Geoff Wright is the steady hand in charge of Mississauga City Hall

Mississauga City Hall sits at the epicentre of a seismic shift. 

A city defined not long ago by sprawling executive and middle-class homes on subdivision lots is in the throes of a housing crisis unique even in Canada. Hyper-vertical growth spurred by a multi-billion dollar commuter rail project along its major north-south corridor has exploded throughout the city. Entire lengths of its Lake Ontario shoreline are being re-rendered from the industrial operations that for decades defined the waterfront into village-sized redevelopments. Refugees and asylum seekers have recently arrived in unprecedented numbers, looking for a better life in one of Canada’s most dynamic cities, long a haven for newcomers. Climate-related impacts and aging infrastructure pose multi-billion dollar challenges. And in the midst of all these redefining dynamics, Mississauga’s very system of government, charged with managing the epochal change, is also facing uncertainty, as regional responsibilities are downloaded to the lower-tier municipality which for decades has agitated for its independence.     

This is the rapidly evolving picture City Hall’s top bureaucrat stares at every day.

Mississauga’s CAO and City Manager Geoff Wright, who took over the job this summer, is the man now tasked with striking a balance between the municipality’s most pressing needs and the priorities of its elected officials.

“It is ultimately council’s decision to make,” he tells The Pointer. “They're the decision makers. So it's up to staff to provide our best recommendations and to identify needs that they can debate, ask questions on and ultimately make those decisions.”

If Wright’s pragmatic understanding of his role reminds one of the way an engineer approaches the job, it’s no coincidence. He received his civil engineering degree from Dalhousie University, before completing an MBA from Saint Mary’s. Over his 17 years at City Hall he has gained respect for his straight forward style, most recently overseeing the transportation and works department, comfortable in roles that didn’t require too much creativity but demanded a steady hand at the wheel.

Wright was named the City’s permanent CAO in August through a directive issued by Mayor Carolyn Parrish using her provincially mandated strong mayor powers. He was previously appointed to the role on an interim basis in June, shortly after Parrish stepped in as head of Mississauga council when she won the byelection to replace Bonnie Crombie.

A rendering of Lakeview Village, one of the major waterfront development projects new CAO Geoff Wright will oversee.

(City of Mississauga)

Wright might be the perfect person to work with someone like Parrish, a natural leader who has throughout her long political career been known for bringing forward visionary ideas and strong policy views about the role government plays in improving the lives of citizens.

“We need to provide council with the data and clear recommendations on prioritization of investments, and what are the priorities that the City should be investing in,” he says.

“We get feedback from council and the community in terms of what those investments need to be, but… Council is ultimately the ones that will decide and approve the budget for the City of Mississauga, but it's staff's role to make recommendations and come up with different financial strategies.”

His steady hand is exactly what Mississauga needs right now, a factory floor boss that understands who makes the decisions, and who makes sure everything works smoothly to get them executed.

Wright was previously responsible for managing MiWay — which has seen steady increases in ridership since the pandemic — where his practical approach has helped the city’s transit system secure investments through council to meet the challenges of a municipality shifting to modern urban modes of transportation.

Hundreds of millions of dollars have been put toward major transit investments, to green the MiWay system and make it far more responsive to commuters who demand more frequency and reliability. Wright’s job was to make sure that got done.  

New CAO Geoff Wright wants to help council find a balance between traditional housing and hyper verticality.

(The Pointer files) 

With 120,000 new housing units coming online by 2031 Wright understands the critical role he now plays.

Mississauga was built out as a bedroom community, a suburban destination filled by single-detached homes. Over the last two decades it has transformed into a major market for condo developments as shifting demographics continue to dramatically alter Canada’s seventh largest city. 

“Where we're trying to find that balance is, yes, both of those are important to Mississauga, we want to retain single family dwellings,” Wright says. “We want to build more condos, but we also want to build missing middle housing.

“The municipality has one role to play in the overall suite of how houses get built…and so we'll be working as an organization to really shift our culture (to fit the changing demands of younger generations). That is one of our biggest priorities.”

He says supporting Parrish and the rest of council to deliver the right type of housing for Mississauga residents is a top priority.

Decades of poorly planned budgets under Hazel McCallion created a significant infrastructure gap now compounded by all the housing needed to meet shifting demand. The bill has come due and Wright will have to manage critical issues like an underfunded fire department, poor stormwater management, a road network facing a major facelift to accommodate high order transit and flood mitigation projects and changing infrastructure needs in a rapidly densifying vertical urban environment.

