Ford’s chaotic actions jeopardize green projects in Mississauga & Brampton

Ambitious zero-carbon retrofit projects in Mississauga and Brampton are facing mounting political and procedural hurdles. Uncertainty stemming from Doug Ford’s political tampering with the future of municipal governance in Peel has impacted long-term decision making and funding for key initiatives across the region.

Buildings currently account for 45 percent of all greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area, making them the top contributor to urban pollution in Mississauga and Brampton.

The Canada Green Building Council recommends two key strategies for reducing these emissions, including recommissioning large buildings (25,000 to 200,000 square feet) and undertaking deep retrofits in older structures, particularly those more than 35-years-old.

“Buildings built before 2000 are responsible for 85 percent of building emissions,” a report by the Association of Municipalities of Ontario noted. “Improving energy performance is perhaps the first and easiest step.”

In line with these recommendations, Brampton and Mississauga launched critical decarbonization projects: a deep energy retrofit of Mississauga’s Weaver’s Hill residential complex and the transformation of Brampton’s Susan Fennell Sportsplex into a zero-carbon facility.

In Mississauga, Weaver’s Hill — a modest cluster of affordable housing towers just north of the 403 Highway and immediately east of Hurontario Street — is poised to become a climate innovation landmark. Long one of the Region’s highest-emitting residential sites, the complex was chosen for a deep energy retrofit in 2022, aiming to slash its greenhouse gas emissions and bring it to net-zero carbon.

Weaver’s Hill is a two-tower residential complex owned by Peel Housing Corporation in the north-central part of Mississauga.

(Clean Air Partnership) 

If successful, it will be the first of its kind in Peel’s housing portfolio; a model for how aging infrastructure can be transformed into climate-forward, low-emissions living spaces.

Brampton is undertaking a major retrofit of the nearly 30-year-old Susan Fennell Sportsplex — a lively community hub with gyms, ice rinks and recreation facilities — which is being reimagined as a cutting-edge, zero-carbon site. 

According to the City of Brampton’s website, work began in April to transform the Susan Fennell Sportsplex into its first zero-carbon recreation facility.

(City of Brampton)

The plan includes replacing gas-powered boilers and ice resurfacers with electric versions, installing a geothermal system, and upgrading everything from refrigeration plants to lighting and air handling units. The overhaul is expected to cut carbon emissions by 91 percent annually, with the other nine percent offset through carbon credits.

“The reductions equal about 550 cars taken off the road for one year, or 30,000 trees grown for 10 years,” a federal government press release noted. 

Together, the initiatives have secured $20 million in loans and grants from the Federation of Canadian Municipalities’ (FCM) Green Municipal Fund (GMF) to boost energy efficiency and drive emissions down.

“Investing in deep retrofits to reduce emissions and build more efficient infrastructure is a critical way we can fight climate change and support cleaner communities. These retrofits will result in significant cost savings for the municipality as well as providing a state-of-the-art net zero facility that residents and families can enjoy,” former federal minister of energy and natural resources Jonathan Wilkinson said.

Despite the need for these key priorities, the road forward is anything but certain.

At a Peel Regional council meeting on May 8, staff warned that political instability — triggered by Ford’s snap winter election call, and the process to download certain regional responsibilities to the lower tier municipalities as part of his ongoing tampering with Peel’s governance structure — could derail these critical climate efforts.

On May 18, 2023, the Ontario government announced plans to dissolve Peel Region.

(Government of Ontario) 

A month later, Bill 112, dubbed the Hazel McCallion Act, was passed, formally setting the dissolution in motion with an effective date of January 1, 2025. As part of this transition, a provincial board was appointed to guide restructuring. The Transition Board was dissolved on December 31, 2024, without its recommendations ever being made public or released to the region.

On December 12, 2024, the Ford government introduced Bill 240, known as the Peel Transition Implementation Act, intended to transfer regional services, such as roads and waste collection, to Mississauga and other lower-tier municipalities by July 1, 2026. 

