City of Mississauga Approves Culture Master Plan

June 10, 2009

Mississauga's first Culture Master Plan, which supports the City's new Strategic Plan, was approved June 10, 2009 at Council.

The Mississauga Culture Plan provides a framework and a long-term vision, and identifies key opportunities and strategies that the City's Culture Division can implement over the next five years.

"Based on the collaborative and comprehensive approach taken in the development of the plan, we are confident this Master Plan is a thorough document with realistic initiatives," said director of Culture, Susan Burt. "The plan will ultimately play a significant role in achieving our vision to help transform Mississauga into a culturally significant Canadian city."

Mayor Hazel McCallion added that culture also plays an important role in strengthening a city's economy: "We know that municipalities around the world, with strong cultural communities at their core, create international appeal and contribute to a city's economic success."

The Culture Master Plan was developed by Mississauga citizens and stakeholders and facilitated by a team of cultural planning specialists led by Canadian Urban Institute (CUI). The Master Plan study builds upon the 2005 Arts Review Task Force report, that recommended, among other things, the need to “develop an overall strategy for the arts.”

 The plan recommends key actions to:

• build financial stability and increase the organizational capacity of cultural groups;
• cultivate the creative and expressive potential of citizens and develop a shared, authentic cultural identity;
• strengthen the flow and access to information about cultural resources;
• integrate culture into City policies and programs, and create artful, liveable communities through partnerships and collaboration; and
• recognize the importance of creative business activity in sustaining Mississauga's innovative capacity and economic success.

"These actions support the City's five strategic pillars of change as outlined in the new Strategic Plan, with a specific link to the pillar for change, Cultivating Creative and Innovative Businesses," explained Burt. "The plan also supports what is considered to be the fourth pillar of sustainability - cultural vitality."

To learn more about the Culture Master Plan (CMP) - project background and process, click here.