The following year the organization's name was changed to SC Waterloo Region and was promoted to the league's first division.

The club was named Kitchener-Waterloo United FC and began play in the Canadian Soccer League Second Division.

Waterloo made their First Division debut on May 6, 2012 against Windsor Stars in a 2-0 victory with both goals coming from Hadrovic.

[8][9] In their inaugural season, the club finished ninth in the overall standings, and missed the final postseason berth by two points.

[12][13] Meanwhile, Waterloo transferred their home venue to Warrior Field, and Vukovic was awarded the team captaincy.

[18][19][20][21] At the same time, the club's reserve team SC Waterloo B won the CSL Second Division championship defeating Toronto Croatia B by a score of 2-0 with goals from Erwin Uzunovic, and Mohammed-Ali Heydarpour.

Their opponents in the first round were Toronto Croatia, where unfortunately Waterloo failed to defend their championship after suffering a 4-2 loss.

[28] In the semi-finals, the opponents were regular season champions the Serbian White Eagles, whom they managed to upset by a score of 3-2 with goals from Mladen Zeljkovic, Ali Heydarpour, and Hasecic.

Despite Waterloo's infield success, the club was without controversy as there was one reported allegation of match-fixing in a match against Niagara United.