other regions and other city areas, they don't have such a robust network.'
Demers said WREPnet is the backbone of all information that travels through the region. Multiple organizations use the network, including WCDSB, the Waterloo Region District School Board (WRDSB), the Region of Waterloo, the cities of Waterloo, Kitchener and Cambridge, as well as universities, schools and libraries.
Wednesday's event gave users a chance to connect in person.
WREPnet 25 years Waterloo Region Education and Public Network
An event at Region of Waterloo Administrative Headquarters to mark 25 years of the Waterloo Region Education and Public Network, June 11, 2025 (Sidra Jafri/CTV News).
'We look at it as a real community of technical people,' said Demers. 'We get together and we discuss common issues. We discuss technologies even outside of networking, like cyber security and artificial intelligence is a big thing that we're talking about now.'
The decision to create the network began back to 1998, according to WREPnet's website . Prescient International Inc. built a similar educational network for the North York District School Board, then reached out to both the Catholic and public school boards in Waterloo Region.
More than 380 organizations currently use WREPnet.
WREPnet 25 years Waterloo Region Education and Public Network
An event at Region of Waterloo Administrative Headquarters to mark 25 years of the Waterloo Region Education and Public Network, June 11, 2025 (Sidra Jafri/CTV News).
'The network is extremely secure,' said Demers. 'Every partner has a separate, tactical path, which cannot be crossed between them. So, any kind of information or private data, we have [on] multiple streams. For example, the Waterloo Catholic District School Board. We have a stream across the network just for students, we have a stream across the network just for administrative data, and every organization has the same thing.'
Demers said WREPnet creates a cohesive community.
'It brings our important public services together into one envelope and it also allows us to be a community of technical, security and infrastructure,' he explained, adding that it allows them to 'communicate critical data between the different Waterloo Region partners and also with the rest of the world.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
National Post
2 hours ago
- National Post
WELL Health Announces Voting Results for Election of Directors
Article content VANCOUVER, British Columbia — WELL Health Technologies Corp. (TSX: WELL) (OTCQX: WHTCF) (the ' Company ' or ' WELL '), a digital healthcare company focused on positively impacting health outcomes by leveraging technology to empower healthcare practitioners and their patients globally, is pleased to announce that at its annual general meeting held June 30, 2025 (the ' Meeting '), all of the nominees for election as directors of the Company referred to in its notice of meeting and information circular dated May 28, 2025 for the Meeting were elected. Article content A total of 67,105,724 common shares representing 26.52% of the outstanding common shares of the Company were voted by proxy at the Meeting. Voting results for the election of directors at the Meeting were as follows: Article content Article content Article content The results of other matters considered at the Meeting are reported in the Report of Voting Results as filed on SEDAR+ ( filed on July 4, 2025. Article content WELL HEALTH TECHNOLOGIES CORP. Article content Per: 'Hamed Shahbazi' Article content Hamed Shahbazi Article content Chief Executive Officer, Chairman and Director Article content WELL's mission is to tech-enable healthcare providers. We do this by developing the best technologies, services, and support available, which ensures healthcare providers are empowered to positively impact patient outcomes. WELL's comprehensive healthcare and digital platform includes extensive front and back-office management software applications that help physicians run and secure their practices. WELL's solutions enable more than 42,000 healthcare providers between the US and Canada and power the largest owned and operated healthcare ecosystem in Canada with more than 210 clinics supporting primary care, specialized care, and diagnostic services. In the United States WELL's solutions are focused on specialized markets such as the gastrointestinal market, women's health, primary care, and mental health. WELL is publicly traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol 'WELL' and on the OTC Exchange under the symbol 'WHTCF'. To learn more about the Company, please visit: Article content Article content Article content Article content Contacts Article content Article content Article content Article content
Globe and Mail
2 hours ago
- Globe and Mail
Suddenly, MPs are behaving like grown-ups
Bill C-5 is one of the most controversial laws Parliament has adopted in a decade. Its passage in the House of Commons was also notable for bringing about one of the most welcome moments seen in Parliament over the same period. But we'll get to that. Bill C-5, or at least Part 2 of it – the Building Canada Act – gives the government the unilateral power to override or suspend federal laws that would otherwise delay the rapid implementation of infrastructure and energy projects deemed by cabinet to be in the national interest. (Part 1 of Bill C-5 is an entirely non-controversial act to reduce federal interprovincial trade barriers.) It follows through on Prime Minister Mark Carney's election promise to counter the U.S. trade war on Canada by (sort of) releasing the economy from its regulatory chains. As we've already said, letting cabinet decide which projects are in the national interest is problematic. Canada's economy needs Ottawa to get out of its way, not perch itself on its shoulder and pick winners and losers, and then set aside regulations for the lucky few. Better to get rid of the regulations altogether and let the market decide. That critique aside, lost in the drama of Bill C-5 was an important and hopeful moment only mentioned in passing in news reports. It came on June 20, when the House of Commons adopted