Radical change: Mississauga advances Climate Plan with ambitious targets for 2025

At an Environmental Action Committee meeting on December 10, Mississauga celebrated the city’s significant progress in addressing climate change through key achievements, including the completion of 95 percent of the actions outlined in its 2019 Climate Change Action Plan and ongoing efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Unlike municipalities that urbanized decades ago, Mississauga faces a unique challenge: the country’s largest suburb, planned in sprawling fashion by developers in the ‘70s, ‘80s and ‘90s with no consideration of future impacts such as flooding and air pollution, is now trying to lead the way as a sustainable standalone city, one that aspires to become a desired waterfront destination for future residents seeking the best of urban living.  

It will take a radical transformation to achieve this. And that’s exactly what key City staff are continuing to push.

From investments in green transit to rethinking the way its suburban buildings need to be designed for the future, a dramatic shift has been underway for a decade.   

Through its Green Development Standards, for example, a major focus in Mississauga is the reduction of emissions from buildings, which are among the largest contributors to greenhouse gases. The new building requirements are a radical departure from the way Mississauga was built from farm fields 50 years ago. 

Other facets of the overall plan to combat the local impacts of climate change while mitigating the city’s own contribution to the problem were outlined, as part of Mississauga’s ongoing effort to change the way its municipal government makes decisions in a rapidly changing environment. 

Recently, Canada’s seventh largest city has been at the forefront of municipal climate action, and at the December 10 council meeting, this focus was front and center. 

In December 2019, Mississauga Council approved the city’s first comprehensive Climate Change Action Plan (CCAP) with the aim to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent by 2030, and 80 percent by 2050, compared to 1990 levels, while preparing the community for the impacts of climate change, including increased flooding, ice storms and heatwaves.

Leya Barry, Supervisor of Climate Policy for the City, provided an update on the progress of the 2019 Climate Change Action Plan, which will be revised next year and presented to Council for approval in the first half of 2025.

As of Winter 2024, out of the 89 actions outlined in the plan, 54 have been completed, including 41 focused on continuous improvement. Another 31 actions are currently underway, while only four have not yet started. 

The City of Mississauga is making considerable progress on the action items outlined in its Climate Change Action Plan. 

(City of Mississauga)

Barry explained that the last four actions may no longer be relevant, as the context and rationale for them have shifted since 2019. 

“We're actually at 95 percent of our actions have been completed or are currently underway. At this time last year, when I came to you, we were at around 80 percent, so progress is continuing to be made, and this is a great place to be at the end of five years for a planning process and to kind of help us get into the next phase.” 

The city’s progress is shown in its emissions data. 

In 2023, total corporate emissions were 70,556 tonnes, representing a two percent increase from 1990 levels, but a 12 percent decrease since the CCAP was approved in 2019. Corporate emissions in 2023 remained almost unchanged compared to 2022. 

Transit accounts for the largest source of corporate greenhouse gas emissions in Mississauga. 

(City of Mississauga)

Barry attributes the overall corporate emissions rise to the introduction and expansion of mass transit services across the city as the MiWay system continues to grow.

In April, the city also wrapped up the Mississauga Climate Leaders Program (MCLP), launched in partnership with the Mississauga Board of Trade and Partners in Project Green. It aims to help local public and private sector organizations reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and work toward a net-zero future. Staff are now assessing delivery of programming beyond the 2024 pilot.

Meanwhile, total community emissions for 2023 were 7,233,297 tonnes, an eight percent reduction from 1990 levels and a ten percent decrease from 2019 levels. 

To achieve considerable emissions reductions, changes are needed in the efficiency of homes and other buildings in Mississauga as well as the modes of transport residents choose to get around the city. 

(City of Mississauga)

One notable achievement was the nearly 40 percent reduction in industrial process emissions, particularly from the Ash Grove Cement Plant, which is developing a plan to shift toward alternative low-carbon fuels, and divert non-recyclable materials used in other industrial and commercial processes from landfills.

Transit, transportation and buildings continued to be the largest sources of emissions in both 2022 and 2023.

A recent report by The Atmospheric Fund showed that buildings and transportation account for over 83 percent of emissions in the GTA, with buildings being the largest contributor, especially in Mississauga and Brampton.

To tackle this, Mississauga has launched a number of initiatives, including decarbonizing municipal buildings. Notable examples include Fire Station 125, the city’s first net-zero energy building, now operational, and Erin Mills Twin Arena, which won the Energy Star Building of the Year Award from Natural Resources Canada. 

In response to a question from Councillor Alvin Tedjo about expanding these efforts to other rinks, Barry explained that City staff are developing a decarbonization roadmap to identify the facilities ripe for retrofitting, with arenas and rinks being prime candidates due to their high energy consumption. 

In April, the City approved updated Green Development Standards (GDS), which will take effect in 2025 and mandate energy-efficient and climate-resilient measures for new private buildings. The GDS, a key tool in the city’s environmental planning, will be updated throughout the year to align with the CCAP’s goals. 

