Premier Doug Ford told a room of Mississauga business leaders on Wednesday morning that the long-awaited City Centre loop of the Hazel McCallion Line will be built, according to city officials who heard the speech at a Mississauga Board of Trade breakfast at the Mississauga Convention Centre.

Mayor Carolyn Parrish and Deputy Mayor John Kovac, the Ward 4 councillor, attended the speech and told the city's general committee later the same day that the premier had reaffirmed his support for the loop. The commitment was verbal. Neither the province nor Metrolinx, the provincial agency building the line, released a schedule or an implementation plan.

A loop through the City Centre

The Hazel McCallion Line is the 22-kilometre light-rail route along Hurontario Street that will link Port Credit GO station with downtown Brampton. The downtown loop would branch off Hurontario near Square One and circle through the City Centre, the cluster of condo and office towers that has grown up around the mall.

The province cut the loop from the project in 2019 to save money, then said in January 2024 that it would be restored as part of the $4.6-billion line. No further details have come from the province or Metrolinx since.

Mississauga has been pressing for more than a verbal promise. In its 2026 provincial pre-budget submission, released Monday, the city asked the province to work with Metrolinx on a clear plan and timeline for finishing the loop, and to provide operating funding for the line's first three years.

City staff expect the downtown population to roughly double to almost 100,000 people by 2050. In a draft of the submission, staff described the loop this way: "the downtown extension is a critical piece of infrastructure that will support economic development and housing densification."

As the province’s third largest urban economy and a driver of jobs and investment, Mississauga requires ongoing collaboration with the provincial government to realize its full potential.

— Mayor Carolyn Parrish, in the city's pre-budget submission announcement

Still no opening date for the main line

The line itself is years behind its original target. It was first expected to carry riders in fall 2024, and Metrolinx has not published a revised opening date. Parrish said late last year that she did not expect to see passengers on the line before 2029.

Council members have long said they want something firmer than reassurances. A year ago, Ward 6 Coun. Joe Horneck told council the city kept hearing the loop was good to go, but had never seen the premier announce it in Mississauga.

What else the city wants from Queen's Park

The loop is one of several transit requests in the city's submission. Others include:

  • $582 million toward a new MiWay bus depot to make room for more buses as ridership grows

  • All-day, two-way GO service on the Milton line, in line with the premier's 2031 target

  • $2 million for a business case and studies on extending Dundas Street bus rapid transit east to Kipling and west to the University of Toronto Mississauga

Council endorsed the submission on Jan. 28. City staff will track how the province responds in its 2026 budget and later announcements, and report back to council.