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Summary of the City of Mississauga and it's distinctive Culture

Mississauga is Canada's sixth-largest city, located in the Peel Regional Municipality, Ontario, west of Toronto. A part of the Greater Toronto Area, it is also the largest suburban municipality in North America. It was purchased by the British in 1805 and incorporated as a city in 1974. Mississauga is a sister city of Kariya, Japan.

With seven major highways passing through the city, Mississauga offers fast and convenient access to major destinations in Canada and the United States. In addition, most of Toronto Pearson International Airport, Canada's busiest, is located in the city. Mississauga has doubled in size in each of the last two decades. Mississauga had the largest population growth in Canada (89,500) between the census years of 1986-1991. Another 80,994 were added between 1991-1996; an increase of 17.5% in the four year period.

Despite its size, Mississauga is thought of by some as a suburb of Toronto and the two cities' urban sprawls are indistinguishably linked. As Toronto has continued to grow economically, Mississauga has followed suit, building predominantly low-density tract housing and high rise condominiums to attract individuals tired of city life. At the same time, businesses saw the benefits of locating to Mississauga - low tax rates, proximity to a number of transportation routes (air, rail, road), proximity to Toronto, and an abundance of land (at least, at the time) - and it soon became desirable to locate there. The city is debt-free and has not borrowed money since 1978.

While being in the top ten Canadian cities by population, Mississauga has few cultural institutions for a community its size due to its proximity to Toronto. It is by far the largest city in Canada without a daily newspaper (The Mississauga News is three days a week), and currently doesn't have any television stations or commercial radio stations. Mississauga is beginning to break away from its label as a "bedroom community" to Toronto as 25,000 more workers commute to jobs in Mississauga than leave. Despite this, Mississauga is virtually unknown outside of Ontario.

Mississauga has been trying to create a distinctive image for itself over the past few years. Plans for up to 40 new high-rise residential buildings have been approved recently for the city centre area near the Square One Shopping Centre, and an international architectural design competition was held in 2006 for a 50 storey condominium tower that is intended to be a landmark for the city. The winning design, by Chinese architect Yansong Ma of the MAD firm, is a bold, curvaceous tower that was dubbed the "Marilyn Monroe" for its supposed sexiness, and has received plaudits from critics such as Christopher Hume of the Toronto Star. The building is currently scheduled to be finished by 2010.

History

At the time of the arrival of the Europeans in the 1600s, both Iroquoian and Algonquian speaking peoples already lived in the Credit River Valley area. One of the First Nations groups the traders found around the Credit River area was called the Mississaugas, a tribe originally from Lake Huron. By 1700 the Mississaugas had driven away the Iroquois.

In 1805, government officials from York, as Toronto was then called, bought 340 km² (84,000 acres) of the Mississauga Tract and in 1806 the area was opened for settlement. The various communities settled include: Clarkson, Cooksville, Dixie, Erindale (called Springfield until 1890), Port Credit, Sheridan, and Summerville. This region would become known as the Toronto Township. [4]

Toronto Township was formed on August 2, 1805 when officials from York (what is now Toronto) purchased 84,000 acres (340 km²) of land from the Mississaugas for 1,000 pounds. After the land was surveyed, much of it was given by the Crown in the form of land grants to United Empire Loyalists who emigrated from the US. More than a dozen small communities grew in this area, most of which were located near natural resources, waterways for industry and fishing, and routes leading into York. In 1873, in light of the continued growth seen in this area, the Toronto Township Council was formed to oversee the affairs of the various villages that were unincorporated at that time. The Council's responsibilities included road maintenance, the establishment of a police force, and mail delivery service.

In 1820, a second purchase was made and additional settlements established including: Barbertown, Britannia, Burnhamthorpe, Derry West, Elmbank, Malton, Meadowvale Village, Mount Charles, and Streetsville. This led to the eventual displacement of the Mississaugas and, in 1847, they were relocated to a reserve in the Grand River Valley near present-day Hagersville.

With the exception of Port Credit and Streetsville, the township settlements were amalgamated by a somewhat unpopular provincial decree in 1968 to form the Town of Mississauga. Political will, as well as a belief that a larger city would be a hegemony in Peel County, kept Port Credit and Streetsville as independent island towns encircled by the Town of Mississauga. In 1974, both were annexed by Mississauga when it reincorporated as a city.

