Building Our City: Mississauga Approves Growth Funding By-laws

Today, City Council approved three important by-laws for growth funding charges that help pay for infrastructure and services to support new development in Mississauga. Growth funding, including Development Charges, the new Community Benefits Charge and Parkland Conveyance/Cash-in-Lieu, helps the City plan and build complete communities and maintain a high quality of life for our residents.

Growth funding charges are governed by provincial legislation and require City by-laws supported by detailed studies as follows:

• Development Charges By-law and Background Study – includes the rates, eligible services and policies applied across the City to help pay for the infrastructure and services needed when new residential or non-residential buildings are built.
• Community Benefits Charge By-law and Strategy – outlines how the City will apply the new charge, capped at four per cent of land value, to growth-related costs stemming from high-density residential developments (five or more storeys and 10 or more units).
• Parkland Conveyance By-law – outlines the parkland conveyance requirements and cash-in-lieu of parkland rates, including a gradual phase-in period until 2023, based on the City’s parkland needs identified in the Parks Plan.

“As our city continues to grow and intensify, our parkland by-law ensures we have a way to deliver vibrant parks and recreational spaces for everyone to enjoy,” said Jodi Robillos, Commissioner of Community Services. “Parks add so much to our quality of life, that’s why it’s essential they be prioritized, well-planned and consistently funded.”

In addition to parkland, the fees collected from developers when they build new projects help ensure the City can deliver roads, trails, bridges, community centres and more.

“Developers are required to pay their fair share; however, these charges alone are not enough to cover the many costs to support our growing city,” said Shari Lichterman, Commissioner of Corporate Services and Chief Financial Officer. “The City is not immune to high construction costs, increasing land values and inflation. We have very few funding sources to meet our growing list of demands. When building new infrastructure like libraries, transit, overpasses, bike lanes and roads we must also look to property taxes and funding from higher levels of government to close the gap.”

While the City aims to ensure growth pays for growth whenever possible, it is also committed to supporting affordable housing providers and non-profit developments in our communities. Two recently announced grant programs will provide eligible affordable rental housing developments and non-profit organizations who provide long-term care homes, hospices, shelters and transitional housing with grants to offset the City’s portion of development charges.

The Development Charges By-law, Community Benefits Charge By-law and Parkland Conveyance By-law take effect on June 23, 2022.

Learn more about Mississauga’s growth charges.

Tags

• By-laws and Policy
• Finance and Revenue
• Parks and Forestry