Increasing Housing Choices in Neighbourhoods Study

Thank you for your inquiry and for attending the virtual community meeting. The recordings will be made available on the project website in the coming weeks. We will be sending an email through our subscription list once it has been made live. If you have not already done so, please subscribe to the mailing list to stay up to date.

Thank you for your inquiry. The City doesn’t typically build dwelling units. However, fourplexes are now allowed to be built on residential low rise lots as of right throughout the City. Under the Affordable Rental Housing Community Improvement Plan (Gentle Density Incentives Program), the City is giving grants/rebates for City related fees for building the 2^nd, 3^rd, and 4^th units (subject to applicability).

Thank you for your inquiry. We are not considering mixed/multi-use residential lots as part of this project. However, through the Official Plan Review, greater flexibility in neighourhoods is being proposed, as long as scale is respected. A new policy is also being proposed that permits small-scale retail stores and service establishments on lands designated Residential Low Rise 1, if compatibility with nearby homes can be demonstrated. Please take a look at the Official Plan Review website to learn more about these and other proposed changes: www.mississauga.ca/officialplan .

Thank you for your question. Mississauga initiated the IHCN study to address a Provincial requirement to allow for more housing options in neighbourhoods while also maintaining the planned character of the neighbourhood. Our approach was to balance intensification while also maintaining the planned character of the neighbourhood.

Through the IHCN study we have also examined infrastructure capacity through coordination with the Region of Peel (this includes water and wastewater servicing). In addition, the City proactively plans to ensure there is enough capacity for all future planned development in regards to parks, schools, and transportation networks.  Our analysis also indicates that there would be adequate required parking on site to meet the needs of residents.  The City is currently undergoing a city-wide parking study that is contemplating on-street parking permits. Please contact their team with your comments: https://yoursay.mississauga.ca/parking-matters 

It should be noted that when provisions of IHCN has been introduced in other cities, there has not been a large number of units built, relatively compared to other forms of high-rise and townhouse infill development. This means that the impacts of these types of accessory residential units are expected to be minimal compared to the regular pace of development in the City.

Thank you for your comment and we are happy to hear you see yourself living in one of these housing options.

To clarify, the City of Mississauga would not be building these homes. The purpose of this study is to develop policies so that these housing options are permitted in Mississauga. It’s challenging to determine the exact timing of when these homes will be built. But we can share that next year we’re planning to take policies to City Council for their review and approval. Those policies will outline where they could be built and how. We hope that gives some idea of timing of when these housing options could be available.

Thank you for your question and interest in this study.

We also see an urgent need for more diverse housing options in Mississauga. Therefore, the plan is to bring policies to Council early next year for approval, which would permit a diversity of housing options in our neighbourhoods. The goal is at least within the next decade, we see more of these housing options being developed in the city.

Something we have to consider is we not only want to have more diverse housing options be built in Mississauga and quickly, but also that these housing units are affordable, accessible, and functional. We want to ensure these units are livable for all life stages and are of high quality.

Another aspect we have to consider is how the application processes and costs affect how fast these housing options can be developed. The team, therefore, is also looking at how to make the development process more efficient and ensure development costs are less of a barrier to building a diversity of housing.

I appreciate your feedback and encourage you to continue to follow our study. Please also ensure you’ve subscribed to the project website in the top right-hand corner: https://yoursay.mississauga.ca/increasing-housing-choices-in-neighbourhoods-study.

I’m interested in hearing more of your feedback as we continue this process.

Thank you for your question. The City is aware of how investor-owned properties can contribute to housing affordability issues. Unfortunately the City does not have the ability to impose foreign buyer's tax, regulate who purchases property in the City, or other local measures to discourage such investing behaviour.

However, the following is information about current government initiatives that are addressing speculative investor activity and supporting home ownership: 

Region of Peel

- Vacant Home Tax: this vacant residential unit tax is applied to properties that are left unoccupied. It's meant to discourage investors from making speculative purchases by encouraging them to either sell or rent their homes instead of leaving it vacant. This approach helps to ensure that residential units are put to their intended use – housing.

The Region of Peel commenced a study earlier this year to investigate the potential to implement this tax and City staff have been involved in the study. The report could be found here: https://pub-peelregion.escribemeetings.com/filestream.ashx?DocumentId=17157.

It's anticipated the results of the study will be presented to Regional Council early next year. Note that Provincial approval is ultimately required to implement this tax.

City of Mississauga

- Community Land Trusts: the City of Mississauga is currently conducting the Increasing Housing Choices in Neighbourhoods study to improve housing options in neighbourhoods for the community. One of the options currently being explored is a Community Land Trust, which would bring land out of the market and into a trust. A non-profit organization would manage the land and create affordable housing among other initiatives such as urban agriculture, community spaces, and green spaces. This would ensure land is removed from speculative investor activity, affordable housing is provided in perpetuity, and land is managed for community benefit.