On November 10, 1979, a 106 car freight train carrying explosive and poisonous chemicals was derailed at the intersection of Mavis Road and Dundas in Mississauga. The resulting fire was allowed to burn itself out, but a ruptured chlorine tank was the main cause for concern. With the possibility of a deadly cloud of chlorine gas spreading through suburban Mississauga, 218,000 people were evacuated. Within a few days Mississauga was practically a ghost town, later when the mess had been cleared and the danger neutralized residents were allowed to return to their homes. At the time, it was the largest peacetime evacuation in North American history. Due to the speed and efficiency in which it was conducted, many cities later studied and modeled their own emergency plans after Mississauga's. For many years afterwards, the name "Mississauga" was to Canadians associated with a major rail disaster.

North American telephone customers placing calls to Mississauga (and other post 1970 Ontario cities) may not recognize the charge details on their billings, as Bell Canada continues to use the former community names, rather than "Mississauga", to identify exchanges in the city: Clarkson, Cooksville, Malton, Port Credit, Streetsville.

Primary Employers

Primary Employers
AECL (Atomic Energy of Canada Limited)
Air Canada
Avis Car & Truck Rental
Bell Mobility
Canada Customs and Revenue Agency
Canada Post (Gateway Postal Facility)
Cara Operations
City of Mississauga
Compaq
Credit Valley Hospital
Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board
Federal Express Canada Ltd.
GE Canada
GlaxoSmithKline
Hershey's Canada
Hewlett-Packard (Canada) Ltd.
Honeywell
Loblaws Companies East
Microsoft Corporation
Ministry of Transportation (Ontario)
Peel District School Board
Petro-Canada
Pepsico Canada Ltd.
Praxair Canada Inc.
Prophix Software Inc.
PPG Canada Inc.
Purolator Courier
Research In Motion Ltd.
RBC Financial
Siemens AG
TD Bank Financial Group
Texaco (oils and additives)
Trillium Health Group
Wal-Mart Stores Ltd.
Xerox Corporation

Recent Demographics and Statistics

In 2006, Mississauga had a population of 695,000, up over 150,000 from a decade earlier. With just over 40% of the city's population having a language other than English as their mother tongue, the city is relatively diverse, perhaps owing to its proximity to Toronto. More than 30% of Mississauga's population speaks more than one language. [5]

Because the city is so close to Toronto, it contains many people of different cultures. Many of them live in the comfortable housing areas in the city outside the hustle and bustle of Toronto.

Ethnic make-up
From Statistics Canada 2001 Census Data:

White: 59.3%
South Asian: 14.9%
Black: 6.2%
Chinese: 5.9%
Filipino: 4.0%
Arab: 1.9%
South-east Asian: 1.6%
Latin-American: 1.5%
Korean: 0.8%
West Asian: 0.7%
Aboriginal: 0.3%
Japanese: 0.3%
Other Visible Minority: 1.6%
Multiple Visible Minorities: 0.8%

Religious make-up
Catholic: 42.1%
Protestant: 21.8%
Eastern Orthodox: 3.1%
Other Christian: 2.9%
Muslim: 6.9%
Hindu: 4.8%
Sikh: 3.8%
Buddhist: 1.9%
Other: 12.0%

First Language
From Statistics Canada 1996 Census Data:

59% English
4.4% Polish
4.2% Chinese
3.6% Italian
3.6% Punjabi
3.2% Portuguese
1.9% Tagalog (Filipino)
1.7% Spanish
1.4% Arabic
1.3% Croatian
1.3% French
1% Urdu
10.6% Other
36.9% Multiple language responses


Sports and recreation
Mississauga Warriors of the Ontario Varsity Football League
Mississauga IceDogs of the Ontario Hockey League
Mississauga Titans of the Etobicoke District Cricket League
Mississauga Demons of AFL Canada
Mississauga Rattlers of the Great Lakes Inline Junior "A" Roller Hockey League
Mississauga Hockey League
Mississauga Girls Hockey League
The Mississauga Figure Skating Club
Future Mississauga Red Wolves of the American Basketball Association

Media
The Mississauga News is the city's primary English language newspaper.