the bill and Mr. Carney crossed the floor to shake hands with Conservative Parliamentary Leader Andrew Scheer and Deputy Leader Melissa Lantsman. After 10 years of unrelenting partisanship, acrimony and division, here were leaders of the two parties that dominate Parliament cordially acknowledging the swift passage of legislation deemed urgent. (The bill went on to the Senate where it was adopted without amendment; it became law on June 26.) This is the Parliament that Canadians want to see, a place where MPs respect each other rather than erode the institution by turning into a content studio for creating snarky partisan social media posts and decontextualized attack ads. In Ontario's north and south, Indigenous groups protest new laws designed to fast-track infrastructure Opinion: Carney promised internal free trade by Canada Day. Is that enough? A Parliament where parties make the compromises needed to achieve consensus on important legislation, and which is not merely an arena where political games are won or lost. Bill C-5 was an example of Parliament's better angels at work, from the day it was tabled on June 6 to the day it was acknowledged with a handshake. Yes, the Carney Liberals tightly controlled debate on the legislation in order to rush its passage through the House before the summer break on June 20. But debate still did occur, and the Liberals accepted a number of key amendments that will make the government act more transparently. For instance, the government will have to inform the public how and why a project was deemed in the national interest, and explain the normal regulatory process that would have been followed had that not been the case. As well, the government agreed to remove the Indian Act from the schedule of federal laws that it can override. These and other improvements to the law demonstrate that, when MPs and their party bosses set aside rank partisanship, they can get things done. This new willingness to play nice resurfaced last week, when Mr. Carney called a by-election in the Alberta riding of Battle River-Crowfoot in order to allow Pierre Poilievre, the Conservative Party leader who lost his seat in the April 28 general election, to run for office and get back into the House. Mr. Carney called the by-election quickly, instead of playing games and leaving the Conservatives dangling. We admit that there are caveats to the example of Bill C-5. Its goal aligned with the political agendas of both the Liberals and the Conservatives, making cooperation mutually beneficial. And a single handshake doesn't herald a lasting new era of adult cooperation in the House of Commons. But it has been so bad for so long in Ottawa that any hopeful signs of maturity are enticing. Canadians want and need to see more cooperation and mutual respect between parties, and a laying down of rhetorical arms, in the name of the country's interests. Forceful debate and partisanship are always welcome in a parliamentary democracy, but a bitter fracturing along political lines that makes enemies of opposing parties and erases civility is not. Just look south for proof of that.
National Post
2 hours ago
- National Post
FIRST READING: EU exempting heavy industry from carbon tax as Canada doubles down
Article content The proposed EU exemption for heavy industry follows closely on another major EU concession on carbon pricing passed just last month. Article content Starting next year, the EU is set to implement a carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBMA) that would place tariffs on imports coming from non-carbon priced jurisdictions. The idea being 'to encourage greater climate ambition in non-EU countries.' Article content But in June, the EU announced that 90 per cent of its importers would be exempt from the CBAM. Any firm importing less than 50 tonnes per year of foreign product wouldn't have to worry. Article content The EU exemptions would seem to undermine one of the Liberal government's signature defences of carbon pricing as being necessary to maintain competitiveness with foreign markets. Article content Just last summer, Canada's ambassador to France, Stéphane Dion, delivered an entire speech entitled 'carbon pricing as an asset for Canadian exports to Europe.' Article content 'Carbon pricing is an export tool, and abolishing it in Canada would not only be an ecological mistake, but also contrary to the economic interests of Canadians,' said Dion. Article content In June, Liberal MP Kevin Lamoureux told the House of Commons that the industrial carbon tax had to be maintained to preserve Canadian access to the 'global market.' Article content 'The new prime minister and the new government have made a decision to get rid of the consumer carbon tax, but we still understand the importance of having the industrial carbon pricing system,' said Lamoureux. 'Let us be very clear on that, because we understand the global market and the critical role that has to play in it.' Article content IN OTHER NEWS Article content The Liberal government is sticking with its plan not to table a budget until at least the fall, so the eggheads at the C.D. Howe Institute took the liberty of doing it for them. They tallied up the government's various new spending promises, estimated what tax revenue is going to look like for the foreseeable future, and concluded that Ottawa is on track to rack up $300 billion in new debt over the next four years, an average of about $75 billion per year (or, about $5 in new debt per Canadian, per day). And that's under the most optimistic scenario. More likely is that it hits $350 billion. Article content This is way higher than any of the non-COVID spending charted under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Recall that it was only a few months ago that Trudeau was pressured into resigning in part due to shock that his government had allowed the deficit to swell to $62 billion. According to the C.D. Howe Institute, Canada is on a 'troubling path.' 'Adding $300 billion in federal debt while doing nothing to raise investment and productivity will make Canada more vulnerable, not less,' read the analysis. Article content Article content
