Long Range Financial Plan

Construction Activity
Both residential and non-residential construction activity provide a measure
of growth in a municipality. Building permits and capital investment are strong
indicators of how buoyant business feels about the economy. Changes in
building activity impact other factors such as the employment base, income
and property values.
Figure 10 - Total Construction Activity
City of Mississauga ($000s)
Building construction activity is cyclical. It is important to look at building
cycles over a relatively long period of time to identify trends in construction
activity. Figure 10 provides the trends experienced in the City of Mississauga
for the past 15 years.
Construction activity was at its peak in the late 1990s and early 2000s and
then trended downward until 2010 (an impact of the global recession). There
has been a notable increase in construction activity from 2011‐2013.
In addition to the level of total construction activity, it is important to
look at the type of construction being undertaken. Construction
activity can be broken down into residential, industrial, commercial
and public/institutional. Figure 11 shows the breakdown of the
prescribed value for permits issued in the City of Mississauga over
the period from 2009 to 2013. The total construction-activity values
have continued to increase in 2014 ($1.17 billion) and 2015 ($1.29
billion).
Figure 11 – Construction Activity – 5-Year Detail
Prescribed Value for Permits Issued
Generally, a municipality’s costs to service residential development
is higher than the costs of servicing commercial or industrial
development because many services such as recreation, libraries
and parks are provided for use by residents.
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