Mississauga

City in Peel Regional Municipality, southern Ontario; population (1991) 463,400. It lies on the Credit River and the western end of Lake Ontario, next to Etobicoke and immediately southwest of metropolitan Toronto.

European settlement of the area began in 1805, when it was purchased from the Mississauga (Chippewa) people. From 1850 until its incorporation as a town in 1968, Mississauga was known as Toronto Township. It was made a city in 1974, and is now a fast-growing residential and industrial suburb of Toronto, as well as being a major lake port. Manufactured goods from here include chemicals, appliances, pharmaceuticals, aircraft, engines, turbines, motor vehicles, construction materials, plastics, and rubber, petroleum, and steel products. The city also has packaging, bioengineering, and research firms. It is the home of Erindale College of the University of Toronto and several smaller educational institutions. Toronto's Lester B Pearson International Airport is in its north, next to the industrial district of Malton. Port Credit, at the river's mouth, has long been an important junction of lake and railway traffic.