Ontario Construction News staff writer
The City of Mississauga is intensifying its efforts to revitalize a sluggish housing market by broadening a program that removes development charges for certain rental housing types. This is aimed at converting a “record-setting” number of permits into actual building projects.
<p The latest initiative, which the council approved in February 2026, eliminates development charges (DCs) for one-bedroom-plus-den and two-bedroom rental units. The goal of this policy expansion is to tackle a particular issue: the gap between the high number of building permit approvals and the actual construction that gets underway.
Despite issuing a record number of permits in 2022 and reporting “all-time high” permit activity in early 2023, it’s still too soon to tell how effective these incentives are at boosting construction starts.
The main sign of the policy’s effectiveness is its role as a “closer” for developers who have already obtained permits but haven’t started their projects yet. To qualify for the full 100 percent DC reduction, developers must secure a building permit by November 13, 2026.
“As a city, we have to do what we can to get rental developments across the finish line and shovels in the ground,” Mayor Carolyn Parrish stated.
As of early 2026, the city reported over 12,000 residential units currently under construction. However, it has also struggled to meet provincial goals for “housing starts”-which measure when construction actually begins-despite having many approved permits. In 2023, Mississauga was deemed ineligible for the Building Faster Fund because it didn’t meet specific housing start targets. The city challenged this decision by highlighting thousands of units already planned in its pipeline.
This incentive program began in January 2025 with a 50 percent cut for most residential projects and was created as an answer to a “cost to build crisis.”
Industry advocates like the Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD) have praised this program for tackling the “financial viability challenges” that caused numerous projects to stall. Before these incentives were introduced, an analysis by N. Barry Lyon Consultants revealed that rising construction costs and high interest rates were making many high-density developments unfeasible.
By removing DCs-which can top $135,000 per single-detached unit and amount to tens of thousands per apartment unit-the city aims to counterbalance rising “hard costs” of construction that have outpaced residential prices.
Key statistics and milestones
Record activity: In 2022, Mississauga issued permits for 6,491 residential units with a total construction value of $2.5 billion. Pipeline vs. starts: By early 2026, over 11,600 units were reported under inspection by the city; about 95 percent of those are high-rise apartments. Federal support: A portion of $84 million from federal Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF) grants is being used by the city to offset revenue losses due to these DC reductions. Peel Region match: In June 2025, Peel Region voted unanimously to match the city’s incentives, effectively doubling financial relief available for qualifying developers.
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