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Mississauga is a Canadian city in the province of Ontario. Situated on the north-western shore of Lake Ontario in the Regional Municipality of Peel, it borders Toronto (Etobicoke) to the east, Brampton to the north, Milton to the northwest, and Oakville to the southwest. With a population of 717,961 as of 2021, Mississauga is the seventh-most populous municipality in Canada, third-most in Ontario, and second-most in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) after Toronto itself. However, for the first time in its history, the city's population declined according to the 2021 census, from a 2016 population of 721,599 to 717,961, a 0.5 per cent decrease.
The growth of Mississauga was initially attributed to its proximity to Toronto. However, during the latter half of the 20th century, the city attracted a diverse and multicultural population. Over time, it built up a thriving, transit-oriented central business district of its own, which is now known as Mississauga City Centre. Malton, a neighbourhood of the city located in its northeast end, is home to Toronto Pearson International Airport, Canada's busiest airport, as well as the headquarters of many Canadian and multinational corporations. Mississauga is not a traditional city, but is instead an amalgamation of three former villages, two townships, and a number of rural hamlets (a general pattern common to several suburban GTA cities) that were significant population centres, with none being clearly dominant, prior to the city's incorporation that later coalesced into a single urban area.
Indigenous people have lived in the area for thousands of years and Mississauga is situated on the traditional territory of the Huron-Wendat, Haudenosaunee and people, including the namesake Mississaugas. Most of present-day Mississauga was founded in 1805 as Toronto Township within York County, and became part of Peel County when new counties were formed by splitting off parts of the original county in 1851. Mississauga itself was established in 1968 as a town, and was reincorporated as a city in 1974, when Peel was restructured into a regional municipality.
Other forms such as Sauga and, in reference to the city's residents, Saugans, and Mississaugans, are also commonly used.
The Algonquian-speaking Anishinaabe Ojibwe people had been aligned with the Wyandot, and when they were dispersed, the Anishinaabe expanded eastward into the Credit River area, clashing with the Haudenosaunee and eventually taking over when the Haudenosaunee retreated. The European traders would gather annually at the mouth of what is now known as the Credit River to give the Anishinaabe credit for the following year. "From this, the Mississaugas bands at the western end of the lake became known collectively as the Credit River Mississaugas."
Toronto Township, consisting of most of present-day Mississauga, was formed on 2 August 1805 when officials from York (what is now the City of Toronto) purchased 85,000 acres (340 km2) of land from the Mississaugas under Treaty 14. A second treaty was signed in 1818 that surrendered 2,622 km2 of Mississauga land to the The Crown. In total Mississauga is covered by four treaties: Treaty 14, Treaty 19, Treaty 22 and Treaty 23.
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 State 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, Churchville, Derry West, Elmbank, Malton, Meadowvale (Village), Mount Charles, and Streetsville. European-Canadian settlement led to the eventual displacement of the Mississaugas. In 1847, the government relocated them to New Credit in the Grand River Valley, near present-day Hagersville. Pre-confederation, the Township of Toronto was formed as a local government; settlements within were not legal villages until much later.
The Queen Elizabeth Way (QEW) highway, one of the first controlled-access highways in the world, opened from Highway 27 to Highway 10 (Hurontario Street) in Port Credit, in 1935 and later expanded to Hamilton and Niagara in 1939.
In 1937, 1,410.8 acres of land was sold to build Malton Airport (which later became Pearson Airport). It became Canada's busiest airport which later put the end to the community of Elmbank.
The first prototypical suburban growth of Toronto Township began after World War II, Applewood Acres was the first major planned development near the QEW and Dixie Road, and urbanization soon rapidly expanded north and west. In 1952, Toronto Township annexed the southern portion of Toronto Gore Township. Two large new towns; Erin Mills and (New) Meadowvale, were started in 1968 and 1969, respectively. Most of Mississauga was built out by 2005.
