Logistics

Welcome to Canada!

Location
The Build Peace 2026 conference will be held at the CIGI Campus, located at 67 Erb Street West, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. The campus is situated in Uptown Waterloo with convenient access to public transit, restaurants, and a large public park. It is also home to the Balsillie School of International Affairs, one of the conference partners.

About Waterloo
Waterloo region, which includes the neighbouring cities of Waterloo, Kitchener, and Cambridge, has a population of over 700,000 people, and is situated along the Grand River on the traditional territory of ‎the Attawandaron (Neutral), Anishinaabeg, and Haudenosaunee peoples. The first permanent white settlers in the early 19th century were Mennonites, a pacifist Christian tradition, and the region is now one of the most multicultural communities in Canada.

Waterloo is home to several institutions of higher education, including the University of Waterloo, a top research university with the oldest peace studies program in Canada. UWaterloo is better known for its co-operative education model and entrepreneurship programs, which contribute to a vibrant technology innovation ecosystem that includes hundreds of start-ups and some of the world’s biggest tech companies.

Travel
Travelers to Waterloo from outside Canada typically use Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ – 100 km away). Within North America, there are limited flight options to Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport (YTZ – 110 km away), John Munro Hamilton International Airport (YHM – 75 km away), and the Region of Waterloo International Airport (YKF – 15 km away). 

Visa Support
Please check this link to confirm whether you need a visitor visa to enter Canada. You are responsible for your own visa application and process. Build Peace does not have a special event code for visa applications.

If you require a visa invitation letter from the conference organizers, please indicate this when completing your conference registration and provide the requested details. We will automatically generate and email your visa invitation letter after your registration is complete. You may use the following mailing address for the Canadian inviter:

Kindred Centre for Peace Advancement
Conrad Grebel University College, University of Waterloo
140 Westmount Road North, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G6, Canada

If you have questions about visa support or have not received your invitation letter within 3-5 business days, please contact buildpeace@howtobuildup.org.

Weather
In mid-November, the temperature in Waterloo usually ranges from –1 to +8 °C. 

Check our complete logistics note for more information on visa support, where to stay in Waterloo, what currency you may need and how to dress for the cold: