Building affordable homes faster is goal of mayor’s new task force in Mississauga

Figuring out how to build homes faster in Mississauga and make them more affordable for people are the main goals of a new task force that met for the first time on Wednesday.

Comprised of some two dozen members from the City of Mississauga in addition to developers and builders, the Mayor’s Housing Task Force also seeks to:

• identify opportunities to streamline development application and building permit approval processes
• review incentives needed to deliver homes for a range of Mississauga families

The task force, chaired by new Mississauga Mayor Carolyn Parrish, includes “a wide range of development and building representatives from both the private and not-for-profit sectors,” city officials said in a news release, adding key city planning and building staff also sit at the table.

“The task force is designed as a forum to discuss impediments, find solutions to the housing supply and affordability crisis in Mississauga and identify areas for partnership,” the city added.

The task force was a “key pledge” made by Parrish during her mayoral byelection campaign, which culminated in her victory on June 10.

Mayor Carolyn Parrish chairs Wednesday’s inaugural meeting of a new housing task force in Mississauga. The city’s planning and building commissioner, Andrew Whittemore, is to her left. (Photo: City of Mississauga)

Ward 8 Coun. Matt Mahoney, the city’s new and first-ever deputy mayor, joined Wednesday’s inaugural meeting as well.

Parrish said she didn’t want to waste any time getting the task force up and running. The first meeting took place two weeks after she officially took office on June 26.

“It signals how seriously we take the housing crisis in this city. It’s time to do things differently,” said Parrish, who defeated three city councillors and 16 other mayoral hopefuls in a largest-ever field of 20 candidates for the city’s top seat.

“I want to give reputable developers and builders who are ready to deliver housing a candid forum to tell us what’s working, what we need to do more of and what we can do better.”

Andrew Whittemore, the city’s commissioner of planning and building and member of the task force, said Mississauga has made some recent strides on the housing front, but the job is far from done.

“While we’ve made solid progress in streamlining our approvals processes over the last few years, we must continue to adapt to the realities of an incredibly complex housing market,” he said in the news release, adding the task force “is an important forum to help us better understand the needs of our industry partners so that we can all find ways to deliver housing more quickly.”

Officials note the Mayor’s Housing Task Force complements the city’s 2023 Housing Action Plan, which includes five goals and 23 actions to increase the supply and affordability of homes in Mississauga.