Mississauga politicians have thought about building a soccer venue for a number of years.
Building a small soccer stadium seems to be the rage among smaller city mayors these days in the United States. That stadium fever has spread across the Canadian border. The mayor of Mississauga, Ontario, a town that is around 20 miles west of Toronto, wants a 7,500-seat stadium in her city. Mayor Carolyn Parrish says a stadium in the City Centre of Mississauga remains on her priority list. Parrish is not proposing anything new. The Mississauga City Council brought up the issue in 2021. At that time, it was estimated a new soccer stadium could cost $50 million Canadian or about $36 million US. In October 2021, the council gave a few reasons why Mississauga needed a new soccer facility. They thought having a soccer stadium would bring in tourists to watch not only a pro Mississauga team but local youth soccer tournaments as well. The tourists would spend loonies at a new venue.
The thought in 2021 was to get a stadium up and ready for the 2026 Men’s World Cup with Toronto hosting six matches and perhaps some of the World Cup spending could spill into Mississauga with a local soccer venue being able to host World Cup practice sessions. There was also the hope that Mississauga could land a team in the Canadian Premier League. In 2021, Canadian Premier League ownership had a plan to double its size from eight to 16 teams by 2026. The CPL began operations in 2017, and has a team in Toronto and in nearby Hamilton. Montréal is joining the league this year. “We’ve got the land lined up, we just have to find a team,” Parrish said. “The actual building of the stadium is not exorbitantly expensive.” There is no real plan for a Mississauga stadium, just an idea.
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