How municipal government works

Read a message from the Mayor, learn how City Council makes decisions and what the different levels of government are responsible for.

Dear Friends,

Welcome to the City of Mississauga’s information page about our government relations and advocacy efforts with the provincial and federal governments, along with the Region of Peel and other external organizations.

Throughout these pages, you will find more information about the policy positions that your City Councillors are advocating for – with the goal of making Mississauga an even better place to raise a family, earn an education, find a good-paying job, and start a business.

Our city-building agenda includes creating an extensive regionally-integrated public transit network, with city-wide initiatives like the Hurontario LRT; new efforts to attract investment and generate local economic development opportunities; and ensuring Mississauga residents enjoy an unrivalled quality of life.

Council works together with organizations like the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) and the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) – which bring together municipal leader leaders to shape the agendas of both the provincial and federal governments.

I encourage you to check back regularly as we update these pages with ongoing news, events, and information about Council’s efforts.

As our country’s sixth largest city, when we work together to advance Mississauga’s priorities, all of Ontario and Canada are better positioned for growth, opportunity, and success.

Warmest Regards,

Bonnie Crombie, MBA, ICD.D
Mayor, City of Mississauga

Your voice in the municipal government

The City of Mississauga is governed by a City Council made up of the Mayor, who is the head of Council and 11 Councillors. Council members are elected every four years by the citizens of Mississauga.

For the purpose of governance, the City is divided into 11 wards, and each Councillor serves a ward. The City of Mississauga ward map can help you find the ward you live in and who your Councillor is.

The current members of City Council are:

What City Council does

City Council represents and serves the people of Mississauga. In doing so, Council follows rules set by the Provincial Government called the Municipal Act.

Your ward Councillor represents you in Council and you can contact them with City related problems, ideas or feedback. Councillors also make key decisions related to various aspects of the City, pass by-laws (local laws for Mississauga), create policies, approve budgets and provide programs and services to make citizen’s lives better.

How Council makes decisions

City Council receives requests and recommendations for new by-laws, projects, services or programs from members of Council and from reports submitted by advisory committees, City staff or citizens who speak at Council meetings during a deputation or public question period . When a request is received, Council will discuss it and make a decision or ask for more information.

Committees

The Mayor and City Councillors are members of various committees that are formed to get feedback from the public on important issues. Recommendations made by committees are presented to City Council to discuss and take a decision.

Some committees have citizens as members. Citizen members on committees have the same four-year term as the Mayor and Councillors. If you live in Mississauga you can apply to join an advisory committee as a citizen member and get involved with the City.

Recommendations

City Council discusses and debates recommendations and reports received from the committees. Council may also ask City staff to provide more information and submit a report. At the end of this process, Council will make a recommendation.

By-laws and policies

Once Council has made a decision about a request, they finalize their decision as either a by-law or a corporate policy.

By-laws are laws that apply only in Mississauga and govern things like animal control, litter, noise, parking, trees and much more. View a list of the current City by-laws.

There are three levels of government in Canada: federal, provincial and municipal. In Mississauga we also have a regional level of government.

Each level of government has different responsibilities. For more details, take a look at the levels of government in Canada infographic.

Municipal

The municipal government of the City is responsible for managing parks, libraries, local transportation, property taxes, fire services, and city road maintenance among other services.

Regional

The City of Mississauga and the cities of Brampton and Caledon are under the jurisdiction of the Region of Peel.

The Region of Peel provides police, ambulance, public health, garbage and recycling, social services and water services to the three cities.

Provincial

The Government of Ontario looks after matters that apply specifically to Ontario like education, health and highways.

Federal

The Federal Government of Canada is responsible for things that affect all Canadians including national defense and citizenship.