Mississauga

Mississauga is a city in Southern Ontario, Canada. It lies on the shores of Lake Ontario, located in the Regional Municipality of Peel, in the western part of the Greater Toronto Area. The city has a population of 713,443 as of the Canada 2011 Census, and is Canada's sixth-most populous municipality.

Initially developed as a suburb of Toronto, Mississauga's growth is attributed to its proximity to that city. It is the largest suburb in Anglo-America by population. However, as the city ran out of vacant lands, the city shifted its focus to building a full-fledged downtown core while shaping its new identity as a distinct city from Toronto. Residents of the city are called Mississaugans and Saugans.

The city is placed first overall in 'mid-sized cities of the future' by financial publication fDi Magazine for North and South American cities, placing first in business friendliness, second in economic potential, and fourth in infrastructure and foreign direct investment strategy. Mississauga was also rated as Canada's 11th best city to live in terms of prosperity according to MoneySense magazine. It is the fourth most walkable large city in Canada according to Walk Score. Toronto Pearson International Airport, Canada's busiest airport is located in the city, and it is the location of several major corporate headquarters for Canada, such as Walmart Canada, Target Canada, Microsoft and General Electric.

Mississauga

Mississauga is a city in Southern Ontario, Canada. It lies on the shores of Lake Ontario, located in the Regional Municipality of Peel, in the western part of the Greater Toronto Area. The city has a population of 713,443 as of the Canada 2011 Census, and is Canada's sixth-most populous municipality.

Initially developed as a suburb of Toronto, Mississauga's growth is attributed to its proximity to that city. It is the largest suburb in Anglo-America by population. However, as the city ran out of vacant lands, the city shifted its focus to building a full-fledged downtown core while shaping its new identity as a distinct city from Toronto. Residents of the city are called Mississaugans and Saugans.

The city is placed first overall in 'mid-sized cities of the future' by financial publication fDi Magazine for North and South American cities, placing first in business friendliness, second in economic potential, and fourth in infrastructure and foreign direct investment strategy. Mississauga was also rated as Canada's 11th best city to live in terms of prosperity according to MoneySense magazine. It is the fourth most walkable large city in Canada according to Walk Score. Toronto Pearson International Airport, Canada's busiest airport is located in the city, and it is the location of several major corporate headquarters for Canada, such as Walmart Canada, Target Canada, Microsoft and General Electric.

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 French traders found around the Credit River area were the Algonquian Mississaugas, a tribe originally from the Georgian Bay area. The name "Mississauga" comes from the Anishinaabe word Misi-zaagiing, meaning "[Those at the] Great River-mouth." By 1700 the Mississaugas had driven away the Iroquois yet during the Beaver Wars they played a neutral or post-emptive role.

Toronto Township, consisting of most of present-day Mississauga, 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. In January 2010, the Mississaugas and the federal government settled a land claim, in which the band received $145,000,000, as more just compensation for their land and lost income. The original villages (and some later towns) settled included: Lakeview, Clarkson, Cooksville, Dixie, Erindale (called Springfield until 1890), Lorne Park, Port Credit, Sheridan, and Summerville. This region would become known as Toronto Township. Part of northeast Mississauga, including the Airport lands and Malton were part of Gore Township.

After the land was surveyed, the Crown gave much of it in the form of land grants to United Empire Loyalists who emigrated from the Thirteen Colonies during and after the American Revolution, as well as loyalists from New Brunswick. A group of settlers from New York City arrived in the 1830s. The government wanted to compensate the Loyalists for property lost in the colonies and encourage development of what was considered frontier. In 1820, the government purchased additional land from the Mississaugas. Additional settlements were established, including: Barbertown, Britannia, Burnhamthorpe, Derry West, Elmbank, Malton, Meadowvale Village, Mount Charles, and Streetsville. European-Canadian growth led to the eventual displacement of the Mississaugas. In 1847, the government relocated them to a reserve in the Grand River Valley near present-day Hagersville.

