Ontario Construction News staff writer
Missisauga council has approved Growing Mississauga, an action plan for new housing.
The plan includes five goals and 23 actions designed to increase the supply of housing, streamline development and building approvals. The plan also details where private sector and government support is necessary to meet the accelerated pace of development.
“With this new plan, the City of Mississauga is once again sending a clear message: We welcome growth and are ready to get more housing built for everyone who wants to call Mississauga home,” said Mayor Bonnie Crombie. “Growing Mississauga demonstrates the City’s commitment to taking action on housing. It also shows our willingness to work with the provincial government to help meet their 1.5 million new homes goal over 10 years and with our industry partners who are ultimately responsible for getting the homes built.
“Our goal is to ensure that as we grow, Mississauga continues to be a place where families want to live, work and raise a family for generations to come.”
“Increasing housing supply and affordability has been a long-standing priority for Mississauga, particularly over the last decade as we’ve navigated the transition from our suburban roots to a thriving urban city,” said Andrew Whittemore, Commissioner of Planning and Building. “So while some cities are just getting started on this journey, we’ve been actively planning for intensive growth for many years.”
Mississauga issued more than 6,400 building permits in 2022 – a record. Over the next four years, actions will include:
- Reducing exclusionary zoning throughout Mississauga to allow more semis, duplexes, triplexes, garden suites and garage conversions to be built ‘as of right’ (without special zoning permissions) in low density areas
- Creating opportunities for new residential housing in employment areas and other key sites
- Implementing zoning permissions for the future redevelopment of many of the City’s mall-based sites into new mixed-use communities
- Encouraging more transit-oriented development by enacting updated zoning policies for Major Transit Station Areas and working with the province to secure the downtown loop in Mississauga’s highest growth area as well as enhanced service on the Milton GO line
The following actions were approved to streamline processes and improving customer service:
- Launch permit approval team to expedite approvals
- Create building liaison role for seamless approval stream
- Upgrade online applications portal
- Pilot new approval process to satisfy Bill 109 legislative timelines
The plan approved last week also implements inclusionary zoning policies to bring affordable housing units to new developments in Major Transit Station Areas and incentivize affordable rental housing by implementing development charge and property tax relief
The province has recently passed several pieces of legislation with the goal of getting more homes built, including Bill 23: More Homes Built Faster Act, 2022, setting a goal of building 1.5 million homes in Ontario over the next decade.