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Mississauga, Ontario
With five major highways passing through the city, Mississauga offers fast and convenient access to major destinations in Canada and the United States. 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 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.
HistoryAt 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 Missisaugas 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, Port Credit, Sheridan, and Summerville. This region would become known as the Toronto Township. 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, all of these settlements joined together in 1968 to form the Town of Mississauga. In 1974, Mississauga incorporated as a City, this time including Port Credit and Streetsville. For a more detailed history, see the entry for Toronto Township, Ontario. 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 possiblity 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 and due to the speed and efficiency in which it was conducted many cities later studied and modeled their own emergency plans after Mississauga's. Law/GovernmentMississauga has had only three mayors in its history. Dr. Martin Dobkin was the city's first mayor in 1974. He was then followed by Ron Searle. Searle was defeated by then-city councillor and former mayor of Streetsville, Hazel McCallion. McCallion is regarded as a force in provincial politics and often referred to as Hurricane Hazel, comparing her political force to the devastating 1954 storm. McCallion has won or been acclaimed in every mayoral election since 1978, and in recent years has not even campaigned. She was most recently re-elected in November 2003. McCallion is the nation's longest serving mayor. In recent years McCallion has been receiving critcism for contributing to urban sprawl in the GTA and for missing several opportunities to exercise measured growth. She herself has acknowledged the criticism and is now participating in several regional committees to share her mayoral experiences. Mississauga's City Council is comprised of the mayor and nine city councillors, each representing one of the city's nine wards. GeographyMississauga is bounded by Oakville, Ontario and Milton, Ontario to the west, Brampton, Ontario to the north, Toronto to the east, and Lake Ontario to the south. Halton Hills, Ontario borders Mississauga's north-west corner. The city is located at 43°35′ N 79°37′ W. EconomyMississauga is home to more than 18,000 companies ranging from corporate head offices and industrial branch operations to corner store retail businesses. The Mississauga business community is facing certain issues at this time. With international competition, political and economic changes and rapidly advancing technology, companies require more adaptable and more highly skilled workers. Employers recognize the need to retrain the existing labour force and incorporate those who would like to work but have been limited so far due to low skill levels and other barriers. Mississauga has provided an ideal environment for small businesses. Many developers have built small multiple units which provide efficient and affordable accommodations for small companies. The economic stability of Mississauga is enhanced by thousands of small and medium-sized businesses. A large percentage of these employers have fewer than 50 employees. An employment survey conducted in 1994 indicated that the greatest number of firms and of employees were active in the manufacturing/warehouse sectors followed by retail and wholesale sectors. There will be a shift in the employment base away from traditional manufacturing and towards: light assembly, warehouse distribution, and general services. The strong industries in Mississauga are: pharmaceuticals, electronics, computer, chemical and transportation parts and equipment industries. Mississauga demographics indicate that the labour market is experiencing some fairly dramatic changes. It is predicted that in the next ten years, 70% of the new Canadian work force will consist of women, racial minorities, and people with disabilities. It is also evident that the Mississauga labour force is aging as fewer young people are available to take entry level jobs and many present employees are struggling to adapt to the changing economic climate.
Primary Employers
DemographicsIn 2002, Mississauga had a population of 624,000, up almost 100,000 from 1995. With just over 40% of the city's population having a language other than English as their mother tongue, the city is relatively diverse, which is, perhaps, owing to its proximity to Toronto. More than 30% of Mississauga's population speaks more than one language. First LanguageFrom Statistics Canada 1996 Census Data:
EducationMississauga is the home to the University of Toronto at Mississauga (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. Hospitals
Sports Teams
Sports Leagues
MediaNewspapersTelevisionThe following stations broadcast directly out of Mississauga. For more area stations, visit Toronto television stations.
Notable people from Mississauga
Arts and Culture
Transportation
See alsoExternal links
The contents of this article are licensed from Wikipedia.org under the GNU Free Documentation License.
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