Through the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (MFIPPA), you have the right to access City records or access and/or correct your personal information that the City has with a Freedom of Information (FOI) request.
For records held by other governments or government agencies, submit an FOI request directly using their process. An FOI request is not needed for information that’s available from the City through routine disclosure or already available:
Contact the City department directly to see if the information you’re looking for can be accessed or corrected without a formal request. Or call 311 (905-615-4311 outside City limits) if you’re not sure what department holds the records or what records you can access without an FOI request.
The City retains and preserves records according to the Records Retention Schedule By-law. Some records may not be available once the required retention period has passed.
The City holds drawings for single family & semi-detached homes for seven years.
Industrial/commercial and multiple family dwellings are available. However, we may not have some drawings for the former municipalities (before Mississauga was incorporated) and many drawings prior to 1969 are unavailable due to a historical fire.
Due to limitations of the system, closed circuit television (CCTV) videos are retained for a maximum of:
To find retention periods for all City CCTV videos, check the source’s respective corporate policy. Keep in mind CCTV cameras can go offline and record over themselves so the record may not exist.
Make sure the information you are requesting is available and still within the required retention period before submitting an FOI request.
The City holds drawings for single family & semi-detached homes for seven years.
Industrial/commercial and multiple family dwellings are available. However, we may not have some drawings for the former municipalities (before Mississauga was incorporated) and many drawings prior to 1969 are unavailable due to a historical fire.
Subsection 27(2)(i) of the Federal Copyright Act provides that the disclosure of a record pursuant to a request made under the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (MFIPPA) is not a violation of copyright. This means that copies of architectural plans, drawings and/or specifications, may be provided in response to a request under the MFIPPA unless another exemption applies to the records. Note that the person who the record is provided to, is still bound by copyright.
The reproduction and use of any drawings released under MFIPPA are subject to the Copyright Act R.SC.c-42.
The City will attempt to verify the ownership of the property, but may require additional documentation if necessary.
If you’re an authorized person of the property owner, provide a signed letter from the property owner clearly stating that they have given you permission to receive any building permit drawing that may exist in the custody or control of the City.
We will generally contact the owner of the property to determine the suitability of the release of any building permit records. This will extend the timeline of the release to at least 60 to 90 days.
Any decision to release the drawings may be appealed to the Information Privacy Commissioner resulting in further delays. We strongly suggest getting permission from the owner before submitting the request to avoid delays.
There is a reproduction fee of approximately $2 to $6 per full-size sheet for drawings and plan.
Copying charges of 20 cents apply to letter and legal-size pages. Fees for search time and preparation may also apply.
Registered Plans of Subdivision are the plans approved under the Planning Act that create buildable lots that conform with zoning. They can be purchased in person from the Land Registry Office, ServiceOntario, 1 Gateway Boulevard, Brampton or the Ontario government website (www.onland.ca/ui/). Modern subdivision plans will show lot dimensions and survey “monumentation” (bars) but do not show buildings or other improvements on the property. Reference Plans are essentially plans of survey that are registered in the Land Registry Office and are used to illustrate parcels of land, or “parts”. The “parts” may or may not represent buildable lots.
Similar to Plans of Subdivision, Reference Plans will show property dimensions, survey monumentation and may show the location of fences in relation to the boundaries but generally do not show buildings or other improvements on the property. Reference Plans can also be purchased from the Land Registry Office, online or in person.
The other major class of legal survey plans is the Surveyors Real Property Report, formerly known as a Building Location Survey or simply Survey Certificate. These plans show lot dimensions, survey monumentation, buildings, garages, decks, pools and other major improvements to the property as well as easements, rights-of-way and other property interests. This type of survey is typically sought after by homeowners when fencing or planning improvements on the property.
Unlike Plans of Subdivision and Reference Plans, which are available from the Land Registry Office, Surveyors Real Property Reports are not kept on file in any public registry system including the Land Registry Office. The City does not hold a repository of surveys. Surveys may exist in a City file, subject to its record retention requirement. A Freedom of Information request is required to confirm if we have the requested record.
If the City does not have a copy of the survey, you can contact your lawyer, your mortgage company, or a licensed professional surveyor to obtain a survey for you.
For more information about surveys and plans and the survey profession in general, contact the Association of Ontario Land Surveyors (www.aols.org) in Toronto at 416-491-9020 or 1-800-268-0718.
Complete the online form to submit an FOI request. The online form includes a step to pay the $5 nonrefundable application fee.
Send the Access or Correction Request form or a request letter and fee to:
Office of the City Clerk
City of Mississauga
300 City Centre Drive
Mississauga, ON L5B 3C1
If you’re writing a letter, you must include:
The $5 nonrefundable application fee can be paid by cheque payable to the City of Mississauga. Or pay online and include the payment confirmation number on your form or request letter.
You can drop off an Access or Correction Request form or request letter at the City Clerk’s Office at 300 City Centre Drive, Ground Floor. The $5 nonrefundable application fee can be paid by credit, debit or cheque payable to the City of Mississauga.
You can also leave the request and fee in our drop box located outside the Civic Centre, on the right of the North Entrance on Princess Royal Drive in a sealed envelope to the attention of the Office of the City Clerk.
If you’re writing a letter, you must include:
Additional information may be requested to confirm your identity, as required under MFIPPA.
We’ll respond to your request within 30 days. If we need more time to respond, we’ll notify you within the 30 days to explain why we need more time.
All FOI requests have a nonrefundable application fee of $5.
Additional costs for preparing, searching, printing and shipping may apply, including:
All fees are set out in the MFIPPA.
If fees for your request total $25 or more, we will give you an estimate before completing the request. If the cost is likely to exceed $100, we may ask for a deposit of 50% of the estimate before completing the request.
There are exemptions that may be used to limit the information released. For example, if a record contains someone else’s personal information or information provided in confidence by a third party, the City will generally remove that information from any records released. Check the MFIPPA for all exemptions.
If you are not satisfied with the City’s decision regarding your access request, you can file an appeal with the Information and Privacy Commissioner in Ontario.
For more information, you can contact the City’s Access and Privacy Officer: