Feedback from Mississauga residents is helping shape the City’s future

Today at Council, the new Future Directions plans for Culture, Recreation, Parks, Forestry & Environment, Library, and Fire & Emergency Services were approved.

Mississauga’s Future Directions plans help guide decision-making for various community services.  Using valuable feedback, demographic information and user data, the City develops plans that address infrastructure and service delivery needs.  These long-range plans align with Council priorities and investigate innovative and unique opportunities to enhance existing facilities, as well as programs and services.

“In its 50th year, Mississauga has grown into a vibrant city with a reputation for delivering high quality programs and services to residents,” said Jodi Robillos, Commissioner, Community Services. “We’ve received valuable feedback from residents, and we’re committed to making improvements to our many programs and services to ensure we continue to deliver them at the level residents expect, while at the same time adapting our offerings to meet the needs of a growing and changing community. We’ve listened to residents and customers and we’re making changes.”

Public engagement is an important part of the City’s work on our Future Directions plans. More than 7,000 survey responses helped to inform the draft plans; and a second survey issued after the draft plans were released garnered another 10,900 responses. This level of input from residents, community groups, user groups and other interested parties, combined with other relevant data, and research plays a role in guiding City actions and priorities for the next five to 10 years.

With strategic priorities in mind, there are some notable recommendations mentioned in the Future Directions plans, such as:

• Adding new amenities across Mississauga, including but not limited to cricket facilities, spray pads, pickleball courts, and leash-free zones.
• Exploring fee subsidies for attending and hosting cultural programming to increase access to Recreation and Culture venues, programs and events.
• Redeveloping or expanding Lakeview Library to service anticipated population growth, and to redevelop or expand Mississauga Valley Library as part of a broader renovation of the community centre.
• Constructing a new community centre in Service Area E (Cooksville) to include an indoor aquatics centre, library, double gymnasium, fitness studio, and multi-purpose program space.
• Developing and implementing fire safety public education programming that targets residents ages 65 and above, school aged children ages 6-14 and unregistered daycare and community group homes.

Robillos added, “A lot has changed since our last cycle of Future Directions, making these plans more reflective of current life and the demographic in Mississauga. It was essential to get detailed feedback, opinions, and questions from local community members to help shape our future operations. It’s important that residents have access to programs and services in their community that allow them to thrive, in a healthy and sustainable environment.”

The 2024 Future Directions plans build on the work completed since 2019 and identify new recommendations for how the City can advance its strategic priorities for supporting growth and sustainability, while maintaining its strong commitment to Reconciliation, equity, diversity and inclusion.

About Future Directions:

Future Directions is a planning process undertaken every five years to guide Library, Parks, Forestry & Environment, Recreation, Culture and Fire & Emergency Services. These plans focus on concrete actions that the City will undertake to maintain Mississauga residents’ high quality of life.

Tags

• Arts and Culture
• Fire and Emergency Services
• Libraries
• Parks and Forestry
• Recreation and Sports