The April 29th meeting will offer the task force co-chairs an opportunity to present the big idea to the Mississauga Summit advisory community for discussion and feedback.

These areas include:

1. Building Mississauga’s human service infrastructure.

Mississauga is a growing, diverse and vibrant community. Each year, the city welcomes approximately 11,000 new residents. Over the past 20 years, the provincial and federal governments’ funding has not kept pace with our growing population. Our human services infrastructure does not have the capacity to support the current population, let alone the project growth over the next 30 years. The task force will recommend a strategy to build the capacity of our human service infrastructure to support the needs of our current and future residents.

2. Creating a post-secondary education strategy to complement our economic and human capital development.

As Mississauga plans a proactive approach to the city’s economic viability and future prosperity, it is imperative we consider alignments between education and industry. The Post-Secondary Task Force will recommend a strategy to ensure our post-secondary programs are geared towards today’s children and future’s growing industries.

3. Waterfront development and Environmental sustainability

With 22 kilometers of prime Lake Ontario shoreline and 60 hectares of green space available, Mississauga has the potential to become an international example of urban planning and environmental integration. The Waterfront Development and Environmental Sustainability Task Force will focus on developing a recommendation that provides a constructive solution around energy conservation, waste management and managing urban sprawl.

4. Cultivating Mississauga as a Centre of Excellence for diversity and immigration

Mississauga is one of the few communities across the country that can boast a growing birth rate and labour pool. 52% of Mississauga’s residents were born outside of Canada. Immigration is not only beneficial to our community, it is integral to our economic viability. To this end, how can Mississauga ensure each newcomer thrives? The task force will develop a strategy that cultivates Mississauga as a centre of excellence for diversity and immigration, employing a city-wide approach that ensures inclusivity, equality, respect and embraces the opportunities that diversity provides.

This meeting will also act as a launch of the Summit’s fifth task force:

5. Mississauga Works Task Force

Mississauga is experiencing unemployment that is higher than the provincial and national averages. The unemployment rate in the Peel Region has grown from 7.4% in 2008 to above 11.4% in 2009. Recognizing that unemployment cannot be addressed by just government alone, Mayor McCallion held the Mississauga Works – Job Summit in February of 2010. The results of that meeting led to the formation of the Mississauga Works Task Force to act on the recommendations brought forward during those discussions. This new task force will be launched on the April 29th date.

We look forward to seeing you there!

For more information, please access our website at: www.mississaugasummit.ca

We greatly appreciate your participation in the Mississauga Summit. Your leadership, vision and perspective are extremely important to the future development of our City.

Please feel free to contact us if you require further information.

Contact:Carol Kotacka, The Mississauga Summit: info@mississaugasummit.ca