Mississauga has taken another significant step in ongoing efforts to get more rental housing built in the city.

City council decided on Wednesday to extend by more than a year the City of Mississauga’s development charges incentive program. The objective, city officials said, is to get “shovels in the ground on much-needed housing for Mississauga families.”

The incentive program, through which development fees have been significantly reduced and in some cases eliminated, now gives developers until Dec. 31, 2027 to take advantage of what’s being offered by the city.

Previously, incentives were offered for residential developments with building permits issued prior to Nov. 13, 2026.

Development charges are fees paid by builders to municipalities when properties are constructed, with the money used to help pay for infrastructure needed to support the new structures and their residents. The fees help pay for such things as roads, water supply and parks.

City officials have in the past year or so reduced or eliminated various development charges with the goal of encouraging builders to provide more rental units in Canada’s seventh-largest city.

Efforts began in January 2025 with the passing of a motion from the Mayor’s Housing Task Force that provided incentives for residential developments with building permits issued prior to Nov. 13, 2026 (now extended through December 2027).

The city then built on the program with its decision last month to further cut development charges in the ongoing effort to get more rental housing built. Effective in February, development fees were eliminated altogether for construction of one-bedroom (plus den) and two-bedroom or larger units that are part of a purpose-built rental residential apartment development.

“As a city, we’re leading development charge reforms to help reduce costs and make homes more affordable for Mississauga families,” Mayor Carolyn Parrish said in a news release on Thursday. “The incentives also help fuel the residential construction industry, one of Ontario’s major economic engines supporting jobs and investment.”

Convened by Parrish two weeks after she took office in June 2024, the Mayor’s Housing Task Force was created to find solutions to an affordable housing crisis that for years has gripped Mississauga and other municipalities across Ontario and Canada.

Comprised of more than 30 members from the City of Mississauga in addition to developers and builders, the task force presented a report in early 2025 to city council. The report included 30 actions “to help kickstart development,” city officials said at the time, adding the document outlined immediate steps the city could take to help get homes built more quickly and affordably.

“As the housing crisis continues to worsen, the report challenges all levels of government, including Mississauga, to think and act differently,” city officials said in a news release in early 2025. “The recommendations in the task force report will help guide future housing efforts in Mississauga.”

(Cover photo: City of Mississauga X)


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