For more information, see and subscribe to the project website: https://yoursay.mississauga.ca/increasing-housing-choices-in-neighbourhoods-study

- Inclusionary Zoning: this is one of the tools the City has been working collaboratively with the Region of Peel to develop in order to improve housing affordability in Mississauga. It allows the City to require a portion of new units in future developments located in priority transit areas to be provided at affordable rates. Buyers who make below a certain income can only purchase the affordable units.

For more information, see and subscribe to the project website: https://yoursay.mississauga.ca/inclusionary-zoning-policy-for-affordable-housing

- Purpose-Built Rental: although investor-owned properties is a growing concern, investor condos have the potential to provide much needed rental supply in markets where no new purpose-built rental housing has been built. The City of Mississauga's Housing Strategy has actions to improve purpose-built rental units in the City so investor-owned properties are not the only source of rental supply in Mississauga: https://www.mississauga.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/24131711/Affordable_Housing_Strategy_Appendix12-Web.pdf

Province of Ontario

- Non-Resident Speculation Tax: The Province of Ontario implemented a Non-Resident Speculation Tax on the purchase of homes in the Greater Golden Horseshoe, which includes the City of Mississauga / Region of Peel. 

A 15% tax is applied to transactions involving up to 6 residential units and include a foreign entity / corporation or taxable trustee. For more information, see the following website:  https://www.fin.gov.on.ca/en/bulletins/nrst/

Federal Government

The federal government also has the power to disincentivize through other means such as applying the capital gains tax on the sale of investment properties. The City plays an advocacy role in encouraging senior levels of government to consider using mechanisms such as these.

Addressing the affordability issues in Mississauga and elsewhere in the GTA requires a multi-governmental, multi-pronged approach. We encourage you to follow these initiatives and engage in them by providing your feedback.

Thank you for your question. Mississauga is currently participating in the Region of Peel’s HomeShare pilot, which is run by the same organization, National Initiative for the Care of the Elderly (NICE), as the program in Toronto that you referenced. The program matches older adults who want to age in their homes with students who need a place to live and who can help around the house in exchange for reduced rent. The entire process, from application to finding an appropriate home share match, is carefully overseen by NICE social workers in accordance with all COVID-19 protocols. Additional details on this program are available on the City’s website: https://www.mississauga.ca/city-of-mississauga-news/news/do-you-have-a-spare-room-available-partner-with-peel-homeshare/  

The Increasing Housing Choices in Neighbourhoods Study is also looking at how to support home sharing on a longer term basis than this pilot and developing planning policies.

Thank you for your question. Your input is important to us and will inform our work on evaluating land use permissions as they relate to residential designations.  Please note that, through the Mississauga Official Plan Review, we are looking at ways to protect small convenience commercial plazas within neighbourhoods and to strengthen complete communities policies and directions. One of the policy directions we are advancing aims to reinforce the planned function of neighbourhood “Convenience Commercial” designations and emphasize their importance as providers of local shopping for the day-to-day needs of residents within walking and cycling distance. You can read more on these and other related policy directions on the official plan review page: https://yoursay.mississauga.ca/official-plan-review .

Thank you for your question and for giving us feedback to consider Montreal's approach.

Our study can certainly learn from Montreal as well as other cities in Ontario (e.g. Ottawa and Hamilton) to implement missing middle housing. 

Something we’ll have to consider when looking to Montreal is that most of their development occurred between the 1800’s to early 1900’s. This is when small-scale apartments were a more desirable development form and a dense street network was being established. This created ideal conditions for duplexes, triplexes, and multiplexes, for example, to really establish themselves in Montreal’s neighbourhoods.

In comparison, most of Mississauga’s development occurred post-war and took a more suburban approach that was dependent on cars. We’ve started to change this approach so that we’re creating completing communities where everyone can live, work, and go to school in the same city, as well as get groceries, go to the park, and access services within a shorter distance.

Despite those differences between Mississauga and Montreal, we’re still looking at how duplexes, triplexes, and multiplexes could be implemented in the Mississauga context. As you’ve mentioned, these forms have potential to provide more housing choices in our city. We’re also investigating other housing forms like coach houses/garden houses, laneway suites, and garage conversions.

We really appreciate your idea to look at Montreal’s approach to housing so we hope you can join us at future community engagements. These will be posted on the engagement page: https://yoursay.mississauga.ca/increasing-housing-choices-in-neighbourhoods-study

There’s also a survey and photo submission exercise that you can participate in so we can get more feedback from you on how to implement these housing forms in the city: https://yoursay.mississauga.ca/increasing-housing-choices-in-neighbourhoods-study/news_feed/take-the-survey-and-share-your-photos

Thank you again for your feedback and we hope you take care.

Sincerely,

Elizabeth