The City of Mississauga's Culture Division is moving forward with plans to develop a cultural resource map for the city.

"A cultural map is a map that displays information about cultural resources and assets on a dedicated website and is one of the recommendations set out in the Mississauga Culture Master Plan approved by Council in June 2009," said the City of Mississauga's Culture Division director, Susan Burt. "Upon completion, this project will provide culture stakeholders, residents, newcomers, youth, visitors and anyone interested in culture with a central source to view cultural resources, assets and information in Mississauga." Burt explained, "The project will also assist the City to better understand its cultural sector for policy and planning purposes".

Scheduled for completion in 2011, the cultural map will contain information such as arts and culture businesses, community cultural organizations, cultural spaces and facilities, cultural heritage, festivals and events, individual artists and other related cultural resources. The project is currently concluding the research, stakeholders' engagements and data collection phase.

The Culture Division has been awarded $40,000 by the Ontario Ministry of Tourism and Culture to support the development of the Mississauga Cultural Map through the Creative Community Prosperity Fund (CCPF). One of the objectives of CCPF is to provide municipalities, first nations and not-for-profit organizations with incentives to undertake Municipal Cultural Planning (MCP) initiatives by providing a matching grant to defray the cost of completing various culture-related projects and activities.

The Culture Division was created in 2007 to foster growth and sustainability of culture in Mississauga. Through its policy development, services, programs and partnership initiatives, the Culture Division plays an integral role in the growth of the City for the 21st Century by preserving, supporting and enhancing the artistic and historic fabric of Mississauga.

As Canada's sixth largest city, Mississauga is home to 730,000 residents and 55,000 businesses, including 61 Fortune 500 companies with Canadian head offices or major divisional head offices. A diverse, progressive and award-winning municipality located on the shores of Lake Ontario in the heart of the Greater Toronto Area, Mississauga is one of Greater Toronto's Top 90 Employers for 2010. Enhancing its citizens' quality of life by providing superior services, revitalizing its infrastructure and conserving the environment, Mississauga is committed to innovation, operational excellence and fiscal responsibility which is reflected in its motto: "Leading Today for Tomorrow."

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Media Contact:
Alana Russell
Public Affairs Consultant
City of Mississauga
905-615-3200 ext. 5053
alana.russell@mississauga.ca
TTY: 905-896-5151