Author: Deborah Kenley, Senior Coordinator, Green Corporate Grounds, Credit Valley Conservation

It’s now even easier for Mississauga businesses to qualify for a credit on their stormwater charge. Credit Valley Conservation’s Greening Corporate Grounds program works with you to identify the best ways to save.

Every corporate property owner in Mississauga pays for the rain that falls on their property. This fee, known as a stormwater charge, appears on your Region of Peel water bill. This fee is based on the amount of hard surface area on your property, like roofs and parking lots. Properties with more hard surfaces pay more. But there are easy ways to pay less that will also help reduce local flood risk and protect drinking water quality.

Why Do You Pay for Rain?

The rain that falls on the hard surfaces of your property ends up in the city’s stormwater system–a network of pipes, ditches and catch basins that drains into Lake Ontario. Mississauga has more than 2,100 kilometres of storm sewer pipes. And while this may seem like a lot, urban development and more intense rainfall and freeze/thaw events are putting increasing pressure on an aging system. The stormwater charge provides the city with a sustainable source of funding to maintain the stormwater system and reduce the risk of localized flooding.

Rainwater runoff affects the environment too. Rain that drains into the stormwater system from parking lots, roads and other hard surfaces picks up debris and pollutants, like car oil. This ends up in local rivers and creeks, which empty into Lake Ontario—the source of local drinking water.

Reducing the amount of rainwater that flows into the municipal stormwater system can therefore protect local waterways and drinking water quality, and also save you money.

How To Reduce Your Stormwater Charge

Recent updates to the City of Mississauga’s stormwater credit program have made it even easier for businesses to qualify for a stormwater credit.

Through the City’s partnership with Credit Valley Conservation’s Greening Corporate Grounds (GCG) program, businesses can save up to 20 per cent on their stormwater charge by working with us to identify property specific actions that support rainwater management. These actions include delivering educational programs for employees, planting native plant gardens, or implementing salt management and/or pollution prevention plans.

Purpose-driven businesses that want to do even more can save up to 40 per cent by redirecting rainwater to stormwater ponds, installing oil and grit separators, creating natural areas designed to capture rainwater runoff or by reducing the amount of hard surfaces, such as by turning underused walkways into gardens.

Get Started With A Sustainable Landscaping Action Plan

If you’re a Mississauga business, you may be eligible to receive a free Greening Corporate Grounds Sustainable Landscaping Assessment and Action Plan to identity actions you can take to qualify for a stormwater credit.

What’s included:

• Initial consultation
• On-site assessment and analysis of your property’s conditions
• Detailed Sustainable Landscaping Action Plan
• Maintenance training for landscape contractors and facility managers
• Ongoing project planning support and technical guidance
• Project signage
• Access to additional design services and educational opportunities, like planting plans, design charrettes, workshops and employee engagement activities

Book your free assessment to learn how you can save. Contact CVC’s Greening Corporate Grounds today. 905-670-1615 | gcg@cvc.ca | cvc.ca/gcg

About the Author

Mississauga Board of Trade