Mississauga owns an estimated $18.5 billion in assets, according to the City. Investment needs to ensure infrastructure, from libraries and community centres to roadways, stormwater pipes and sewers, is maintained at a level that residents expect.

“Every year there's a bit of a gap that we're leaving money off the table and we're hoping that we'll be able to play catch up in future years,” Wright acknowledges. “It becomes… a prioritization exercise in terms of where, and when, is the best time to spend money and where is that prioritized within that piece?”

“It's a very delicate game in terms of the age of the City's infrastructure and the investments that are required to make that happen.”

The City projects it will have $240.2 million to spend each year over the next decade to maintain existing assets and replace what is too old. That leaves a gap of approximately $44 million per year needed to keep infrastructure in good condition.

“We need to provide council with the data and clear recommendations on prioritization of investments, and what are the priorities that the City should be investing in,” Wright says.

“We get feedback from council and the community in terms of what those investments need to be, but… Council is ultimately the ones that will decide and approve the budget for the City of Mississauga, but it's staff's role to make recommendations and come up with different financial strategies.”

The City of Mississauga projects a $44 million infrastructure gap each year over the next decade.

(City of Mississauga) 

Wright says one of his most important juggling acts will involve finding money to make the significant investments needed to maintain infrastructure while simultaneously moving forward with major capital projects to improve the lives of Mississauga residents. 

“Raising revenues is a fine balance as well. Every year we look at things like recreation fees, all the fees that people pay for our services, and it's very difficult to rely on those. We do rely on those to generate revenue, but you can't really put a significant increase in transit fees, because then you'll drive people away from transit.”

“So it's like a price elasticity of demand exercise where you’ve got to make sure that you're offering the services, but you're recovering an appropriate amount of revenue.”

He knows it will be hard for council to rely on tax increases.

“Council's under a lot of pressure from residents… and what residents are feeling in their pocketbooks. It's tough for people to see big impacts on property tax and council heard that. So that's where they're stuck between a rock and a hard place, between making key investments, but also trying to keep taxes low, and that's a very difficult task they have.

“It's up to staff to take on the burden of coming up with a business plan, looking at our asset management strategies, and making recommendations of how we can finance infrastructure investments.”

In the City’s 2024 budget, staff introduced a three-percent infrastructure levy for the next three years to help maintain critical infrastructure in a state of good repair. The decision was met with contention from councillors, illustrating the fundamental issue facing governments as ongoing inflation across sectors puts those in charge of the public purse in a next to impossible position — cut spending to alleviate financial strain on taxpayers who then suffer with a lack of services and key features; or increase taxes to enhance service delivery and build the types of projects that improve the lives of residents.

Wright will deliver the proposed financial strategy for 2025 on October 29, the first suggested blueprint for the city under his leadership.

“There's still big-ticket projects that are excluded from our current financial capital plan that we need to work with our partners on to get those projects delivered. That’s something that municipalities currently struggle with. The ability for the municipality to finance is very limited to property tax and infrastructure investment.”

To improve the critical housing file Wright wants to examine how Mississauga can diversify its stock to deliver more types of residential units than it has in the past, to help tackle affordability and deliver what residents in a shifting market demand.

CAO Geoff Wright wants to help council strip red tape to improve project timelines. Part of the downtown plan, shown above.

(City of Mississauga) 

Mississauga’s current housing strategy aims to increase housing supply by allowing more housing types, encouraging transit-friendly development and creating more opportunities for residential housing in existing employment areas to drive down the costs and improve affordability. Council approved fourplexes on low-rise residential lots in December and additional residential units, which include triplexes, garden suites, garage conversions and laneways suites, allowing up to three residential units on one lot. Wright says this now gives residents more options.

He and his staff are reviewing the City’s housing approval process to make sure it’s streamlined as much as possible. Breaking from his pragmatic approach the CAO hints at a new way forward to get more housing and the right type of housing built: there will be “radical changes”.

The type needed when dealing with seismic shifts.

Email: [email protected] 

Twitter: @mcpaigepeacock 

At a time when vital public information is needed by everyone, The Pointer has taken down our paywall on all stories to ensure every resident of Brampton, Mississauga and Niagara has access to the facts. For those who are able, we encourage you to consider a subscription. This will help us report on important public interest issues the community needs to know about now more than ever. You can register for a 30-day free trial HERE. Thereafter, The Pointer will charge $10 a month and you can cancel any time right on the website. Thank you