While the Township had many settlements within it, none of them (save for the larger enclave communities of Port Credit and Streetsville) were incorporated, and all residents were represented by a singular Township council (Malton had special status as a police village, allowing it partial autonomy). To reflect the community's shift away from rural to urban, council desired conversion into a town, and in 1965 a call for public input on naming it received thousands of letters offering hundreds of different suggestions. "Mississauga" was chosen by plebiscite over "Sheridan" by a vote of 11,796 to 4,331, and in 1968 the reincorporation went forward, absorbing Malton in the process. Port Credit and Streetsville remained separate, uninterested in ceding their autonomy or being taxed to the needs of a growing municipality. Political will, as well as a belief that a larger city would be a hegemony in Peel County, kept them as independent enclaves within the Town of Mississauga, but both were amalgamated into Mississauga when it reincorporated as a city in 1974. At this time, Mississauga annexed lands west of Winston Churchill Boulevard from Oakville in the northwest, in exchange for lands in the northernmost extremity (which included Churchville) south of Steeles Avenue which were transferred to Brampton. That year, Square One Shopping Centre opened; it has since expanded several times.
On 10 November 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. Residents were allowed to return home once the site was deemed safe. At the time, it was the largest peacetime evacuation in North American history. Due to the speed and efficiency with which it was conducted, many cities later studied and modelled their own emergency plans after Mississauga's. For many years afterwards, the name "Mississauga" was, for Canadians, associated with a major rail disaster.
North American telephone customers placing calls to Mississauga (and other post-1970 Ontario cities) may not recognise the charge details on their bills. The area's incumbent local exchange carrier, Bell Canada, continues to split the city into five historical rate centres–Clarkson, Cooksville, Malton, Port Credit, and Streetsville. However, they are combined as a single Mississauga listing in the phone book. The first Touch-Tone telephones in Canada were introduced in Malton on 15 June 1964.Kathleen A. Hicks (2025). 9780969787396, Friends of the Mississauga Library System. ISBN 9780969787396
On 1 January 2010, Mississauga bought land from the Town of Milton and expanded its border by , to Highway 407, affecting 25 residents. Also in January 2010, the Mississaugas and the federal government settled a land claim, in which the band of indigenous people received $145,000,000, as just compensation for their land and lost income.
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 previously 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 runway 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 the floodplain. The 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 centre 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 214 m (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) above sea level.
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 Way.
On August 17, 2024, heavy rainfalls caused localized flooding in areas across the city. The floods caused many traffic disruptions as well as dangerous road conditions and road closures. All creeks and rivers throughout Mississauga were either at full capacity or flooded into parks and greenspaces.
During snowfalls when temperatures hover close to freezing, northern parts of the city, such as around Derry Road, including Pearson Airport away from warmer Lake Ontario usually get more snow that sticks to the ground because of the lower temperatures, often when rain transitions into snow or mixed precipitation. 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 at least six months of snow-free weather; however, there is the odd occurrence where snow does fall either in October or May, none which sticks to the ground. 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.
Most thunderstorms are not severe but can occasionally bring violent winds. The last known tornado to cause significant damage touched down on 7 July 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 24 June 1923, cutting a swath from present-day Meadowvale to near Cooksville, killing four people and causing massive property damage in a time when most of Mississauga was still rural farmland dotted with fruit orchards.
In 2021, 15.2% of the population was under 15 years of age, and 16.6% was 65 years and over. The median age in Mississauga was 40.8.
| + Panethnicity groups in the City of Mississauga (2001−2021) ! rowspan="2" | Panethnicity group ! colspan="2" | 2021 ! colspan="2" | 2016 ! colspan="2" | 2011 ! colspan="2" | 2006 ! colspan="2" | 2001 | ||||||||
