Fix unfair police funding in Mississauga, city tells province in Canada’s capital

A police funding formula that’s “a most egregious burden on Mississauga taxpayers” needs to be fixed as soon as possible, a delegation from Canada’s seventh-largest city told the provincial government — again — in Ottawa earlier this week.

Atop a list of eight main priorities for Mississauga is a push to have the province fix the Peel Regional Police funding formula at the Region of Peel “to ensure fairness for Mississauga taxpayers by saving more than $93 million in annual subsidies to Brampton,” a City of Mississauga news release stated on Thursday.

The latest Peel police budget, approved in early 2025, saw money earmarked for the hiring of a most-ever 300 new police officers to patrol the streets of Mississauga and Brampton.

The budget, Mississauga Mayor Carolyn Parrish said in a letter to the provincial government back in January, “… is a most egregious burden on Mississauga taxpayers. Peel Regional Police have presented us with a 2025 budget increase of $144 million, or 23.3 per cent. Mississauga will again carry 62 per cent of the cost while Brampton pays only 38 per cent, despite almost identical populations.”

That message — among others — was again delivered by Mississauga to the province at the 2025 Association of Municipalities of Ontario conference, held Aug. 17-20 in the nation’s capital.

Led by Mississauga Deputy Mayor and Ward 8 Coun. Matt Mahoney, the city’s delegation met with Ontario government officials including cabinet ministers, opposition party leaders, MPPs and industry stakeholders “to discuss and advocate for Mississauga’s priorities.”

That list includes:

• Fixing the Peel Regional Police funding formula at the Region of Peel to ensure fairness for Mississauga taxpayers by saving more than $93 million in annual subsidies to Brampton.
• Advocating for a new financial deal for Mississauga, similar to those signed with Toronto and Ottawa, to fund transit operating costs and capital projects.
• Providing financial help to Mississauga to support the waiving of development charges and other incentives to get more affordable housing built quicker.
• Advancing priority transit projects, including the Hazel McCallion Line LRT Downtown Loop and all-day, two-way GO service on the Milton corridor.
• Pushing for more infrastructure funding to combat flooding and manage stormwater in areas of the city hardest hit by recent floods.
• Working with the province to respond to American tariffs and protect local jobs and the economy.
• Adding more justices of the peace for the city’s Provincial Offences Act courts to ensure justice is done in a timely manner.
• Fixing the Greater Toronto Airports Authority’s payment-in-lieu-of-taxes formula that shortchanges Mississauga by millions of dollars per year.

Councillors Alvin Tedjo, Chris Fonseca, Natalie Hart, Joe Horneck and Brad Butt, in addition to City Manager and CAO Geoff Wright and other senior city staff, joined Mahoney over the four days in Ottawa.

Mahoney said Mississauga officials took the opportunity “to participate in meaningful discussions with the province about our top priorities and to advocate for our city and our residents.”

He added that “as one of Ontario’s largest cities, we play an important role in the province’s economy, and the funding and investment we receive needs to reflect this. We successfully delivered our messages and are looking forward to seeing the positive outcomes of our discussions at AMO.”

(Cover photo: Peel Regional Police X)