Ottawa introduces ‘historic’ $30B transit fund to spark new housing; opportunity for game changing projects in Mississauga

The federal government has announced what it is calling the “largest public transit investment in Canadian history” opening the door for Mississauga to secure funding for major projects to reshape the booming city.

On July 17 the Liberals unveiled the Canada Public Transit Fund, which will see an investment of $30 billion flow to municipalities over the next decade to expand public transit. The program will invest an average of $3 billion per year to help municipalities deliver better public transportation systems across the country. Money will not start flowing through the new fund until 2026, but applications are open now. 

The scope of funding could be critical for Mississauga which has been underserved by major transit investment compared to other large Canadian cities. With significant growth projected over the next decade under a pledge to the PC government in support of creating 120,000 new homes by 2031, developing reliable transit that can move residents across the city’s grid will be essential. 

Each year the City of Mississauga makes several requests to Ottawa and Queen’s Park in its annual pre-budget submissions, which lay out the major projects that require investments from higher levels of government.  

In the latest budget ask, the City outlined a series of transit priorities key to Mississauga’s growth, including the Downtown Loop extension of the Hurontario LRT project; all-day-two-way GO service on the Milton Line; the Eglinton Crosstown West LRT Extension to Pearson International Airport; a downtown Mississauga terminal and transitway connection; and the Dundas Bus Rapid Transit Corridor. 

A Lakeshore rapid transit route, with tens of thousands of new units being built along the shoreline of Lake Ontario, is also high on the priority list.

Top: rendering of the Cooksville transit hub where the Dundas BRT corridor will connect with the Hurontario LRT and the GO Train; Bottom: rendering of the Port Credit LRT platform where the Lakeshore BRT line and the GO Train will connect.

(Metrolinx)

“These priority transit projects are essential to manage our growth, reach our housing target of 120,000 homes over 10 years, reduce congestion and gridlock on our roads, and reach our climate change targets,” the 2024 budget submission stated. “Mississauga asks that the federal and provincial governments come to the table to fund these important projects.”

The new federal transit fund will be delivered across three streams: 

1. Metro-Region agreements will provide investments to support partnerships between provinces and large urban areas with the largest public transit systems to build transportation networks. Funding amounts, the government says, will be based on quality, “with the highest amounts of funding going to the most ambitious partnerships,” including those that demonstrate how the particular transit project will increase housing supply;
2. Baseline Funding will be delivered to municipalities with existing transit systems based on population and ridership to upgrade, replace or modernize current transit infrastructure. This includes system expansion, lifecycle extension, performance upgrades and investments to keep fleets in a state of good repair; and
3. Targeted dollars to support key priorities like active transportation, rural and remote transit, investments in Indigenous communities, and the electrification of fleets and school transportation. The funding under this stream will be allocated on a project-by-project basis through recurring calls for applications to meet evolving transit needs. 

City of Mississauga staff are determining which transit projects will be attached to funding requests ahead of the September 16 deadline.

(Metrolinx)

Although money will not flow until 2026, the federal government said it would be opening intakes under the Metro-Region Agreements and Baseline Funding streams immediately.

A City of Mississauga spokesperson could not confirm which projects will be put forward for investments under the program.

“We don’t have this information ready to provide yet. Staff will be meeting in the coming weeks, as specifics around the three streams of funding are released, to determine which projects Mississauga will apply for.” 

Municipalities have until September 16 to submit applications for the Metro-Region and Baseline streams. 

“The Metrolinx-led Hazel McCallion Line and Eglinton Crosstown West Extension projects are progressing through construction,” the spokesperson explained. “The City will deliver the Dundas BRT Mississauga East and Lakeshore BRT projects through money secured through the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program, and we will continue to prepare projects and examine funding opportunities as they arise.”

Acknowledging the connection between transit and growing the municipality’s housing stock, a City of Mississauga spokesperson told The Pointer in an email “building a robust and connected rapid transit network is an essential part of supporting our housing initiatives.” The City will continue to prioritize investing in its local transit system and explore more alternatives to move residents around Mississauga without using personal vehicles.   

Each of the City’s pre-budget asks has requested the federal government work with the Province to help see the City’s transit vision through, but the latest commitment from the federal government highlights the ongoing tension between Ottawa and Queen’s Park, with both levels of government sparring over who is best suited to help cities get housing built. Municipalities have said the Province should not step into their jurisdiction, but the PCs have argued their plan to build 1.5 million homes by 2031 under Bill 23 has to override municipal planning authority to get construction moving (reports earlier this year revealed the Province is nowhere near meeting its housing target).

Critics have said the PCs have adopted policies pushed by the residential development industry which wants to profit from more sprawl off land in and around places like the Greenbelt where communities should not be developed.

