Completed in 2022 City project

Dundas corridor policy implementation

The Dundas corridor policy implementation project continues the City's work on the Dundas Connects Master Plan.

Background

The Dundas Street Corridor is a key part of the City’s transportation network and over the next 35 to 40 years, the City estimates that the number of people using Dundas Street will gradually increase over time. This growth is guided by:

  • The Dundas Connects Master Plan (DCMP), which developed a vision for the future of land use and transportation along Dundas Street.
  • The future Dundas Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) line, which will help people live, work, play, and go to school along Dundas Street and beyond.

Project overview

The City has been taking steps through different studies to advance the vision of the Dundas Connect Master Plan. Many of the studies are underway, and include their own community engagement.

Official Plan Amendments

As a result of the work on this project, a decision by City Council was made on August 10, 2022 to approve Official Plan Amendment Number 141 as adopted by By-law BL-0192-2022 and to submit Official Plan Amendment Number 142 to the Regional Municipality of Peel for approval (By-law 0216-2022), which contain amendments to the Mississauga Official Plan pertaining to the Dundas Corridor.

Milestones
  1. 1
    Phase 1: Dundas Connects Master Plan endorsed by City Council

    June 2018

  2. 2
    Phase 2: Community engagement

    Fall 2021 to Spring 2022

  3. 3
    Phase 3: Draft Official Plan Amendment

    May 30, 2022

  4. 4
    Phase 4: Final Official Plan Amendment

    July 5, 2022

  5. 5
    Phase 5: Region of Peel approval

    In progress

Public engagement

Virtual and in-person community meetings were held throughout the course of this project in 2020, 2021 and several times in 2022, which included information sessions with City staff and public meetings with the Planning and Development Committee.

Thank you to community members and stakeholders who participated and provided input during the public consultation period. (For reference, meeting presentations and files can be found below with other relevant project documents.)

Project documents

Frequently asked questions

Key recommendations within the endorsed DCMP include the following:

  • Implementing Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) along Dundas Street
  • Encouraging mixed-use development that supports transit
  • Creating more open spaces and community facilities
  • Maintaining existing and supporting new affordable housing
  • Maintaining four traffic lanes along Dundas Street
  • Providing safe cycling infrastructure along the length of the Dundas Street Corridor
  • Enhancing pedestrian space and providing street trees
  • Encouraging street-related retail while supporting existing businesses.

Learn more about the specific recommendations in the endorsed plan.

The Dundas Connects Master Plan (DCMP) recommendations have been endorsed, yet they have not been formally established as official City policy. This is partly due to ongoing studies, which affect the implementation of the recommendations.

Once approved, the implementation of the Official Plan Amendment will establish the recommendations of the DCMP as official policy.

Until then, any development on lands within the Dundas Connects Master Plan will be subject to current Official Plan policies and Zoning By-law regulations.

For lands currently restricted by flooding, the ongoing flood mitigation studies, environmental assessments, and construction of mitigation measures must be completed before the recommendations of the DCMP can be fully realized.

At the same time, any conversion of employment areas to non-employment uses will continue to be subject to Region of Peel Official Plan policies and Provincial requirements.

The implementing Official Plan Amendment may include the following key recommendations of the Dundas Connects Master Plan (DCMP):

  • Implement height range recommendations of the DCMP along the Dundas Street corridor.
  • Identify lands within the Dixie and Mavis-Erindale Employment Areas that could be considered for conversion from employment to mixed-use residential subject to land use compatibility assessment to determine appropriateness. (If appropriate, this will entail land use changes initiated by development applications.)
  • Establish where appropriate urban design and built form policies for lands along the Dundas Street corridor.
  • The development of open space and public realm networks to support the expected residential development and complement the anticipated job growth.
  • Define the Dixie Community Node boundary, which is currently unspecified in the Official Plan. However, policies related to the extent of development within the node will be subject to ongoing flood studies.
  • Enhance access and connections within existing blocks and future higher-order transit stations through additional roadways and access corridors.

The recommendations of the Dundas Connects Master Plan, which form the basis of the implementing Official Plan Amendment, have already gone through extensive public engagement and endorsed by Council in 2018.

The City anticipates engagement in the fall/winter of 2021 to discuss the development of the Implementing Official Plan Amendment, with a statutory public meeting for the draft Official Plan Amendment early 2022. Additional community engagement maybe scheduled. To make sure you are updated with the project, please register and subscribe to receive news alerts about future engagements at the top of the page.

As part of the Dundas Corridor Policy Implementation work, lands along Dundas Street affected by flooding will have policies related to permitted land uses and heights in anticipation of future development, but will not be able to fully develop those lands until flood issues are resolved.

The City is currently conducting flood studies to determine the best flood mitigation options along Dundas Street. The process requires multiple levels of approval from the Conservation Authorities, Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry, and Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing.

Lands that are currently within identified flood areas in the Official Plan, including those in the Dixie-Dundas Community Node and the Dixie Employment Area, will continue to be restricted by the Official Plan policies that are currently in effect.

Flood affected areas will be able to develop upon completion of related flood studies, the construction of any flood mitigation measures, and the approval of updated policies through the above process. Revised flood mapping and policies in the Official Plan and Zoning By-law must also be complete where necessary before new development is considered in affected areas. This process is likely to take multiple years.

Find more details about the related flood studies, including timelines:

Currently, the Official Plan protects the right-of-way of 42 metres to allow for improvements along the Dundas Street corridor as new development occurs. The detailed design, including the width of lanes, cycling lanes, street furniture, landscaping, etc., within the right of way is part of the City’s Preliminary Design and Transit Project Assessment Process Study for the Dundas BRT.

The proposed changes to heights reflect the Council endorsed recommendations of the Dundas Connects Master Plan. Depending on the location along Dundas Street heights will vary. Generally, up to 6 storeys are permitted along the Dundas Street corridor. 12 storeys are permitted close to key intersections such as Winston Churchill, Erindale Station, Cawthra, Dixie and Wharton, and 25 storeys are permitted near to the Cooksville GO station and the Dixie Road and Dundas Street intersection.

The boundaries of the Dixie-Dundas Community Node reflect the Dixie Focus area in the Dundas Connects Master Plan.

As per Provincial legislation, the City is required to update the Zoning By-law to reflect Official Plan policies within 3 years of the approved Official Plan amendment.

The city does see merit in reducing parking standards and is completing the City’s Parking Regulations Study that will be presented to Planning & Development Committee.

The City is currently undertaking the Inclusionary Zoning for Affordable Housing Study which will establish City-wide affordable housing requirements.

The City will organize a Statutory Public Meeting before the summer of 2022 with the intent of presenting the policies to the City Council in July. Proposed building heights, land use designations and densities will be implemented as part of the Major Transit Station Area project. The Major Transit Station Area policies as well as these policies cannot take effect until the Regional Official Plan Policies are approved by the Province.

Contact

If you have any questions about this project, contact the project lead Bashar Al-Hussaini at bashar.al-hussaini@mississauga.ca.

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