Former Mississauga site of dirty coal-powered plant will trailblaze path to clean thermal-energy

Recalling his walks down Ogden Avenue in Mississauga as a child, Charles Sousa, Member of Parliament for Mississauga—Lakeshore, vividly remembers the soot that covered everything in sight—from cars to the clothes on people’s back—thanks to the emissions from the Lakeview Power Generating Station. He knew then something had to change.

Sousa is one of many local leaders who wanted to ensure that the legacy of a well known Lakeview resident, who had long envisioned a sustainable community, would not be lost.

“The idea for new technologies such as District Energy and Vacuum Waste at Lakeview Village started with the Late Jim Tovey, Ward 1 Councilor, who visited Sweden and brought back a vision for an innovative, sustainable, low carbon community for Lakeview Village which would include features such as a District Energy System and an Automated Waste Collection System,” one of Lakeview Village’s explanatory documents lays out. “The City’s Climate Change Action Plan further emphasized the need for the City and future land development projects to consider green energy projects such as District Energy as a means to assist the City in meeting its Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emission reduction target of 80% by 2050.”

The vacuum system was later removed from the plan.

Sousa was one of the dignitaries who joined Mississauga Mayor Carolyn Parrish for the groundbreaking of Canada’s soon-to-be-largest district energy system at Lakeview Village on a sunny, summery day last week. 

Located on Jim Tovey Boulevard, named in honour of the former Mississauga councillor, Lakeview Village welcomes visitors with its newly completed Discovery Centre featuring an all-glass building and a striking artwork in its backyard, titled ‘Composition for Wind’. 

Judging by the pre-construction design, Lakeshore Village promises to be visually unique.

(Anushka Yadav/The Pointer)

With most of the area under construction, one would not be able to tell that this 177-acre site was once home to the notorious coal-fired power station known as ‘the Four Sisters’ which rose above the shores of Lake Ontario.

The soaring smokestacks, which expelled a toxic stew into the surrounding air, and the rest of the plant were demolished in a matter of seconds on June 28, 2007, after 43 years of operation. Following their dismantling, the City spent nearly two decades developing a comprehensive plan for the formerly industrialized waterfront land.
 

The former Lakeview Power Generating Station.

(City of Mississauga)
 

Sousa recalled sitting down in a boardroom with Parrish, Ward 2 Councillor at the time Pat Mullin and former Mississauga councillors Tovey and Carmen Corbasson, and discussing the best approach to “enable the place to be protected”, ensuring the site would not “host another emitter.”

After years of pushing for the project, the Lakeview Development Recommendation Report was approved by the Planning and Development Committee in November 2021.

Undertaken by the City of Mississauga in collaboration with Enwave, the Region of Peel, and Lakeview Community Partners Ltd. (LCPL)—the development consortium—the project will utilize a network of pipes to heat and cool the entire community from a centralized location, transitioning away from traditional heating and cooling methods that rely heavily on carbon-based energy, by leveraging treated wastewater, or effluent, from the nearby G.E. Booth Water Resource Recovery Facility as its primary source of low-carbon energy.

Pointing toward the “big hole in the ground” facing the water resource recovery facility, Enwave chief executive officer Carlyle Coutinho proudly invited attendees to envision the site which will soon transform into the “largest greenfield district energy project in North America.”

The district energy system will be part of Lakeview Village’s “Sustainability Hub” and provide educational opportunities for visitors.

(City of Mississauga)

To bring this new system to life, the City of Mississauga and Enwave have signed agreements allowing Enwave to build the necessary pipes and infrastructure on city land and construct a new building to operate the system.

Once operational, the district energy system will provide heating and cooling for the 16,000 residential units slated for the community, alongside other properties including parks, trails, transit, recreational and event spaces, as well as commercial areas for work and shopping.

A United Nations publication on District Energy in Cities emphasizes that this technology “is one of the least-cost and most-efficient solutions for reducing GHG emissions and primary energy demand.”

Echoing the point, Mississauga Ward 1 Councillor Stephen Dasko, the area representative, noted the district energy system will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 6,000 tonnes per year.

“The district energy system at Lakeview Village, alongside plans to leverage effluent, is instrumental in bringing the City of Mississauga’s Climate Change Action Plan and the Region of Peel’s Climate Change Master Plan to life,” the City trumpeted in a release.

According to Mississauga’s Climate Change Action Plan, community emissions surpassed 8 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e), reflecting a 2 percent increase from 1990 levels as of 2019. Although the pandemic led to a temporary reduction of approximately 10 percent relative to 1990 levels in 2020, the report emphasized the need for sustained efforts, noting that “in the years leading up to 2020, emissions were increasing.”

The City is now working to accelerate its climate targets, aiming to reduce GHG emissions beyond the current goals of 40 percent by 2030 and 80 percent by 2050 compared to 1990 levels. This shift aligns with new science from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and international best practices aimed at limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

In an effort to tackle this challenge, Dasko recalled his 2019 visit to sustainability centers in Sweden, like his predecessor Tovey, envisioning a future where people would come to Mississauga to see sustainable practices in action rather than traveling abroad to learn about them. 

“Wouldn’t it be amazing for people, instead of going to Sweden…they’re going to come right here to Mississauga and to see how it’s done,” he wondered.

In addition to the energy system, plans are also underway for the construction of a new operations center that will serve multiple functions. This facility will house the district energy operations managed by Enwave, along with a sewage pumping station operated by the Region of Peel. Importantly, the center will also include educational spaces designed to provide learning opportunities for Mississauga residents, visitors, and the local business community.

In honour of the late Jim Tovey, Credit Valley Conservation in collaboration with the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation is working on rehabilitating and enhancing the existing shoreline through the Jim Tovey Lakeview Conservation Area situated inside the village. The initiative will create 64 acres of publicly accessible wetlands, streams, trails, and naturalized spaces for community enjoyment, restore Serson Creek, support wildlife migration, and promote the recovery of native species. 

Renderings of the future Jim Tovey Lakeview Conservation Area at Lakeview Village.

(City of Mississauga)

Additionally, Lakeview Village will be adorned with one million sunflowers, which have been planted near the Discovery Centre since 2019, adding a vibrant touch to the landscape.

While the commitment to sustainability is evident, other challenges remain. As reported previously by The Pointer, only five percent of phase-two’s anticipated 8,000 units will be classified as “affordable” under traditional criteria. Another five percent, initially intended to meet similar affordability criteria, will consist of a mix of ownership and rental options, with unclear definitions of what constitutes affordability.

“Alongside housing models expected to meet applicable affordable housing definitions, some of the required units may be offered as market rental,” the City had told The Pointer.

Earlier this year, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Paul Calandra ordered Lakeview Community Partners to proceed with the development following an MZO that expanded the project from 8,050 to 16,000 units.

Despite concerns about the availability of affordable housing at Lakeview Village, one of the project’s primary goals, as envisioned by the late Jim Tovey, seems to be moving toward fruition. 

District energy and almost 70 acres of conservation area will help create a clean, green sustainable community that will be a far cry from the industrial, soot-covered neighbourhood Sousa grew up in.

(Correction: Due to an error in the editing process, a previous version of the article reported that the vacuum waste system is still part of the plan; it is not.)

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