Mississauga increases curiously below city's average

October 26, 2008

Kenyon Wallace

Staff Reporter

Downtown Mississauga may have easy access to the GTA's largest highways and be only a quick jaunt from the airport – not to mention downtown Toronto – but such conveniences aren't enough to keep its assessment increases from falling curiously below the city's average.

The average assessment increase of 4.48 per cent for next year puts central Mississauga's residential areas a full percentage point below the municipality's average.

The likely culprit? A growing number of condominiums, according to Jeff Jackson, Mississauga's director of revenue and material management. With a lack of options for crowding out, Mississauga residents are now crowding up.

"Our greenfield sites are basically filled up, so what's happening now is you're seeing a lot more condominium-type development," said Jackson, who is responsible for taxation in the city. "Just like in downtown Toronto, if someone's going to do something, they're going to put up a condo as opposed to a subdivision of 40 or 50 houses."

Indeed, downtown Mississauga has seen a condo construction boom. According to the city, 26 condo buildings have gone up in the area over the past five years – more than 7,500 residential units.

This is fairly new territory for Mississauga, which for years relied on outward suburban expansion to fill its coffers. Today the urban boundary has been reached so the city is building upward. And although the average assessment values are lower than neighbouring communities, increasing densities in the city core could result in more urbanized neighbourhoods, which could again drive up assessments – much like what has occurred in Toronto.

But why the slower rate of increase in downtown assessed values? Jackson notes that condominium values aren't increasing as much as single-family dwellings. "Keep in mind we're talking about a residential average, so you have all kinds of properties within an average," Jackson said. "A larger proportion of residential condominiums can bring the average down."

But Roger Keil, director of the City Institute at York University, has a different hunch. He says one reason for central Mississauga's lower assessment increases could be environmental concerns, given its proximity to the airport and highways.

"You've got three highways in the area competing for traffic, not to mention the airport, so who wouldn't consider the impact on air quality?" said Keil.

Meanwhile, just to the south, property assessments along Lake Ontario have increased by an average of 6 per cent for 2009 – almost a full percentage point higher than the city-wide average.

"This is clearly an outcome of very specific and very directed planning policies on the part of the city of Mississauga, supported by Metrolinx," said Keil. "It's clearly an up-and-coming neighbourhood and has a lot going for it."