Nearly 1,100 building permits issued in Mississauga this year as construction at ‘all-time high’

The City of Mississauga has issued 1,088 building permits for new construction so far this year, indicating to City officials that construction continues to be “at an all-time high.”

The 1,088 permits issued in the first quarter of 2023 total 2,171 residential units, Mississauga officials said in a news release today (April 13).

The “strong start to the year” supports the City’s efforts to help the Ontario government tackle the housing crisis, and comes on the heels of a record-setting number of permits approved in 2022, City staff said.

The 6,400-plus building permits issued last year (worth a total construction value of nearly $2.5 billion) easily bested the previous mark of 5,500 approved in 2021.

Mayor Bonnie Crombie suggested the latest data shows the City’s housing plan is working.

“We’re doing everything we can to make it easier for the building industry to get shovels in the ground and cranes in the sky,” she said. “Mississauga is ready and willing to grow, and as we do, we’ll keep working with our development partners to ensure we deliver walkable, livable communities that meet the needs of those moving to Mississauga for the first time, and those who have been living here for many years.”

City officials note that Mississauga has approved roughly 80 per cent of all development applications submitted to council in the last three years.

And the 39 construction cranes currently in the sky is a record for Mississauga, they add.

That tops the previous mark of 36 active cranes doing work last November.

Officials say that while residential homes made up the bulk of the permits issued in 2022, there was a significant jump in non-residential construction as well due to the strength of Mississauga’s economy.

The total construction value of permits issued in 2022 was:

• residential construction: $1.7 billion (up from $1.4 billion in 2021)
• non-residential construction: $834.7 million (up from $642.2 million in 2021)

“With a strong start to 2023, and building permits issued for more $2.5 billion in construction last year, I’m confident that our efforts are helping to increase the supply of housing in our city,” said Andrew Whittemore, Mississauga’s commissioner of planning and building. “Going forward, we expect even more activity as we continue to roll out our recently approved housing action plan which will help the City meet new provincial housing targets.”

Still, the new high number of permits for Mississauga might not be good enough when faced with expectations laid out in controversial Bill 23, the Ontario government’s More Homes Built Faster Act.

A report from Whittemore presented to councillors last November indicates Mississauga would have to double that figure in years to come to meet requirements under the new legislation.

Highlights of the permits approved/issued by the City for new buildings in 2022 include:

• 6,491 residential units
• 8 commercial buildings
• 25 industrial buildings
• 4 institutional buildings (hospitals, schools, churches, etc.)