A new age dawned in Mississauga in 1974 when Toronto Township became the City of Mississauga. The amalgamation of Clarkson, Cooksville, Dixie, Erindale, Lakeview, Lorne Park, Malton, Meadowvale Village, Port Credit, Streetsville and Sheridan brought the new city’s population to more than 200,000.

Toronto Township began in the early 1800s after the British government purchased land from the Mississauga Indians who owned the 26 mile “Mississauga Tract” along the northwest shore of Lake Ontario from the Etobicoke Creek west to Burlington Bay.

After the purchase, the agricultural community’s population grew steadily throughout the 1800s. Settlers from England and United Empire Loyalists, relocating to British-owned soil, were granted 200-acre lots for clearing and cultivating. The settlers were attracted by the trade opportunities provided by the Credit River as well as by the proximity to York and the quality of the land available.

Transportation and communication advancements made Mississauga accessible and attractive to immigrants: by 1901, almost 6,000 people were living in the area. In 1914 Lakeshore Road was constructed linking Toronto to Hamilton through Toronto Township.

The year 1937 was momentous with the development and construction of major roadways and communication corridors such as the new four-lane Queen Elizabeth Way. The highway included Canada’s first cloverleaf intersection at Hurontario Street and the QEW. Malton, too, was transformed from a small village to a major transportation centre upon completion of an airport on 1,400 acres of farmland.
 

Council Chamber Ceiling.  Rising 74 feet above the Mississauga Civic Centre's Council Chamber is the spectacular 100 foot diameter domed ceiling.  Painted in gold and blue by Canadian artist Sharon McCann, it depicts the Mississauga Indian legen of the Great Bear and the Seven Hunters as it actually appears in the constellations of an evening spring sky over Mississauga.

There was a rapid increase in population and growth in industry during the late 1940s and ’50s. By 1953 Toronto Township had attracted 34 industries and had begun to develop new, mixed-use, residential and industrial unit subdivisions.

The completion of Highway 401 in the late ’50s and the introduction of commuter train travel to and from Toronto by 1967 further increased growth.

Throughout the 1960s and ’70s amalgamation of the 12 townships was considered as a possible safeguard against Toronto’s bid to annex areas of Peel County. After many years of discussion the townships finally amalgamated on January 1, 1974, and the City of Mississauga was born.

The Mississauga of the 1970s was, in essence, a “bedroom” community. Although most of its residents made their homes in Mississauga, they worked in Toronto. City Council set about to change this with the unveiling of the City Centre Plan in 1979 which called for Mississauga to become a self-sufficient city by developing an expansive city core in a one-square-mile area around the major shopping centre, Square One.

In 1982 the City gave legitimacy to the city centre concept by purchasing a 10-acre site west of Square One. It was on this site that Mississauga’s new Civic Centre was built.

Mississauga has experienced rapid population growth during the last 15 years, increasing from 200,000 residents in 1974 to over 450,000 in 1990.

Development also boomed with the total value of building permits issued in 1989 at $1.6 billion as compared with $7.5 million in 1950.

In 1989 the City unveiled the new “City Centre Secondary Plan,” a 30-year blueprint for the development of the city core. The plan responds to the future needs of the community and, when fully developed, will consist of 22 million square feet of office space; 4,400 hotel rooms; 14,000 residential units; and a total of 5.3 million square feet of retail space.

From its agricultural beginnings, Mississauga has evolved into a young and dynamic city with a clear vision of its future. The city that used to be known as a bedroom community is now a great place for work and play.