In 1873, in light of the continued growth seen in this area much as a result of the many railway lines passing through the township which spurred on industry, 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. Except for small villages, some gristmills and brickworks served by railway lines, most of present-day Mississauga was agricultural land, including fruit orchards, through much of the 19th and first half of the 20th century. Cottages were constructed along Lake Ontario in the 1920s as weekend getaway houses for city dwellers. Malton Airport opened in 1937, which would become Canada's busiest, Lester B. Pearson International Airport.

The Queen Elizabeth Way (QEW) highway, one of the first controlled access highways in the world opened from Highway 27 to Highway 10, Port Credit, in 1935 and later to Hamilton and Niagara in 1939. The first prototypical suburban developments occurred around the same time, in the area south of the Dixie Road/QEW interchange. Development in general moved north and west from there over time and around established towns. Large-scale developments, such as in Meadowvale and Erin Mills, sprang up in the 1960s and 70s.

With the exception of Port Credit and Streetsville, the township settlements of Lakeview, Cooksville, Lorne Park, Clarkson, Erindale, Sheridan, Dixie, Meadowvale Village, and Malton were amalgamated by a somewhat unpopular provincial decree in 1968 to form the Town of Mississauga. The town name was chosen by plebiscite over "Sheridan". 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. That year, the sprawling Square One Shopping Centre opened, which has since expanded many times.

On November 10, 1979, a 106-car freight train derailed on the CP rail line while carrying explosive and poisonous chemicals just north of the intersection of Mavis Road and Dundas Street. One of the tank cars carrying propane exploded, and since other tank cars were carrying chlorine, the decision was made to evacuate nearby residents. With the possibility of a deadly cloud of chlorine gas spreading through 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 historic community exchanges: Clarkson, Cooksville, Malton, Port Credit, and Streetsville, rather than "Mississauga"; although they are combined as a single Mississauga listing in the phone book. Touch-Tone telephones were first introduced at Malton, the first in Canada, on June 15, 1964. On January 1, 2010, Mississauga bought land from the Town of Milton and expanded its border by 400 acres (1.6 km²) to Hwy. 407 affecting 25 residents.

Geography

Mississauga covers 288.42 square kilometres (111.36 sq mi) of land,fronting 13 kilometres (8.1 mi) of shoreline on Lake Ontario. Mississauga is bounded by Oakville and Milton to the west/southwest, Brampton to the north, Toronto to the east, and Lake Ontario to the south/south-east. Halton Hills borders Mississauga's north-west corner. With the exception of the southeast border with Toronto (Etobicoke Creek), Mississauga shares a land border with all previous mentioned municipalities.

Two major river valleys feed into the lake. The Credit River is by far the longest with the heaviest flow, it divides the western side of Mississauga from the central/eastern portions and enters the lake at the Port Credit harbour. The indented, mostly forested valley was inhabited by first nation peoples long before European exploration of the area. The valley is protected and maintained by the Credit Valley Conservation Authority (CVCA).

Etobicoke Creek forms part of the eastern border of Mississauga with the city of Toronto. North of there it passes through the western limits of Pearson Airport. There have been two aviation accidents, in 1978 and 2005 where aircraft overshot the runaway and slid into the Etobicoke creek banks. In 1954, heavy flooding resulted in some homes along the riverbank being swept into the lake after heavy rains from Hurricane Hazel. Since that storm, houses are no longer constructed along this floodplain. This creek and its tributaries are administered by the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA).

Most land in Mississauga drains to either of the two main river systems, with the exception of the smaller Mary Fix and Cooksville Creeks which run roughly through the center of Mississauga entering the lake near Port Credit. Some small streams and reservoirs are part of the Sixteen Mile Creek system in the far north-west corner of the city, but these drain toward the lake in neighbouring Milton and Oakville.