Ottawa has stepped in, circumventing Ontario’s Bill 23 by dangling billions of dollars in front of municipalities that instead choose more dense, transit oriented housing that is far more affordable and in line with what a younger generation of buyers wants, and needs.

The PCs have in turn lashed out at the federal government for overstepping its boundaries, bypassing Queen’s Park to give municipalities direct funding to support housing priorities laid out by the Liberals.  

Late last year Premier Doug Ford called out Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for “jurisdictional creep” after the federal government’s Housing Accelerator Fund was used to ensure smart, dense growth along transit corridors where affordable units would be the priority. Mississauga received $112.9 million from the fund in December. While Ford slammed the federal government, his PCs were criticized by Ottawa for pushing developer-driven policies geared to constructing more sprawl instead of the compact, affordable units near transit that Ontario needs.

The federal Liberals have been slammed by the PC government for overstepping Ottawa’s jurisdiction to ensure dense housing is built in communities near transit; meanwhile Doug Ford’s government has been condemned for pushing developer-driven sprawl.

(Alexis Wright/The Pointer) 

Ford’s approach to housing has been widely denounced by planners, who have pointed out the lack of modern transportation design and mismatched units which are not what Ontarians need. 

The federal Liberals have pushed back, using recent funding programs to force dense, affordable, transit supported housing. Now, the latest announcement is another blow to Ford’s developer friendly agenda, and the latest victory for those municipalities that have publicly rejected the PC plan as out of touch. Critics have asked Ford how the infrastructure for 1.5 million new homes not connected to current communities, in far flung places like the Greenbelt, will be paid for. The bill for roads, schools, hospitals, provincial transit and all the municipal infrastructure would be hundreds of billions of dollars. But PC budgets have failed to account for this. Taxpayers, planners have pointed out, would be crippled by the costs. 

Now, Ottawa is stepping in. 

“The Canada Public Transit Fund will also complement our work to build more homes faster,” the July 17 media release on the federal fund highlights. “Through programs like the Housing Accelerator Fund, we’re giving cities and towns more money to build more homes — but with a condition: if municipalities want federal funding, they have to change their zoning by-laws to build more housing near transit.”

The same criteria will be required if municipalities want to unlock money under the program, which the government says will hinge on action to directly jumpstart housing supply. This will include introducing measures that eliminate all mandatory minimum parking requirements within 800 metres of a high-frequency transit line; allow high-density housing within 800 metres of a high-frequency transit line or a post-secondary institution; and the completion of a housing needs assessment for all communities with a population above 30,000.

The PCs, meanwhile, have committed to one major transit ask in Mississauga. 

Earlier this year the Ontario government recommitted in its 2024 budget to restoring the downtown loop for the Hurontario LRT after cutting the rectangle from the line in 2019, citing increasing project costs. In what was promising news for Mississauga, the 2024 Ontario financial blueprint laid out an investment of $67.5 billion over ten years for public transit, which included extending Mississauga’s LRT project through the city’s downtown core by beginning the initial planning phase for the loop. The Province confirmed in the budget document it has accepted an initial business case from transit agency Metrolinx and will begin planning and design activities — to ensure proposed extensions can progress as the construction of the line continues. The move earlier this year was long awaited after Ford alluded to reinstating the loop in 2022, but specific funding details and a timeline to restore the section remain unclear. 

The PC government recommitted in its 2024 budget to restoring the downtown loop portion of Mississauga’s Hurontario LRT.

(Alexis Wright/The Pointer) 

The City has said moving forward with the loop is critical to supporting the development of Mississauga’s downtown core, which staff predict will grow by 50,000 people over the next decade. 

The Province also committed in its 2024 budget to moving forward with two-way, all-day GO service to the Milton Line — another long-awaited transit investment in Mississauga’s recent budget requests. The Province’s commitment was solidified in April when a media release revealed the government was moving forward with the service expansion — a move Joe Perrotta, director of the City’s rapid transit, told The Pointer “is a game changer for Mississauga.” 

“It will significantly improve travel both to and from Mississauga, and within the city as thousands live and work along the route between the southeast and northwest,” Perrotta explained at the time of the announcement. “Once operational, that means more frequent and quick access east-west, reduced traffic, especially during rush hour, and more train options for work and play. It will open and connect our city in a new and dynamic way.”

The service — which has been a top transit and city-building priority for Mississauga for several years — will be essential for the City’s ability to build the housing it needs, he said, to meet its housing targets handed down by the Province. The funding commitment from the PCs came a few years after the federal government pledged to cover a share of the costs in 2021, designating $500 million to support increased service on the Milton Line, which Mississauga staff have said will help the city respond to growing traffic congestion. 

Email: [email protected] 

Twitter: @mcpaigepeacock

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