| European | 267,790 | 302,370 | 324,655 | 336,755 | 362,430 | |||||||||
| South Asian | 180,800 | 165,765 | 154,210 | 134,750 | 91,150 | |||||||||
| East Asian | 60,035 | 62,150 | 58,515 | 55,410 | 43,110 | |||||||||
| 55,500 | 51,365 | 55,550 | 44,865 | 34,630 | ||||||||||
| Middle Eastern | 51,315 | 44,110 | 32,825 | 22,800 | 15,615 | |||||||||
| Black-Canadian | 49,220 | 47,005 | 44,775 | 41,365 | 37,850 | |||||||||
| Latin American | 17,325 | 16,110 | 15,360 | 12,410 | 9,265 | |||||||||
| Indigenous | 3,555 | 4,175 | 3,200 | 2,475 | 2,055 | |||||||||
| Other/Multiracial | 27,300 | 22,420 | 19,635 | 14,815 | 14,705 | |||||||||
| European | 267,790 | 37.6 |
| South Asian | 180,800 | 25.4 |
| Chinese Canadian | 52,095 | 7.3 |
| Black Canadians | 49,220 | 6.9 |
| Filipino | 38,335 | 5.4 |
| Arab Canadians | 42,805 | 6.0 |
| Latin American | 17,325 | 2.4 |
| 17,165 | 2.4 | |
| Western Asia | 8,510 | 1.2 |
| Korean Canadian | 5,825 | 0.8 |
| Japanese | 2,115 | 0.3 |
| Indigenous | 3,555 | 0.5 |
| Other visible minority | 10,890 | 1.5 |
| Multiple visible minorities | 16,410 | 2.3 |
| Indo-Canadians | 90,560 | 12.7 |
| Chinese | 55,350 | 7.8 |
| English | 46,415 | 6.5 |
| Canadian | 42,315 | 5.9 |
| Pakistani | 41,025 | 5.8 |
| Irish Canadians | 39,785 | 5.6 |
| Italian | 38,075 | 5.3 |
| Filipino | 37,325 | 5.2 |
| Scottish | 36,800 | 5.2 |
| Polish Canadians | 36,095 | 5.1 |
| Portuguese | 27,845 | 3.9 |
| German Canadians | 19,285 | 2.7 |
| Ukrainian | 17,350 | 2.4 |
| Arab Canadians, | 16,645 | 2.3 |
| Jamaican | 15,860 | 2.2 |
| French Canadians, | 15,425 | 2.2 |
| English language | 320,640 | 44.9 |
| Urdu | 35,995 | 5.0 |
| Arabic | 33,265 | 4.7 |
| Mandarin Chinese | 23,180 | 3.2 |
| Polish language | 22,070 | 3.1 |
| Punjabi language | 20,690 | 2.9 |
| Tagalog language | 18,325 | 2.6 |
| Spanish language | 15,765 | 2.2 |
| Cantonese | 14,830 | 2.1 |
| Portuguese | 14,050 | 2.0 |
| Hindi | 11,685 | 1.6 |
| Vietnamese | 10,355 | 1.5 |
| Tamil language | 10,275 | 1.4 |
| Italian language | 10,260 | 1.4 |
| Serbo-Croatian | 8,955 | 1.3 |
| Gujarati | 7,260 | 1.0 |
| French language | 6,180 | 0.9 |
| Ukrainian | 5,960 | 0.8 |
| Russian language | 4,615 | 0.6 |
| Korean language | 4,370 | 0.6 |
TD Bank also has Corporate IT development centres in the city along with Royal Bank of Canada, Purolator Inc., and Laura Secord Chocolates are headquartered in the city, and Walmart Canada, Kellogg's, Panasonic, Hewlett-Packard, and Oracle's Canadian headquarters are also in Mississauga." Company Profile" . Walmart Canada. Retrieved on 24 July 2012." Office Locations." Hewlett-Packard. Retrieved on 22 July 2009. Regional airline Jazz operates a regional office in Mississauga." Contact Us ." Air Canada Jazz. Retrieved on 19 May 2009. Our Offices Kam Air North America. Retrieved on 18 May 2010. Mississauga is also an aircraft development hub with Canadian headquarters of Aerospace companies such as Magellan Aerospace and Honeywell Aerospace.
Mississauga's largest festivities such as Canada Day Celebration, Mississauga Rotary Ribfest, Tree Lighting Ceremony, and New Year's 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 Year's Eve in 2011 has attracted 30,000 spectators.
One of the most anticipated events in the city is Carassauga, a festival of cultures that occurs annually during mid-May. It is the second largest cultural festival in Canada. During 2013, 4014 performances took place and 300,000 people attended. Carassauga attempts to display the different cultures around the world by setting up pavilions for countries around Mississauga. Visitors get free public transportation with their ticket to tour the city and explore the different pavilions. Various countries showcase their culture through food stalls, dance performances and small vendors. The event largely takes place in the Hershey Centre.
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, Indian festival Diwali and Mosaic Festival, which is the largest South Asian multi-disciplinary arts festival in North America.
The annual Bread and Honey Festival is held in Streetsville, a district that was once an independent rural village. It is held every first weekend of June at Streetsville Memorial Park to commemorate the founding of the village. The festival was inaugurated 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.
Port Credit, another neighbourhood that was formerly a town, holds multiple festivals throughout the year. During the summer, there are street performances on multiple venues scattered throughout the district during Buskerfest. The neighbourhood also holds a grand parade named "Paint the Town Red" during Canada Day. Finally, during August, it 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 neighbourhood's Blues and Jazz Festival, which includes musical performances from local blues and jazz artists.