The shoreline of former Glacial Lake Iroquois roughly follows the Dundas Street alignment, although it is not noticeable in some places but is more prominent in others, such as the site of the former brickyard (Shoreline Dr. near Mavis Rd.), the ancient shoreline promenteau affords a clear view of downtown Toronto and Lake Ontario on clear days. The land in Mississauga in ranges from a maximum elevation of 214m (699 ft) ASL in the far western corner, near the Hwy. 407/401 junction, to a minimum elevation at the Lake Ontario shore of 76 m (249 ft) ASL. Apart from the embankments of Credit River valley, it tributaries and the Iroquois shoreline, the only noticeable hills in Mississauga are actually part of the former Britannia Landfill, now a golf course on Terry Fox Drive.

Climate

The climate of Mississauga is officially represented by Pearson International Airport but because of its topography and large surface area conditions can differ depending on location: fog tends to be more common along the lakeshore and in the Credit River Valley at certain times of year, particularly during the spring and autumn. During snowfalls when temperatures hover close to freezing, northern parts of the city, such as around Derry Road away from warmer Lake Ontario usually get more snow that sticks to the ground because of the lower temperatures. The reverse occurs when a strong storm approaches from the south kicking up lake effect snow, bringing higher snowfall totals to south Mississauga. The city usually experiences 6 months of snow free weather however there is the odd occurrence where snow does fall either in October or May. The Port Credit and Lakeview areas have a micro-climate more affected by the proximity of the open lake, warming winter temperatures as a result but it can be sharply cooler on spring and summer afternoons, this can also be the case in Clarkson, but with much less consistency.

Summer thunderstorms are common, most are not severe but can occasionally bring violent winds. The last known tornado to cause significant damage touched down on July 7, 1985, when an F1 rated tornado struck an industrial park in the Meadowvale area (Argentia Road), heavily damaging some buildings and some parked tractor trailers. A relatively strong tornado tore a path across Mississauga (then part of Toronto Township) on June 24, 1923, cutting a swath from present-day Meadowvale to near Cooksville, killing 4 people and causing massive property damage in a time when most of Mississauga was still rural farmland dotted with fruit orchards.

Attractions

Mississauga Celebration Square

In 2006, with the help of Project for Public Spaces, the city started hosting "My Mississauga" summer festivities at its Civic Square. Mississauga planned over 60 free events to bring more people to the city square. The square was transformed and included a movable stage, a snack bar, extra seating, and sports and gaming facilities (basketball nets, hockey arena, chess and checker boards) including a skate park. Some of the events included Senior's day on Tuesday, Family day on Wednesday, Vintage car Thursdays, with the main events being the Canada Day celebration, Rotary Ribfest, Tree Lighting Ceremony, and Beachfest.

Civic Square has completed its restructuring project using federal stimulus money, which features a permanent stage, a larger ice rink (which also serves as a fountain and wading pool during the summer season), media screens, and a permanent restaurant. It has been officially reopened at June 22, 2011 and has since been renamed as Mississauga Celebration Square. More events have been added such as holding free outdoor live concerts, and live telecast of UEFA European Football Championship. The square also holds weekly programming such as fitness classes, amphitheatre performances and movie nights during the summer, children's activities during spring and fall, and skate parties during the winter. The opening of the square has also allowed the city to hold its first annual New Years' Eve celebration in 2011. The upper and lower parts of the square used to be separated by a segment of City Centre Drive. However, pedestrian safety issues and commitment to building a vibrant downtown led the city council to permanently close this segment, uniting the upper and lower parts of the square. In October 2012, the square has attracted its one millionth visitor.

Shopping

Mississauga also boasts one of the largest shopping malls in Canada called Square One Shopping Centre, located at the City Centre. It has 350 retail stores and services and attracts 24 million annual visits. It is operating on most holidays (the exceptions being Good Friday, Easter Sunday and Christmas Day), making it the only shopping mall in the city and one of the few in the Greater Toronto Area that do so. The mall is surrounded by several bars and restaurants, as well as the City Hall, the Central Library, and Playdium.

Another notable shopping mall in Mississauga is Erin Mills Town Centre, the second largest mall in the city. It is located at the western edge of the city, near Eglinton Avenue at Erin Mills Parkway. It is notable by its clock tower at its centre. This mall used to have a movie theatre, a mini-golf course, and a daycare centre, all of which were converted to retail space.