The following television stations broadcast directly out of Mississauga. For more area stations, visit Toronto television stations.

Rogers Television, community channel
The Shopping Channel, broadcasts nationally out of Mississauga

Attractions

Shopping

Square One Shopping Centre, the largest mall in Ontario
Erin Mills Town Centre
Dixie Outlet Mall
Heartland outlets
South Common Mall
Meadowvale Town Centre
Sheridan Centre
Port Credit, "Mississauga's Village on the Lake"
Streetsville, "Mississauga's Village in the City"

Cultural attractions
Art Gallery of Mississauga, a free gallery in the Civic Centre showcasing local art
Benares Historic House
Bradley House Museum
Living Arts Centre, a showcase for the arts
Mississauga Arts Council's Calendar of Arts and Entertainment Listings in Mississauga [1]
Opera Mississauga

Historical attractions
Adamson Estate
Benares House
Bradley Museum
Old Meadowvale Village

Outdoor and recreational attractions
There are over 481 parks and woodlands areas in Mississauga, including:

Applewood Trail
Burnhamthorpe Trail
Cooksville Creek Trail
Culham Trail
Erindale Park Credit River
Etobicoke Creek Trail
The Hershey Centre, the city's major sporting centre
Indian Road Trail
Lake Wabukayne Trail
Levi Creek Trail
Ligar Meadow Brook Trail
Malton Loop
Milgrove Trail
Mississauga Meadow Trail
Mississauga Valley Trail
Oakridge Trail
Playdium
Rattray Marsh Conservation Area (Mississauga)
Sheridan Creek Trail
Waterfront Trail
Winston Churchill Trail

Transportation

Major highways
Highway 401 (the Macdonald-Cartier Freeway, connecting Windsor-Detroit to Quebec),
Highway 403 (to Hamilton),
Highway 407 (toll route across the north end of the city),
Highway 410 (to Brampton),
Queen Elizabeth Way (to Niagara Falls and Buffalo), and
Highway 427, straddling the Toronto-Mississauga Boundary, with access into Toronto Pearson International Airport.

Rail
Mississauga is on three major railway lines (two owned by Canadian National Railway and one owned by Canadian Pacific Railway), which lead into and around Toronto. The GO Transit commuter rail service provides service into Toronto's Union Station along the Lakeshore West (GO Transit), Georgetown (GO Transit), and Milton (GO Transit) lines. VIA Rail service in the Quebec City-Windsor Corridor is provided on both CN lines, although there are no stops in Mississauga.

Bus
The Greater Toronto Area's GO Transit service also provides an extensive intercity bus service, which connects Mississauga to downtown Toronto and neighbouring suburban hubs including academic institutions as McMaster University (in Hamilton), Sheridan College in Oakville, York University, Seneca College, Centennial College, University of Toronto at Scarborough all within Toronto, and Durham College and the University of Ontario Institute of Technology in Oshawa, Ontario.
The city's Mississauga Transit service provides relatively frequent bus service across the city, and connects to the Toronto Transit Commission's subway and GO Transit (a busway similar to Ottawa's Transitway is being built). There are also connections to Oakville Transit, and Brampton Transit, with routes going beyond these borders. There are also plans for the construction of an LRT (similar to Calgary) along Hurontario Street ("Highway 10," the city's main street), and possibly on some other busy streets.

Air
Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ) in northeastern Mississauga (Malton) is a hub for Air Canada and provides flights to all regional, national, and international destinations.

Public services

Education
Mississauga is the home to the University of Toronto at Mississauga (UTM/Erindale College), one of three intercity campuses of the University of Toronto. UTM has an enrollment of approximately 8,000 students. It is growing rapidly, at a rate of about 1,000 students per year since 2002.

Mississauga is served by the Peel District School Board and the Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board.

Hospitals
Trillium Health Centre (formerly Mississauga Hospital)
Credit Valley Hospital

Library

Mississauga's Central Library.Mississauga Library System

Police
Peel Regional Police
Ontario Provincial Police - Port Credit Detachment

Fire
Mississauga Fire and Emergency Services

Most of the information on this page is used with permission from wikpedia, for most current information, please browse to wikpedia on Mississauga

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