Rendering shows proposed vision for the Living Arts Centre property and other downtown city-owned lands. In addition to main components that include a new performing arts centre and a large hotel and convention facility, the redevelopment plan calls for urban parkland areas, internal courtyards, open green space, water features and rooftop patios. (Image: City of Mississauga)
Former Mississauga mayor Bonnie Crombie says she’ll scrap a proposed $2.5-billion redevelopment in the downtown core if she gets her old job back.
In unveiling her “full election platform” on Thursday afternoon, Crombie took direct aim at what she calls a “$2.5-billion vanity project” that includes plans to replace the Living Arts Centre in addition to other major developments.
The City of Mississauga unveiled its bold vision earlier this year, saying it would dramatically transform Mississauga’s downtown core for generations to come.
A new performing arts centre that would replace the Living Arts Centre and rival the largest in Canada and a highrise hotel and convention facility as big as 500,000 square feet are highlights of the city’s vision that would permanently reshape Mississauga’s downtown.
City officials have stressed plans are in the very early stages, that they’re still exploring options for a reimagined downtown core and that residents will be kept in the loop as the process moves forward.
Rendering of what a new downtown Mississauga could look like. (Image: City of Mississauga)
Crombie, who’s challenging incumbent Mayor Carolyn Parrish and city councillors Alvin Tedjo and Dipika Damerla in the 2026 mayoral race, said Mississauga residents don’t need a pricey City Centre redevelopment; they need lower taxes, good jobs, safer streets and less traffic congestion.
“We are in an affordability crisis. This election is about needs, not wants,” said Crombie, who unveiled her platform shortly after noon just steps away from the Living Arts Centre. “Carolyn Parrish has raised taxes 15 per cent in two years. Now she is championing a $2.5-billion vanity project. Billion with a B. Her priorities are wrong, and residents are paying the price.”
The proposed redevelopment of the Living Arts Centre and surrounding civic lands includes a hotel, convention centre and elevated park, the Crombie campaign noted in a news release Thursday afternoon.
Crombie, who was mayor from 2014 to 2024 before leaving Mississauga to take the reins of the Ontario Liberal Party, pledged today “to stop the scheme, preserve the Living Arts Centre’s community and cultural role, and redirect city resources and future spending toward residents’ priorities.
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“People are asking for homes they can afford and transit that gets them where they need to go,” Crombie continued. “I want to get housing built, secure funding to deliver the downtown loop and bring a subway into the heart of Mississauga. That is how we build a downtown that works for the people who live here.”
(Image: City of Mississauga)
Parrish told INSAUGA Canada on Thursday she stands firmly behind the downtown proposal, in particular a new performing arts venue, noting City of Mississauga staff have “worked on this plan for over a year.”
Parrish added senior staff “are 100 per cent behind it rather than patching up the LAC at $120 million so it can continue losing $2 million a year because it only has 1,000 seats.”
In addition, the city has an economic plan that shows $2.5 to $3.5 billion in revenue “from the complex we are planning, both from local residents and tourist visitors,” Parrish said. “The construction jobs alone will boost the economy in a time when the economy is slowing and tariffs hang over our heads.
“The current $2.5 billion in tourism dollars the city collects translates to an $1,100 tax reduction per average property owner. A revenue-producing complex will only make that better.”
Parrish added the $2.5-billion estimate for the downtown redevelopment proposal “includes a rental building, which the city isn’t building, and a five-star hotel, which the city isn’t building.”
A master plan for the downtown core
She further noted the City of Mississauga’s “Vision 21,” a master plan for the downtown core approved in 2010, “was put on a shelf and never looked at again.
“Once a dream, I will make this a reality,” Parrish said.
The city’s 2010 plan looked at transforming the downtown core from a car-centric area into a place where people can comfortably walk around and enjoy the various attractions.