Located at the southeastern corner of the city is the Dixie Outlet Mall, which is Canada's largest enclosed outlet mall. It opened in 1956, making it Mississauga's first shopping mall, even though the city at that time was still known as Toronto Township. Many factory outlets of premium brands are located in this mall. As a supporter of Bullfrog Power, it operates using 100 percent renewable energy. A flea market, the Fantastic Flea Market, is Mississauga's oldest flea market, which opened in 1976.< Both Erin Mills Town Centre and Dixie Outlet Mall are closed for most holidays, except for Civic Holiday.

Festivities

Mississauga's largest festivities such as Canada Day Celebration, Mississauga Rotary Ribfest, Tree Lighting Ceremony, and New Years' Eve Bash generally occur in Celebration Square. The Canada Day celebration was attended by 130,000 people in 2012, the Ribfest has recorded 120,000 visitors in 2012, and the inaugural New Years' Eve in 2011 has attracted 30,000 spectators. Mississauga also hosts a general cultural festival named Carassauga each year to celebrate the city's diverse population. Almost 300,000 visitors attend the festival annually, which makes it Ontario's most popular cultural festival, as well as Canada's second most. The festival is hosted by multiple venues throughout the city, such as the Hershey Centre, Tomken Twin Arena, and the Carmen Corbasson Community Centre. Shuttle buses are being offered between all of the venues for free for all passport holders.

There are also culture-specific festivals held in Celebration Square, including Fiesta Ng Kalayaan for the Philippines, Viet Summerfest for Vietnam, Muslimfest for the city's Muslim community, and Mosaic Festival, which is the largest South Asian multi-disciplinary arts festival in North America. The village of Streetsville holds its annual Bread and Honey Festival every first weekend of June at Streetsville Memorial Park to commemorate the founding of the village of Streetsville. The festival has been incorporated in 1974, in response to amalgamation with the city of Mississauga. Activities include the Bread and Honey Race, which raises money for charities and local hospitals. It also has its own annual Canada Day celebrations, which are also held at Streetsville Memorial Park.

Another former town, Port Credit, Ontario holds multiple festivals throughout the year. During the summer, there are street performances on multiple venues scattered throughout the former town during Buskerfest. Also, the town holds a grand parade named "Paint the Town Red" during Canada Day. Finally, during August, the town holds the Mississauga Waterfront Festival, which includes concerts as well as family activities. During September, the Tim Hortons Southside Shuffle is being held to celebrate the town's Blues and Jazz Festival, which includes musical performances from local blues and jazz artists. The community of Malton, which contains a significant number of Sikhs, holds its annual Khalsa Day parade, marching between Sri Guru Singh Sabha (Malton Gurdwara) and Sikh Spiritual Centre Gahib (Rexdale Gurdwara) in Toronto. This parade is attended by 100,000 people.

Sports & Recreation

Mississauga has been the home of the Mississauga Steelheads of the Ontario Hockey League since 2007, when the team moved from Toronto. It was previously home to the Mississauga Icedogs from 1999–2007, before they moved to St. Catharines and became the Niagara IceDogs. The Hershey Centre, the city's main sports venue, was opened in 1999 for the arrival of the Icedogs, and is where the Steelheads currently play. Other hockey teams include the Mississauga Chiefs of the Canadian Women's Hockey League (who play at Iceland Mississauga), the Mississauga Chargers of the Ontario Provincial Junior A Hockey League (who play at Port Credit Arena), and the many teams in the Greater Toronto Hockey League, Mississauga Hockey League, and Mississauga Girls Hockey League that play in the city's 13 arenas. In addition, there is a roller hockey team, the Mississauga Rattlers of the Great Lakes Inline Junior "A" Roller Hockey League.