The Malton neighbourhood, which contains a significant number of Sikhs, holds its annual Khalsa Day parade, marching between the in Malton (Sri Guru Singh Sabha) and in the Rexdale neighbourhood in Toronto (Sikh Spiritual Centre). This parade is attended by 100,000 people.
Mississauga has a significant Jews population, with active community classes, cultural activities and holiday celebrations.
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 officially reopened at 22 June 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 Year's Eve celebration in 2011.
In October 2012, the square had attracted its one millionth visitor.
Erin Mills Town Centre is the second largest mall in Mississauga. It is located in the western end of the city at Eglinton Avenue and Erin Mills Parkway and opened in 1989.
Other shopping centres include Dixie Outlet Mall; located in the southeastern area of the city. It is Canada's largest enclosed outlet mall. It opened in 1956 when the city was still known as Toronto Township, and is Mississauga's first shopping mall. Many factory outlets of premium brands are located in this mall. Heartland Town Centre is an unenclosed power centre with 180 stores and restaurants. A flea market, the Fantastic Flea Market, is Mississauga's oldest flea market, and opened in 1976.
Kariya Park, opened in 1992, is a Japanese garden located in the City Centre. It is named after Mississauga’s sister city, Kariya, Japan.
Within Mississauga, beaches are concentrated along the shore of Lake Ontario, with the notable exception of the Lake Aquitaine boardwalk.The most distinguished beaches are Jack Darling Memorial Park and RK McMillan Park, as well as St. Lawrence Park in Port Credit.
The images in the collage, from top left to bottom right, are: Tall Oaks Park, The Shallows at St. Lawrence Park, Jack Darling Memorial Park, and Hiawatha Park.
Mississauga 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 union players are now served by the Mississauga Blues through u7 - u17 Youth And Junior Programs as well as hosting one or more Senior Men's and Senior Women's Teams.
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.
Mississauga Marathon, a qualifier race for the Boston Marathon, is held in Mississauga annually.
Mississauga is also the host for the following major sports events:
The City of Mississauga has had only four mayors in its history. Martin Dobkin was the city's first mayor in 1974. He was then followed by Ron A. Searle. Searle was defeated in 1978 by then-city councillor and former mayor of Streetsville, Hazel McCallion. McCallion won 12 consecutive terms as mayor, but she chose to retire prior to the November 2014 election and was succeeded by Bonnie Crombie, who won the election.
McCallion was regarded as a force in provincial politics and often referred to as Hurricane Hazel, after the Hurricane Hazel that struck the Toronto area. McCallion won or was acclaimed in every mayoral election from 1978 to 2010, in some later elections without even campaigning. In October 2010, McCallion won her twelfth term in office with over 76% of the votes. McCallion was the nation's longest-serving mayor and was runner-up in World Mayor 2005. In 2014 McCallion did not run again, but endorsed Crombie, the eventual winner who became mayor in November 2014.
Intercity buses operated by GO Transit stop at GO Train stations throughout the city and the Square One Bus Terminal.
As of 2024, progress for the Hurontario LRT is well underway, with an expected completion of late 2024 to mid-2025.
As of 2024, the city has bi-directional bus lanes on most major arteries, with designated bike paths on many roads such as Eglinton Avenue, Lakeshore Road West, Burnhamthorpe Road and Derry Road, to name a few. For roads which do not have designated bike lanes, there is often signage posted as well as markings on the road, indicating that bikes are permitted to use the shoulder where available, or the right-most lane in most other situations.
Sheridan College opened a new $46 million facility in Mississauga in 2011. The school has two main concentrations: business education, and programs to accelerate the movement of new Canadians into the workforce. The campus will be located on an parcel of land in City Centre just north of the Living Arts Centre. The campus accommodated 1,700 students upon completion of phase one of construction in Fall 2011. Phase two of construction after 2011 increased capacity by 3,740 students to a combined total of 5,000; it also included 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. Within the city, the four boards run a total of more than 150 schools.
Multiple schools in Mississauga also offer specialized programs:
The city also has three local radio stations:
The following national cable television stations also broadcast from Mississauga:
Both cities have a park and road named after each other.
The Mississauga Friendship Association (MFA) was established in 1993 to assist with the city's twinning program.
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