Flood-prone part of city will be better protected in future: Mississauga councillor

Two “critical pieces of infrastructure” expected to better protect residents of a community in northwest Mississauga from devastating floods are expected to be in place this year and in 2027, the city says.

Residents in the Lisgar area of west Meadowvale, who’ve dealt with flooding for the better part of two decades, pleaded with the city’s mayor last September to use her political clout to fast-track completion of a fourth pumping station being built to help mitigate the flooding problem.

Flooding of homes in the community dates back to 2008 and two pumping stations have already been built in efforts to address the problem.

A third pumping station is expected to open mid-summer this year along Sixteen Mile Creek immediately south of Doug Leavens Boulevard while a fourth is on schedule to open in 2027. The last of the four stations will be located “along the tributary at Osprey Boulevard,” Ward 10 Coun. Sue McFadden, who represents the area, said earlier.

The first and second pumping stations are located north along the creek at Cactus Gate and Smoke Tree and started operating in 2021 and 2025, respectively, she added.

Residents expressed frustration 

Frustrated residents have pushed the City of Mississauga — in particular, the mayor — to have the fourth pumping station up and running by the end of 2026 instead of next year.

However, that won’t happen, the city says.

“The city’s efforts to mitigate the impacts of flood events in Ward 10 continue with ongoing multiple projects. The construction of the third of four automated pumping stations is still on track for completion mid-summer,” McFadden said last week in her latest update to the community. “The design of the fourth station is almost complete with construction anticipated to begin early this summer. These critical pieces of infrastructure are designed to create capacity in the sewer system to prevent surcharging and backing up water around basement foundations.”

A letter from the Lisgar Residents’ Association to the mayor, council and senior city staff last September noted, in part, that “… repeated flooding of Lisgar has caused serious financial hardship and deep anxiety in the community.

“Every year, the floods are becoming increasingly widespread as hundreds of homes are flooded, encompassing Lisgar from east to west, north to south. Lisgar has suffered repeated flooding, some (residents) as much as” five and six flooding events, if not more.

$125 million in losses due to floods since 2008, residents say

The residents said last year they had also contacted, via letter, Canada’s Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne and they had the support of Mississauga umbrella residents’ group MIRANET (Mississauga Residents’ Association Network) in pushing for the fourth station to be built faster.

In their late 2025 letter to the city, Lisgar residents said a timeline extending into 2027 “is not acceptable to our community.”

The letter continued, “We are respectfully requesting Mayor (Carolyn) Parrish to use the strong mayor powers to facilitate the construction of the remaining pumping stations” so all are completed and running no later than the end of 2026.

Residents further noted that new homes being built in Lisgar and additional basement apartments being constructed “will put additional pressure on the stormwater sewer and sanitation sewer capacity that is currently overwhelming” the system.

The residents’ group estimated the total flood-related financial cost to residents, collectively, since 2008 to be around $125 million.

“It is bewildering after all these years to continue to experience flooding,” the residents said in their letter.

Other measures to mitigate flooding

Meanwhile, noted McFadden, the ongoing dredging of Osprey Marsh is also expected to lessen the impact of flooding in the future.

The first phase in that process began late in 2025 and was completed last month. The second phase is slated to begin in July, with scheduled completion by end of the year, McFadden said.

“The dredging will remove sediment from the bottom of the pond and improve the function and operation of this stormwater management facility,” she added.

“Flood prevention remains a key priority for me on behalf of all residents and especially those properties that are in a flood-prone area.”