Mississauga’s GDS will be rolled out in three tiers, with the first consisting of mandatory standards, followed by different voluntary measures in later tiers. 

Beginning in 2025, builders constructing low-rise residential units will be required to adhere to policies such as ensuring a minimum of five percent of a buildings’ annual energy consumption comes from one of a combination of acceptable renewable sources; planting shade trees along street frontages; and including a green roof, blue roof, cool roof or solar PV for roofs with a combined area of 500 square metres or greater.

Tier-two standards will become mandatory in 2028, with tier three following in 2033.

Barry said the City is also exploring the use of cool roofs and facade-mounted solar panels for corporate facilities.

Mississauga’s dedication to sustainable development is further demonstrated by its support for innovative energy systems. 

A rendering of the future Lakeview Village.

(City of Mississauga)

As reported earlier by The Pointer, the city marked a significant milestone in October with the groundbreaking of Canada’s largest district energy system at Lakeview Village which aims to transform the site, once home to the coal-fired Lakeview Power Generating Station, into a model of eco-friendly living by using treated wastewater from the G.E. Booth Water Resource Recovery Facility as its primary source of low-carbon energy.

On the transportation front, the city is making strides with MiWay, its public transit system, which was one of the biggest sources of corporate emissions in 2022-23. 

In 2025, MiWay is set to launch a pilot program for Hydrogen Fuel Cell Electric Buses, with ten buses in operation, followed by a pilot for 15 battery electric buses in 2026. 

Currently, more than 40 percent of MiWay’s fleet consists of second-generation hybrid buses, and more than 105 electric vehicle (EV) chargers have been installed throughout the city in the last five years for both “public and corporate use.” 

Eight new public EV chargers also opened in 2024 at the Burnhamthorpe Community Centre.

While Ontario Premier Doug Ford pushes to cut bike lanes  in Toronto through Bill 212, Mississauga is continuing to expand its cycling infrastructure, with 25 kilometres of new cycling lanes under construction, including 12.8 along the future corridor of the Hazel McCallion LRT line which will run on Hurontario Street. 

In June, the City launched a Shared Micro-Mobility Program, which includes more than 300 e-bikes and 900 e-scooters available for rent across Mississauga.

Mississauga’s resilience efforts have been especially critical following the back-to-back 100-year floods that struck in July and August. In response, the City’s leadership has prioritized both community support and the development of resilient, green infrastructure.

On November 13, Mayor Carolyn Parrish announced financial relief grants for residents impacted by the floods and organized a public information session on flooding.

The City of Mississauga hosted an information session to educate residents on the assistance programs available to deal with flooding damage in their homes. 

(Anushka Yadav/The Pointer)

In November, the City allocated a $30 million increase to the stormwater budget, though an investigation by The Pointer previously highlighted that, despite over $200 million invested since 2016, escalating climate disaster costs continue to overwhelm cities, leaving Mississauga vulnerable to flooding more than a decade after the catastrophic 2013 floods.

Flooding this summer saw Mississauga Fire and Emergency teams tasked with saving many vulnerable residents.

(Mississauga Fire and Emergency Services)

In an interview with The Pointer, Parrish called on both Ottawa and Queen’s Park to approve funding for vital flood prevention and infrastructure projects, expressing frustration that the city was being "left to dry" while other municipalities, like Toronto, continued to receive preferential treatment.

To “increase resilience and help mitigate flood risk” and address the city’s parkland deficit, Mississauga also acquired 57 acres of parkland in 2024, bringing the total to 152 acres acquired since 2020, Barry highlighted during the presentation.

Residents, businesses, community leaders and partners are also being involved in Mississauga’s climate action efforts through initiatives like the Cooksville Sustainable Neighbourhood Action Plan (SNAP), launched in fall 2023, which fosters tailored solutions and builds strong partnerships aimed at achieving shared climate goals.

The City is also planning to continue expanding its efforts to support sustainability and the circular economy in collaboration with various partners through initiatives like its annual recycling drive Partners in Project Green, Waste-Free Movie Nights, Repair Hubs as well as the energy coaching service for Peel residents to guide home retrofits through partnership with the Center for Community Energy Transformation.

Alice Casselman, President of the Association for Canadian Educational Resources, said the updates were “really uplifting, and a great way to end (the) year. And it gets you going again in 2025.”

City staff are now estimating the costs and savings of the identified actions and drafting a plan with pathways to achieve the city’s greenhouse gas reduction targets. This plan will be finalized with input from the public, and feedback will be gathered before seeking Council approval next year.

Barry, who was deeply involved in creating the 2019 CCAP and now leads its update, expressed her optimism for the next phase of the plan. 

“I’m hoping that this next iteration is just really kind of bumping up that level of ambition…It’s going to feel a little bit more radical, and hopefully we can push that forward, and we can make that change.” 

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