Starting with the 2013-2014 season, Mississauga will also be represented in the National Basketball League of Canada, the only Canadian professional basketball league. Oshawa Power has been relocated to the city, and will be named Mississauga Power. Home games will be played at the Hershey Centre. The city also has teams for box lacrosse (Mississauga Tomahawks of the OLA Junior A Lacrosse League), cricket (Mississauga Ramblers of the Toronto and District Cricket League, Mississauga Titans of the Etobicoke District Cricket League), and Canadian football. The Mississauga Football League (MFL) is a youth football program that is for players aged 7–17, founded in 1971. The city also has other amateur football teams in Ontario leagues: the Mississauga Warriors of the Ontario Varsity Football League and the Mississauga Demons of the Ontario Australian Football League. Mississauga's rugby players are now served by the Mississauga Blues at the youth level though many still play for the more established clubs in neighbouring cities.

Ringette is one of the affiliated youth groups that are allocated ice time by the City of Mississauga (Recreation and Parks Division, Community Services Department) on an allocated priority basis. The Ringette program is administered by the Mississauga Ringette Association. Recreational clubs include the Mississauga Figure Skating Club, Mississauga Synchronized Swimming Association, North Mississauga Soccer Club, Mississauga Falcons Soccer Club, Mississauga Canoe Club, Mississauga Scrabble Club, Don Rowing Club at Port Credit, International Soccer Club Mississauga, and the Mississauga Aquatic Club. There are over 481 parks and woodlands areas in Mississauga. Mississauga is home to many indoor playgrounds including Playdium, Kids Time Family Fun Center, KidSports indoor playground, and Laser Quest Center. There are over 26 major indoor playgrounds in the city of Mississauga.

Mississauga is primarily served by media based in Toronto, with markets in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) that cover most of the news in the GTA. Examples of this being the majority of radio stations transmitting from the nearby CN Tower in Toronto. However, Mississauga also has The Mississauga News, a regional newspaper that is published three days a week in print and daily online, and the Sunday Times, a community newspaper for the South Asian community that is published weekly in print and also available online, as well as MississaugaLife Magazine, a monthly general interest magazine. The city also has one specialty radio station: FM 91.9 CFRE, the campus radio station of the University of Toronto Mississauga.

The following national cable television stations also broadcast from Mississauga. For more area stations, see Toronto television stations.

• Rogers Television, community channel
• The Shopping Channel, broadcasts nationally from Mississauga
• The Weather Network, broadcast nationally from Mississauga 1998-2005
• Bite TV, Canada's first interactive television station.
• RawalTV, Canada's first 24/7 Canadian/South Asian television channel.

Education

Mississauga is the home to the University of Toronto Mississauga (UTM/Erindale College), one of two satellite campuses of the University of Toronto. UTM has an enrollment of approximately 10,000 students. It is growing at a rate of about 1,000 students per year since 2002, following a major expansion.

Sheridan College has announced the construction of a new $46 million facility that will open in Mississauga in 2011. The school will have two main concentrations: business education and programs to accelerate the movement of new Canadians into the workforce. The 150,000 sq ft (14,000 m²). campus will be located on an 8.5-acre (34,000 m²) parcel of land in City Centre just north of the Living Arts Centre. The campus is expected to accommodate 1,700 students upon completion of phase one of construction in Fall 2011. Phase two of construction after 2011 is expected to increase capacity by 3,740 students to a combined total of 5,000; it will also include construction of a 10-level municipal parking garage.

Mississauga is served by the Peel District School Board, which operates the secular Anglophone public schools, the Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board, which operates Catholic Anglophone public schools, the Conseil scolaire Viamonde, which operates secular Francophone schools, and the Conseil scolaire de district catholique Centre-Sud, which operates Catholic Francophone schools. Together there are more than 150 schools in this city to fulfill the needs of its large youth population.

Mississauga also has many prominent programs which push students to show their full potential including:

• French immersion schools in multiple locations across the city such as Applewood Heights Secondary School, Clarkson Secondary School and Streetsville Secondary School.
• Extended French Program at St. Thomas More School, Green Glade Senior Public School, Philip Pocock Catholic Secondary School and St. Aloysius Gonzaga Secondary School
• Regional Arts Program at Queen Elizabeth Senior Public School and Cawthra Park Secondary School and Iona Catholic Secondary School
• International Business and Technology Program at Allan A. Martin Senior Public School and Gordon Graydon Memorial Secondary School
• International Baccalaureate Program at St. Francis Xavier Secondary School and Glenforest Secondary School.
• Sci Tech Program at Tomken Road Middle School and Port Credit Secondary School.
• Regional Enhanced Program at The Woodlands School, Glenforest Secondary School, and Lorne Park Secondary School.
• The art program at St. Jude's Academy

Holy Name of Mary College School is an independent Catholic school for girls Grades 5 to 12.

