The short answer is no. The long answer is…yes, some pockets of the city are more prone to flooding than others. We all remember the last major flash flooding the GTA experienced in July 2013. That day saw more than 100mm of rainfall. You might have been one of those who had to abandon their car on the DVP or had your GO train stuck for hours on the Lakeshore line. It was a terrible day for a lot of people and many residents of Mississauga who came home to find their homes flooded. 

The city of Mississauga has been working for years to improve stormwater infrastructure that was notoriously underdeveloped in the past. Thankfully, plans and development are in place to help prevent damage that unexpected, heavy rainfall can produce.

It’s impossible to find a city that doesn’t have these kinds of issues in the GTA, however you can be vigilant in your research before moving to or within Mississauga and understand which pockets are more prone to flooding (normally due to sewer backup). Let’s take a look at some of the most well-known problem areas of Mississauga:

Cooksville Creek

This is the most affected area by far in Mississauga. Residents were still recovering from the August 2009 flood when the one in July 2013 hit. The area affected the most seems to be around Rhonda Valley in Mississauga Valleys and the area between King and Paisley. Check out some of the footage from that fateful day in July 2013.

This area in Mississauga Valleys mostly contains apartments and condo townhouses. In terms of other housing and social factors, the Mississauga Valleys area is one I don’t normally recommend for my clients. You can add this to the list of reasons why you may want to check out other areas of Mississauga.

For those interested in learning more about the issues in Cooksville Creek and what’s being done to stop future floods, check out all the remediation information on the City of Mississauga’s website.

Applewood

The area around Dundas and Dixie is another flood-prone area as the Little Etobicoke Creek makes its way through this area and has little capacity for torrential rainstorms like we saw in July 2013. 

There are mostly apartments around this area but there are large swaths of condo townhomes and other homes as well. Video footage around the Queen Federica area shows just how much flooding occurred:

Again, this is an area that I would personally not recommend to clients anyways, but it’s important to know as much as you can about a neighbourhood before making such a big decision!

Lisgar

The last major area I’ll discuss is found in northwest Mississauga. This area is a smaller section of homes as only around 180 homes were affected by flooding. However, just because that’s a small number of homes doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t know which ones have suffered damage. It’s an important question for your realtor to ask and even more important for the listing realtor to be able to answer. Check out the PDF below for typical problem spots in Lisgar.

Lisgar-Flood-Areas

The source of flooding in the Lisgar area was a mystery for many years. It took extensive research to find out what the issue was but back in March of 2015 they finally found the answer. 

These are the main problem areas in Mississauga but some other spots can be found in Long Branch around Dixie and Lakeshore as well as Atwater and Cawthra in Lakeview and in central Mississauga around Central Parkway and Mavis.

How will this be prevented in the future?

The City of Mississauga has started to develop systems to improve stormwater infrastructure. One thing to keep in mind is that the storm in July 2013 was categorized as a “100-year storm”. This doesn’t mean it will only happen once in a lifetime, but it’s important to keep in mind this is still something rare for the city to experience. 

However, current homeowners won’t be reimbursed for any damage they’ve incurred. And, residents will pay a stormwater charge in order to pay for the improvements and ongoing maintenance of the systems. You can check out the website to find out more about the charge and get an estimate of how much it will cost each homeowner. 

Now you know a little bit more about which pockets of the city are in more danger of flash flooding and can use it as part of your research when you move to or within Mississauga. For any more in-depth questions about Mississauga please leave a comment below or contact me directly!