Parrish slams Queen’s Park & Ottawa for leaving Mississauga ‘dry’ on flood relief funding

On July 16, Mississauga resident Ruel Suazon, whose home sits behind a park where the Little Etobicoke Creek runs, was unprepared for what would become “the worst” flooding he had ever experienced.

Suazon was among those impacted by Mississauga's latest "100-year storm," which unleashed 106 millimetres of rain in just a few hours, triggering flash flooding and prompting emergency rescues.

“Everything in our fully furnished basement was flooded and damaged,” he recalled after attending the public information session on flooding held November 13 at the Living Arts Centre alongside 250 residents.

Having lived in the same Mississauga home at Queen Frederica Drive for more than 35 years, the July flood marked the third time his basement had been flooded.

The City completed a flooding evaluation study of the Etobicoke Creek watershed in 2021.

(City of Mississauga)

In 2013, a storm that affected much of Mississauga and the Greater Toronto Area caused $932 million in damages, which at the time, a wake-up call about the rising frequency and intensity of severe weather events. Similar storms in 2005 and 2009 resulted in approximately $1 billion in damages between them.

A report released earlier this year by the Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) revealed that, for the second consecutive year, Canada exceeded $3 billion in insured damage from severe weather events, with flooding being the leading cause.

For Suazon and many other Mississauga residents, the summer’s storms were not just a reminder of climate change—they were part of a personal crisis. Even months after the event, he continues to deal with the financial and emotional aftermath.

“We got a hard time now dealing with insurance,” he said. "It’s hard to deal with these kinds of losses, especially when you've worked so hard, piece by piece, to build your life here as an immigrant."

At Mississauga council last week the stormwater budget was discussed.

(City of Mississauga)

Another resident at the session, who did not want her name used, shared with The Pointer that she and her husband, both seniors, were "overwhelmed" when 12 inches of sewer water flooded their basement during the July storms. They lost "everything" including rugs, furniture, appliances, their washer, dryer, furnace, and water heater, and received "very little" compensation from their insurance.

“We had no air conditioning, and we had no hot water for three weeks, which is a long time.”

Just a month later, the city was hit by its second “once-in-a-century” storm over the weekend of August 17, forcing local elected officials to confront the growing challenges of protecting their municipality from the unavoidable impacts of a warming planet.

Mississauga's Climate Change Action Plan projects that by 2050 severe weather events will occur every six years instead of every 40, along with an expected increase of 70 millimetres in annual rainfall.

“Extreme events like lightning and thunderstorms, snowstorms, freezing rain, hail, powerful winds, droughts, wildfires, flooding and storm surges are expected to become more intense due to a warmer and hotter future climate,” staff told The Pointer previously.

Recognizing the gravity of the situation and the challenges faced by residents during the rainiest summer on record, with over 497 millimetres falling between June and August, Mayor Carolyn Parrish outlined three new financial relief programs during the session, including one set to launch in the beginning of December.

The Living Arts Centre hosted a public session to detail Mississauga’s response to more intense and frequent storms.

(City of Mississauga/X)

The Residential Compassionate Flood Relief Grant provides a one-time payment of $1,000 to affected property owners and tenants who experience basement flooding during the severe weather events on July 16 or August 17 and 18 this year.

Residents say it’s not enough but “it’s better than nothing.”

“There’s no such thing as 'enough' when you consider what we lost and the expenses my husband and I have had to cover just to clean up—dealing with the mess, the garbage, paying for specialized restoration services, and hiring separate waste disposal companies. Anything helps, but will it fully reimburse us? Absolutely not. So, I’m truly grateful for any help we can get,” one resident shared.

The 2013 flood had pushed the City of Mississauga to reevaluate the management of its stormwater systems.

“Since 2016, we have invested over $231 million in stormwater infrastructure,” Parrish said while highlighting that the city’s 10-year plan also includes an additional $340 million for ongoing upgrades and maintenance to enhance resilience against future storms.

Currently, the Region of Peel offers a $1,500 rebate under the Sanitary Backwater Valve Rebate program for eligible homeowners to install a backwater valve, which helps prevent basement flooding caused by sanitary sewer backups.

Starting in February 2025, Mississauga will introduce two additional relief programs. 

The Basement Flooding Prevention Rebate Program will provide up to $6,800 for eligible flood prevention improvements, while the Flood Resilience Rebate Program will offer 50 percent of the invoiced cost of up to $3,000 for eligible water-resistant materials and other measures to reduce flooding risks.

At a council meeting where the stormwater infrastructure budget was discussed on November 25, Ward 3 Councillor Chris Fonseca successfully proposed a $500,000 increase to the rebate program, raising the cap to $1.5 million. Her motion also extended the eligibility period for the rebate to include applications of residents who were impacted by floods dating back to July 2013.

Flooding this summer saw Mississauga Fire and Emergency teams save vulnerable residents.

(Mississauga Fire and Emergency Services)

Suazon praised his Ward councillor for her active involvement in the community, listening to residents' concerns and offering support. 

In July, Fonseca introduced a motion requesting a report on options to mitigate future storm damage and called for continued collaboration with the Region of Peel and conservation authorities. The City has already conducted extensive studies on flood risks in the south end, including the 2021 Dixie Dundas Flood Mitigation Study, which recommended replacing the Dundas Street East bridge to alleviate upstream flooding. This critical project, estimated at $8.3 million to $9.5 million, is fully funded through the City’s Capital Plan.