A September 2023 report highlighted that the transition would be a “huge undertaking in such a short time,” given the size of the region and the complex web of shared services between its municipalities.

The process was always expected to be challenging; it faced an additional roadblock when Ford called an early election that took place the end of February, dissolving the legislature and terminating all pending parliamentary business, including Bill 240.

“As a result of the 43rd Parliament of the Province of Ontario dissolution, all parliamentary business, including consideration of Bill 240, has been terminated,” a regional staff report highlighted on May 8.

“It is unclear at this time how the current provincial government will proceed following the general election.” 

The Region of Peel has approved a $23.5 million retrofit of Weaver’s Hill. Funded through a combination of municipal contributions and $10 million in GMF financing — a $5.9 million loan and $4.1 million grant — the project is expected to slash greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 90 percent and reduce energy consumption by 41 percent.

In 2023, Mississauga’s community-wide greenhouse gas emissions totalled 7,233,297 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent, with buildings accounting for 53 percent of that output.

(City of Mississauga)

Mississauga’s Climate Change Action Plan charts an ambitious path to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent by 2030 and 80 percent by 2050.

The retrofit leverages mechanical replacements originally scheduled for 2022–2025 to achieve deep carbon cuts with minimal tenant disruption.

But there's a catch: the entire loan must be disbursed by January 11, 2026, or the FCM could terminate the agreement. And with Bill 112 — the Hazel McCallion Act — having dissolved Peel Region’s governance structure and transferred responsibilities to a Transition Board (now itself dissolved), the region’s ability to meet such deadlines remains precarious.

The legislative turbulence culminated in Bill 240, which would have implemented Peel’s partial breakup by July 2026, handing off services like roads and waste collection to Mississauga and Brampton. But the bill died on the order paper when Ontario’s 43rd Parliament was dissolved. The lack of clarity on the next provincial government’s direction now leaves regional staff in limbo.

A similar narrative is unfolding in Brampton, where the City has secured $10 million from the GMF — $7.5 million as a loan and $2.5 million as a grant — to retrofit the Susan Fennell Sportsplex.

Brampton’s climate goals set a clear course: a 30 percent reduction in community GHG emissions by 2030, 40 percent by 2040, and an ambitious 80 percent cut by 2050, all compared to 2016 levels, which according to the city's website “needs improvement.”

(City of Brampton)

“The energy transition is underway in communities across Canada, and the City of Brampton is committed to doing its part to create a cleaner, more sustainable future for everyone to enjoy. We are thrilled to receive this $10 million investment from the Government of Canada and FCM. The upgrades to Susan Fennell Sportsplex are another step toward meeting our net-zero goals while ensuring this facility is prepared to serve Bramptonians for generations to come,” Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown said.

Unlike the Weaver’s Hill project, Brampton cannot directly borrow the funds due to its status as a lower-tier municipality under Ontario’s Municipal Act. As such, Peel Region must act as the official borrower. This unusual setup, while legally compliant, further entangles the project in Peel’s uncertain future.

The Region has worked closely with Brampton to ensure due diligence, including compliance with provincial debt regulations. Still, Peel staff acknowledge that any restructuring stemming from Bill 112 or potential revival of Bill 240 could disrupt financial flows or increase the Region’s borrowing costs, possibly affecting its credit rating.

Both retrofits are key to meeting Peel’s Climate Change Master Plan, which targets a 45 percent reduction in GHG emissions from 2010 levels by 2030. With buildings accounting for nearly half of the Region’s corporate emissions, retrofits like Weaver’s Hill and the Sportsplex are seen as pacesetter projects for the decarbonization of municipal infrastructure.

As Peel’s political future hangs in limbo, the province’s as well as the region’s climate ambitions risk being sidelined — not by lack of vision, but by a governance void threatening to choke the funding and coordination needed to see them through.

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