Scammers have been targeting Mississauga residents who are seeking to protect their homes from flooding, prompting city officials to issue a warning about potential fraud.

“Did a business call offering a rebate for basement flood prevention devices from the city? Be cautious. This is a scam. The city never contacts residents by phone to arrange for the installation of such devices,” Mississauga officials stated in a social media post on Tuesday.

The city also highlighted on its website some common false claims made by scammers, emphasizing that it has “no affiliations, agreements, or partnerships with any contractors installing sump pumps or other home equipment.”

Officials further clarified that city staff will never recommend specific contractors.

To protect themselves from fraud, residents are advised to:

Request identification from anyone claiming to be a city employee. City officials will always provide ID upon request.

Call 311 (the city’s information line) to verify whether a contractor holds a Mississauga business license.

Review tips from the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation on hiring contractors.

Residents seeking to protect their homes from future flooding can apply directly to the city for rebates to help with costs.

In response to the severe floods that affected Mississauga and the Greater Toronto Area last July and August, the city introduced two rebate programs starting in February 2025. These programs are designed to make it easier for property owners to safeguard their homes from future flooding.

The city offers two rebate programs:

Basement Flooding Prevention Rebate Program: Offers up to $7,500 for eligible flood prevention improvements.

Flood Resilience Rebate Program: Covers 50% of the invoiced cost, up to a maximum of $3,000, for eligible measures taken to reduce flooding impact.

Additionally, a one-time $1,000 flood relief grant is available for residents whose homes sustained significant water damage during last summer’s historic flooding. This grant is open to Mississauga homeowners and tenants (but not businesses) who experienced basement flooding during severe rainstorms on July 16 and/or August 17-18. Applications for the grant will be accepted until May 31.

The grant and rebates are part of a larger city initiative approved last September to offer both immediate relief and long-term solutions to minimize the effects of future storms.

The city previously noted that during both major storms in summer 2024, rainfall exceeded the “100-year storm” level, a rare event with only about a 1% chance of occurring in any given year.

The Region of Peel is also offering financial assistance to homeowners looking to protect their properties from future flooding. The Sanitary Backwater Valve Rebate provides $1,500 to eligible homeowners to install a valve that helps prevent basement flooding caused by wastewater backups.

In the first of the two significant storms in 2024, Pearson Airport’s weather station recorded 122.9 mm of rain between the evening of July 15 and early on July 16, the highest rainfall in any area of southern Ontario during that storm.