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The City of Kitchener, in southwestern Ontario, has a population of 190,399 (as of 2001 census). It is located in Waterloo Regional Municipality and is adjacent to the smaller City of Waterloo. Kitchener and Waterloo are often referred to jointly as K-W (Kitchener-Waterloo) though they have separate municipal governments.
The City of Kitchener began in 1807. The Mennonite settler Benjamin Eby led members from his community in Pennsylvania to settle in Ontario. The hamlet that was established at that time was known as Ebytown. In 1833 the Township of Waterloo was created. Ebytown was incorporated as a village and renamed Berlin in honour of the majority German heritage immigrants. In 1853 Berlin would become the County Seat of the newly created County of Waterloo. On June 9, 1912, Berlin officially became a City and was considered to be Canada’s German Capital. During World War I, the Berlin City Council, under nationalist pressure and in the face of anti-German sentiment, held a referendum to choose a new name. As a result, in 1916 the City was renamed in honour of Lord Horatio Kitchener, to demonstrate the loyalty to the British Empire of the city's ethnic German population. Today the city maintains much of its German heritage. It has long been an important beer brewing area, and it plays host to the largest Oktoberfest celebration outside Germany.
Kitchener is home to the primary campus of Conestoga College, one of the foremost non-university educational institutions in the province.
Negotiations are ongoing to bring the Faculty of Social Work from Wilfrid Laurier University to a downtown Kitchener location; the University of Waterloo is also considering opening a School of Pharmacy in the downtown area.
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| North: Waterloo | |||||
| West: Wilmot, Stratford | Kitchener | East: Woolwich, Guelph | |||
| South: North Dumfries, Cambridge |
