The Big Ideas Are Ready
Welcome to Mississauga Summit, 2011

 In 2007 the Mississauga Summit was formed, creating a forum for engaged residents to brainstorm a better future for the city.  Throughout 2009/ 2010 priorities were identified and over 150 volunteers worked diligently on addressing five key issues facing our community.  For over a year and a half, groups strategized on one “Big Idea” designed to create transformational, historical change.

Honourary Chair, Mayor Hazel McCallion and Co-Chairs Shelley White and Brian Crombie formally invite you, the community of Mississauga, to join us, to hear the Big Ideas, and hear of steps being taken to implement some of the initiatives associated with each.

Time: 4:30 – 9:00 pm

Location: University of Toronto Mississauga
   3359 Mississauga Rd.
   Mississauga, ON   L5L 1C6
   Instructional Centre Building (Room 110)
   (Please enter at The Collegeway entrance for parking)

The keynote speakers will include:

• Hazel McCallion, Mayor of Mississauga
• Naheed K. Nenshi, Mayor of Calgary
• David Wolfe, PH.D., UTM Prof and Royal Bank Chair in Public and Economic Policy

A detailed agenda and information on the big ideas will be sent to registered participants in advance.

For more information on the Mississauga Summit:

Facebook http://www.facebook.com/#!/MississaugaSummit

Twitter: @MISSsummit

Your commitment is important to the future development of our City. We greatly appreciate your participation in the Mississauga Summit.

If you require further information do not hesitate to contact us at info@mississaugasummit.ca.

Please RSVP online at http://www.eventbrite.com/event/1794105217 by Thursday, October 20th, 2011.

A background of the Big Ideas:

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.

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.

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.

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 citywide approach that ensures inclusivity, equality, respect and embraces the opportunities that diversity provides.

Mississauga Works, Job Creation Task Force: In 2009 the people of Mississauga were particularly hard hit by the economic downturn. Unemployment rates soared from 6.6 percent  in 2008 to 10.8 percent – higher than the GTA, the province and the country as a whole. Going into 2010, Mississauga Mayor, Hazel McCallion, made job creation her priority and held the “Mississauga Works Job Summit.” Recognizing that unemployment cannot be addressed by government alone, Mayor McCallion invited business leaders, educators, labour, not-for-profit groups, and government to come together to discuss strategies to create well paying long term jobs in our city. Mayor McCallion called for the Mississauga Summit to create a task force devoted exclusively to job creation in our city and develop the themes brought forward during this brain storming session