Mississauga is a young, vibrant, growing, welcoming and connected city. It is also forward-looking, ambitious, and focused on building a city that is adaptable, resilient, and ready to take on the global drivers of change: digital technologies, sustainability, and competition for talent.
Bonnie Brown, director of the Economic Development Office at the City
of Mississauga, answered five questions about the future direction of the city’s economic development.
What are Mississauga’s economic strengths?
Mississauga is home to more than 95,000 small businesses representing 99 per cent of our business community and more than half of all employment. We are also lucky to have more than 1,400 multinational corporations and 76 Fortune 500 companies.
We have a skilled, diverse and talented labour force and access to a labour pool of over 4.3 million people, nearly half of Ontario’s labour force, within the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). Seventy per-cent of Mississauga’s labour force has post-secondary education.
Our sectors of strength and focus are: advanced manufacturing; higher value business services; life sciences; and smart logistics. The breadth and diversity of our economy sets us apart.
How are you rebuilding from the pandemic?
COVID-19 poses great challenges, but we have robust and comprehensive recovery strategies to support and rebuild our economy in the short, medium and long terms.
The City has an important role in reskilling and upskilling programs, and creating pathways to fulfilling careers. Key partners include Sheridan College and University Toronto Mississauga, and a range of sector-specific private training institutes.
We are committed to ensuring that those hardest hit by the pandemic are not left behind. Together, we will come out stronger than ever.
What makes Mississauga unique?
Mississauga is a big, rapidly growing city, but what really sets it apart is that it is a caring place. You see that in the leadership of our mayor and council, how residents support our main streets, the compassion of our business community, and in the people who grow up here and raise their kids here.
Our city welcomes people of all cultures and backgrounds and attracts first-rate talent from all over the world. Mississauga’s diversity and multiculturalism is one of our core strengths.
How are you building innovation into what you do?
Homegrown innovation is critical to the city’s long-term economic competitiveness and our ability to attract talent, investment and jobs.
Mississauga’s strong corporate sector does cutting-edge research and development within centres of excellence in Mississauga. The City is forming an innovation hub to bring together entrepreneurs, established companies and innovation service providers. The hub will serve as a place of exploration, connection and pride and will shine a light on the great work happening here.
The City has also made strong digital technology investments through Smart City initiatives that will establish Mississauga as North America’s capital of
urban innovation.
Why is Mississauga focused on placemaking?
As we move forward with developments that will spur employment growth, tax assessment, and business vitality, we are prioritizing the creation of distinctive places that connect people to opportunities for employment, lifestyle and engagement.
Our citizens can live and work anywhere, but they choose Mississauga. That’s why we are focused on strategic efforts in our neighbourhoods that make our city special.
We are undertaking a tactical urbanism pilot to transform downtown streets into places for people. We are focused on ensuring a balance between residential and employment that result in true live-work environments.
We continue to prioritize Mississauga’s many parks, green spaces and recreational facilities and remain intentional about maintaining public access to our waterfront.
We are also focused on our city’s distinct places, including our established neighbourhoods that offer beautiful architecture, great restaurants, and unique shops.
Finally, our downtown has exciting projects underway, including Oxford Properties Group’s plans for a mixed use development that will include an office campus. This is a massive show of confidence in Mississauga and truly demonstrates that the future is unlimited.
To learn more, visit: thefutureisunlimited.ca