Heritage and Culture

The Rose Theatre Fountain Stage

Brampton's Garden Square, facing Main St. North

The Rose Theatre

There are several cultural entities in the city under the umbrella of the Brampton Arts Council. These include Visual Arts Brampton, the Brampton Historical Society and the Brampton Symphony Orchestra. Also in the city is the Peel Art Gallery, Museum and Archives (PAMA, formerly the Peel Heritage Complex), which is run by the Region of Peel.

The Rose Theatre (originally the Brampton Performing Arts Centre), billed as "a cultural and tourist destination that will attract significant new business to surrounding restaurants, shops and services", opened in September 2006. The City says that the facilities are expected to generate $2.7 million in economic activity the first year and grow to $19.8 million by the fifth year. Despite some cynicism, the Rose Theatre attracted over 137,000 patrons in its inaugural year, surpassing its original five-year goal. Since then, numerous new businesses have opened in the vicinity of the theatre and its Garden Square, where a new Fountain Stage was unveiled in June 2008.

Brampton has six libraries to serve its half-million residents. At one library per over 80,000 residents, it is the lowest library ratio among major Canadian cities.

The City of Brampton's long-standing heritage conservation program was recognized with the 2011 Lieutenant Governor's Ontario Heritage Award for Community Leadership through the Ontario Heritage Trust. In 2010 the City received an 'honourable mention' under the same provincial awards program.

Sites of interest

• Gage Park
• Artway Gallery
• Camp Naivelt
• Chinguacousy Park-Greenhouse and gardens
• Mount Chinguacousy
• Claireville Conservation Area
• Flower City Theatre Festival
• Formula Kartways
• Great War Flying Museum
• Heart Lake Conservation Area
• Brampton Historical Society
• Historic Bovaird House
• Korea Veterans' National Wall of Remembrance
• Ontario Field of Honour
• Peel Art Gallery, Museum and Archives
• Powerade Centre
• Rose Theatre
• South Fletchers Sportsplex
• Wild Water Kingdom

Major shopping areas include Bramalea City Centre, Shoppers World, and "big box centre" Trinity Common Mall. The downtown area has some retail, the Centennial Mall and the Brampton Mall are also of note.

Media

Brampton was one of the first areas Rogers Cable offered its service in. As a result, it started a community access channel in the 1970s, which is still operational today. While some programs on the channel are produced in their Brampton studios, most are headquartered out of their Mississauga location.

The Brampton Guardian is the community's only newspaper after Brampton's original newspaper, The Daily Times, stopped circulation in the early 1980s. For a little over a year, The Brampton Bulletin attempted to challenge the Guardian, but it was dismantled after a series of editor changes.

Brampton is also the official city of license for two radio stations, CIAO and CFNY, although both stations target their programming toward the entire Greater Toronto Area rather than exclusively to Brampton.

Sports and recreation

There are many sporting venues and activities, including the outdoor ice path for skating through Gage Park and the ski lift at Chinguacousy Park. Chinguacousy Park also has as a Curling Club and Tennis Centre. In the summer, amateur softball leagues abound, and crowds line the beaches at Professor's Lake for the annual outdoor shagging display.

Every year since 1967, the Brampton Canadettes have hosted the Brampton Canadettes Easter Tournament.^[23] Women's and girls' hockey teams invade Brampton for 3½ days of head-to-head competition. Teams of all ages and categories from across Canada and the United States compete in this annual tournament. Teams from England, Switzerland, Japan, Kazakhstan and Russia attend this international tournament. Thousands of players and spectators pass through the doors during the tournament. There is no limit on the number of teams in a division.