City officials say they’re making “it faster and easier” for homes and businesses to be built near major public transit corridors in Mississauga in an effort to chip away at the housing shortage.

Mississauga has become one of the first cities in Ontario to pre-zone lands around major transit station areas, the City of Mississauga said in a news release on Tuesday.

A major transit station area — the planning term was coined by the provincial government — is a zone within a municipality that offers easier access to transit. The province strongly encourages towns and cities to direct housing and business growth to such areas.

Mississauga has more than 50 such zones, defined as land within a 10-minute walk of a public transit station or stop where higher-density, mixed-use development is encouraged, and the city said this week it’s “pre-zoning 35 MTSAs in locations that are expected to accommodate the most residential growth.”

The move is expected to “unlock” as many as 114,000 new homes near major transit station areas, according to the municipality.

“Mississauga is taking another big step to tackle the housing shortage by making it faster and easier to build housing and businesses near transit,” the city said. “As the city grows, most new homes and development will be concentrated along key transit corridors such as the Hazel McCallion Line and the (Mississauga) Transitway. To support this growth, (the city plans to) pre-zone lands in many of Mississauga’s major transit station areas. Over time, new development in these areas could support approximately 227,000 residents and 47,000 jobs.”

Andrew Whittemore, the city’s commissioner of planning and building, said people want to live in communities that are connected, convenient and close to transit.

“By pre-zoning lands in major transit station areas, we are creating clear, predictable rules that remove barriers, speed up approvals and make it easier to build complete communities,” he said. “This approach will help us deliver more housing, support new jobs and ensure growth is thoughtfully planned along our transit corridors.”

City officials note that pre-zoning sets clear rules up front for what can be built in each area including building heights and density.

“It helps guide development in a way that creates more livable, connected communities that are in line with the city’s plans for growth.”

The practice, officials added, also streamlines development processes by:

Providing certainty and removing planning hurdles with clear, predictable guidelines for development along transit corridors.
Speeding up approvals, allowing projects to move forward more quickly when they meet zoning requirements.

(Cover photo: City of Mississauga)


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