Flooding in the area has been a long-standing issue since the 1970s, worsened by urbanization. Despite the area's designation as a Special Policy Area due to its flood risk, and ongoing mitigation efforts by the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority, progress has been slow.

Ward 10 Lisgar resident and Lisgar Neighbourhood Association representative Glenn Voakes also expressed his frustration over the flooding issues in the area, urging City Hall to follow through with plans to build four pumping stations. “We’ve been putting up with this for 15 years… we would like to see something done,” he said.

In response, Sam Rogers, the City's acting transportation and works commissioner, explained that one pumping station in Lisgar has already been completed, and two more are expected to finish in 2025. However, the construction of a fourth station may not be needed if the third station effectively resolves the flooding problems.

Mississauga has several such infrastructure programs aimed at mitigating flooding, but a tight budget, coupled with a growing infrastructure gap, limits the city's ability to effectively respond to the increasing frequency of extreme weather events driven by climate change.

Parrish says the City has been actively applying for both federal and provincial grants to support critical flood prevention and infrastructure initiatives, but, “we’ve been left to dry”—which she quickly realized was a “bad choice of words.”

Calling for help from residents, she encouraged them to sign and mail a letter—provided to participants with a pre-stamped envelope included in a file with details about the grants and flood prevention measures—addressed to Ontario Premier Doug Ford.

It urges for "support" and "necessary funding" for flood prevention and resilient infrastructure, as many residents, despite paying stormwater fees for years, now find themselves without insurance coverage for flood damage.

In an interview with The Pointer, Parrish expressed frustration over the lack of grants for Mississauga compared to other municipalities like Toronto and Ottawa.

“We're starting to be tired of being the poor cousins,” she said.

In September, she had vowed to "fight back" after Mississauga was left out of multi-million-dollar funding announcements for flooding issues in Toronto and Brampton from both the provincial and federal governments.

On November 25, Mississauga council took matters in their own hands, and moved forward a multimillion-dollar plan aimed at accelerating flood mitigation efforts. 

The budget committee backed a $30-million increase to the 2025 stormwater budget which also includes funding for over 20 new full-time positions to enhance infrastructure maintenance and expedite flood mitigation work, particularly in the Dixie and Dundas areas, along with other affected locations across the city.

Another $10 million was allocated for sewer and drainage upgrades in Malton, largely funded by the City’s stormwater reserves.

However, two key issues emerged from the discussions. 

The first one was addressed during the meeting.

City staff warned that the stormwater reserves could be depleted by 2026 without additional revenue. In response, Emma Calvert, the City’s interim director of infrastructure planning, suggested the possibility of raising the stormwater charge in future years, and adjusting contributions to other reserves or directing any provincial funding for flood mitigation toward stormwater projects to offset costs.

Calvert’s presentation also outlined the City's 10-year capital plan, which includes $365 million in proposed projects for 2025-2034. Notable projects include the Dundas BRT Storm Sewer Improvements, Port Credit storm drainage upgrades, and Fieldgate Drive & Hedgestone Court CBs in 2025, as well as the Credit River Erosion Control project (estimated at $2.8 million in 2029) and the SWM Pond Dredging and Cooksville Creek Erosion Control in 2032 (with a combined cost of $7.8 million).

The second, and more pressing issue is whether these investments will be sufficient. 

A 2022 report from the Financial Accountability Office of Ontario (FAO) warned that climate change-induced extreme rainfall could cost municipalities an additional $700 million annually to maintain stormwater and wastewater systems. 

The report highlights that infrastructure such as stormwater pipes, ditches, culverts, and sewer systems will require costly upgrades. 

It projects the cost of maintaining this infrastructure could rise by up to $6.2 billion by 2030 due to the increasing frequency and severity of weather events in Ontario. 

“However, public storm and wastewater infrastructure assets can be adapted, either by increasing their capacity or incorporating source control measures (such as green infrastructure). This would help avoid higher climate-related operations and maintenance costs, and reduce flood risk in surrounding areas,” the FAO report said.

But without making any changes or taking action to adapt to these climate impacts, municipalities could face a 27 percent increase in the cost of infrastructure compared to what it would cost if the climate remained stable.

A prime example of this issue can be seen just south of the border, where outdated sewer systems have caused frequent flooding in many parts of New York City. 

Former mayor Bill de Blasio had increased funding to a total of $95 million for upgrades to Long Island’s sewer system and water mains as part of a $180 million funding program in 2018.

Flooding near the Dixie and Dundas corridor this summer.

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However, six years later, the city's flooding problems grew worse with intense storms including remnants from hurricanes farther south, exposing the vulnerability of the area’s infrastructure, especially during hurricane season. The much-needed infrastructure improvements have yet to begin.

To add to the misery, a recent National Centers for Environmental Information report revealed that the U.S. has experienced 400 weather and climate disasters between 1980 and November 1, with total damages or costs surpassing $1 billion each. 

The combined cost of these events exceeds $2.785 trillion.

The cost of natural disasters closer to home are similarly dire.

In Ontario, total insured damage from flooding this summer exceeded $1 billion, marking the second-costliest summer for floods in the province’s history. The flash flooding in July alone caused over $940 million in insured damage.

Like Long Island, Mississauga has poured over $200 million into stormwater infrastructure since 2016, and homes continue to be swamped by rains, more than a decade since the catastrophic 2013 floods.

The question now looms: If municipalities’ stormwater budgets—measured in a few millions—are a drop in the bucket, what will it take for Queen’s Park and Ottawa to prevent the next catastrophic flood? 

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