Sunday June 27 is Canadian Multiculturalism Day!

This is a day to celebrate the contributions of Canada’s diverse people to Canadian society.

The 1988 Canadian Multiculturalism Act affirms the policy of the government to ensure that every Canadian receives equal treatment by the government, which respects and celebrates diversity.

Ontario specifically inaugurated an official multicultural policy in 1977 that promoted the cultural activities of various ethnic groups and formal legislation establishing a Ministry of Citizenship and Culture (now the Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration), which came into force in 1982.

Under the Ministry of Citizenship and Culture Act, the Ministry is responsible for “recognizing the pluralistic nature of Ontario society, to stress the full participation of all Ontarians as equal members of the community, encouraging the sharing of cultural heritage while affirming those elements held in common by all residents.”

One of the ways we celebrate diversity here at Heritage Mississauga, is through our content creation and programs.

We’re always looking to connect with different cultural community groups and organizations at festivals, events, online, in conversations and through networking.

Our mandate is to research, record and celebrate Mississauga heritage – and heritage is defined to include all things past, present, and for the future.

At Heritage Mississauga we do this by gathering stories and recording those stories and oral histories, so that we can share the Mississauga experience. We have a website section, which focuses on cultural heritage, as well as heritage diversity stories.

In addition, we’re always looking to create new content such as our booklets, comic books, videos, blog posts and more.

You can help us by sharing your story or the story of your cultural group, organization, festival, landmark, architectural building and more. We are continually doing the research on the heritage of Mississauga through the years, as the city grows.

Another way you can help us is to contribute to our Cultural Exploration Classroom.

Right now we are looking for people to record an audio greeting in a different language. We would love to get an audio greeting of “Hello” in a language other than English. If you know someone who would like to record this for us, please reach out and let us know!

Mississauga is an ever growing community with people that settle here from all over the world and I feel blessed that I get to live here. In fact, over half of Mississauga residents were born outside Canada.

It’s so important for future generations to understand the whole history and the heritage of Mississauga.

If you’d like to learn more, feel free to come by our office.
Although we’re closed, outside in the yellow bins you’ll find numerous publications such as:
• Our Cultural Heritage Guide Mississauga
• Our Black History booklet & Comic
• And our booklet and comics on Indigenous Heritage and History
Now before I go, I wanted to remind you of our line-up of content.
On Wednesday (Tomorrow) – We have our Way Back Wednesday article and blog post.

On Thursday – We have our “Ask A Historian” with Matthew where he will answer your questions.

And on Saturday – We have our “Matinee Movie” streamed on YouTube.

Also – We invite you to cheer us on in the Great Canadian Giving Challenge.
We still have spots available on our #ApartTogether Team!

Every dollar donated to Heritage Mississauga through www.CanadaHelps.org enters us into a chance to win $20,000, so we would love your support on that. Get your donation in now as we announce our team roster early next week.

Heritage Mississauga continues to be THE SOURCE about the history of our city as we research, record and celebrate the diverse heritage of Mississauga.

Take care of yourself, and each other, practice social distancing and remember we are #aparttogether.