Crombie also said on Thursday that “cancelling the (downtown) redevelopment, reviewing spending and finding administrative savings would help make room” for other priorities — including lowering taxes, supporting frontline police, and protecting jobs and seniors — should voters return her to the mayor’s seat.
“We can look after the Living Arts Centre and support local artists without pursuing Parrish’s $2.5-billion scheme. We have more pressing work to do,” Crombie added.
Initial vision for the downtown was presented in March
Mississauga city council approved in principle in March a sweeping concept that would dramatically remake the downtown area directly north of city hall, on lands anchored by the Living Arts Centre.
The new-look downtown core of Canada’s seventh-largest city, should it come to fruition in the years ahead, would rise up on 12 acres of City of Mississauga-owned land just steps to the north of city hall and anchored by the large parcel of real estate currently occupied by the LAC, senior city staff said in their initial report to council in early March.
In a followup report in the summer, staff added that “concurrent with public engagement, staff will advance comprehensive business cases for the convention centre and hotel, and the music venue, incorporating financial analysis, economic impact assessment and market sounding.”
The concept that dramatically reimagines the city’s downtown area has also received enthusiastic approval from Mississauga’s business community.
“Pivotal moment” for the City Centre
In staff’s first report, brought to council on March 11, they said Mississauga’s downtown “is at a pivotal moment of transformation, driven by major transit investments, sustained population and employment growth, and increasing demand for culture, tourism and employment infrastructure.
“City-owned lands, particularly the LAC property and surrounding civic lands, represent a once-in-a-generation opportunity to shape the downtown’s long-term economic, cultural and civic role.”
Core components of the proposed vision include:
A new state-of-the-art music hub that would include a 2,500-to-5,000-capacity performance venue to replace the LAC (current capacity of 1,120 rising to 1,680), recording studios and a music school located on the 3.4-acre Community Common park parcel of land.
A 400,000-to-500,000-sq.-ft. convention centre and hotel to be “positioned as a regional economic and tourism catalyst.” The highrise hotel would include some 400 rooms.
New nine-storey office and 20-storey rental housing developments to support employment growth and downtown vitality.
A redesigned and widened Princess Royal Drive and abutting atrium-style open space “that will prioritize programming and events and retail activity to animate the downtown and to generate more pedestrian activity.”
A precinct-based parking strategy including 1,500 to 3,000 new underground parking spaces beneath Community Common “to support shared civic, cultural and commercial uses and tunnel connections.”
A signature Sky Park and enhanced programmable Community Common urban park, “strengthening downtown open space and civic identity.”
The Living Arts Centre, which opened in 1997, would be replaced with a much larger venue if the city’s plan comes to fruition.
Initially, the city revealed plans last year to redevelop the area around the LAC, Mississauga’s largest performing arts and culture facility, and simply improve — but not replace — the performing arts venue itself.
That initiative included large-scale renovations to the Living Arts Centre that included a move to increase seating in the main hall from 1,120 to 1,680.
Staff’s March report noted that while the LAC, which sits on roughly six acres of land, “remains a cornerstone of Mississauga’s cultural infrastructure,” the building itself “is outdated and requires significant investment (a minimum of $120 million as noted in recent studies) to make it viable to meet the needs of a modern city.
“Additionally, the suburban nature of the LAC site layout limits opportunity to introduce new uses for optimizing lands for other priorities.”
Staff looked at the LAC “within a broader” vision
In the end, the report reads, “rather than approaching the LAC property through incremental or piecemeal upgrades, staff were asked to contemplate situating the LAC lands and the other city-owned lands within a broader downtown vision.”
In addition to the LAC site, the report points out there are four other parcels of city-owned land in the immediate area that total another six acres. Those areas are currently used for parking lots and passive open space.
“In total, there is an opportunity to transform almost 12 acres of land in the city’s downtown core,” the March report stated, adding city staff suggest “these lands collectively represent a rare and strategic opportunity to reshape the future civic, cultural and economic identity of the downtown core.”
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