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City-run programs like Step-Up help entrepreneurs and businesses access the support, advice and networks they need to move from early traction to long-term growth. The Step-Up Program supports diverse and underrepresented entrepreneurs as they work through common barriers and prepare to scale.

A live look at scaling in action

Companies from life sciences, advanced manufacturing and technology sectors pitched their ideas to solve real-world challenges. The audience included investors, industry partners, business leaders and City of Mississauga representatives.

Founders competed for up to $20,000 in prizes, along with exposure, connections and further funding. More than a showcase, the event was a chance for high-potential companies to test their pitch, build relationships and move closer to scale.

Turning ambition into local opportunity and impact

Three entrepreneurs took home cash awards and gained momentum to grow their ideas.

Diana Al-Dajani received a $10,000 cash award for eduTechnoz, her gamified teaching platform. She created it after students told her they wanted more exciting ways to learn Arabic. Her solution makes language learning more engaging and accessible.

Mark Shenouda, PhD, took second place and a $6,000 award for Neuropeutics. The company develops therapies that extend both the length and quality of life for people living with neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s.

Shevonne Chin, Canada’s first woman swarm drone pilot and founder of Flik FX, received a $4,000 award. Her experience in drone technology and fireworks can turn the sky into a communication platform and can be used in disaster zones to reach out to people.

Other companies in the same IDEA Step-Up Program cohort include:

• Cashtella: improving payment systems between Canada and Nigeria.
• DigiBiomics: developing diagnostic and triaging solutions for respiratory conditions.
• Elev8: building wearable technology to enhance performance.
• Enabled Talent: using AI to connect talent and employers more fairly.
• K-Will: helping families organize assets and preserve memories.
• Optinum Professional Corporation: simplifying cross-border payments.
• Shop3D.ca: distributing 3D printing technologies.
• Travellez: streamlining business travel management.
• Vuga Tech: developing an AI-powered anti-theft solution for vehicles.
• Waitery: improving restaurant service and the dine-in experience.

Recognizing growth and potential

Participants gained more than funding. They also gained advice and insight.

IDEA Mississauga Awards

Former Step-Up founders receive IDEA Mississauga Awards at the recent Momentum to Millions pitch event.

Former Step-Up founders returned to share their experiences, with six of the former participants receiving new IDEA Mississauga Awards. Ward 4 Councillor and Deputy Mayor John Kovac presented the awards on behalf of City Council to recognize key business milestones.

IDEA Mississauga Investor’s Choice Founder Award

The IDEA Mississauga Investor’s Choice Founder Award recognizes former Step-Up Program participants who are attracting investors, have raised $1.5 million in funding and demonstrate strong leadership to grow their businesses. The 2026 winners are:

Xatoms: An AI and quantum chemistry–driven clean technology company developing new materials to help purify water.

Kare Chemical: A biotechnology and pharmaceutical company developing methods to produce high-purity cannabinoids—compounds found in the cannabis plant—as well as other chemicals for medical use.

HDAX: A life sciences company developing treatments for complex diseases, including cancer and neurological and heart-related conditions.

IDEA Mississauga High-Growth Venture Awards

The IDEA Mississauga High-Growth Venture Award recognizes former Step-Up Program participants who have reached $1 million in annual recurring revenue and built high-growth, investment-ready companies. The 2026 winners are:

Food Mamba: A food-tech platform that makes corporate catering and event planning easier by connecting businesses with trusted restaurants and vendors.

Scooty: A mobility platform that provides shared electric scooters and bikes to make getting around cities easier.

Swiftracks: An AI and innovation platform company that helps organizations make better decisions in uncertain situations using applied AI, product systems, and step-by-step testing.

Why Mississauga works for scale-ups

Mississauga continues to grow as a hub for business.

Located in the Region’s Innovation Corridor, the city sits within North America’s second-largest technology cluster. Its diverse business community gives companies access to talent, capital and partnerships.

Events like Momentum to Millions strengthen that advantage. They connect founders with the networks they need to scale. For the founders on stage, the event was not the finish line. It was the launchpad.

About the IDEA Step-Up Program

The IDEA Step-Up Program is a six-month initiative. It helps innovative and inclusive companies grow and overcome barriers.

The program focuses on sustainability and inclusivity. It supports companies working to create both economic and social impact.

About IDEA Mississauga

IDEA Mississauga is the city’s hub for entrepreneurship and innovation. It connects local and global founders and helps businesses grow.

Its home base, the IDEA Square One Entrepreneurship Hub, is a 4,300-square-foot innovation space located inside Square One Shopping Centre. It brings start-ups, scale-ups, corporate partners and investors together.

Event details

What

Opening of new gym and Raptors 905 practice facility

When

Saturday, March 14, 2026.

• 1 p.m. – Ceremony
• 1:30 p.m. – Media interviews and Raptors 905 basketball clinic, featuring youth from local community groups, including participants from Erin Mills Youth Centre, PDM Basketball and the Mississauga Monarchs.

Where

Paramount Fine Foods Centre – Sportsplex
5600 Rose Cherry Pl.
Mississauga, ON

The new gym will be a shared amenity between the City of Mississauga and Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment. The gym will serve as the new practice facility for Raptors 905.

During the basketball season, Raptors 905 will have an allocation of 75 per cent of the gym time, with the remaining 25 per cent available for community use. In the off‑season, this allocation will shift, with community use increasing to 75 per cent and Raptors 905 using the court 25 per cent of the time.

Photo credit: Curling Canada/Andrew Klaver

For the first time ever, the GTA will host this iconic national championship, welcoming 18 of the best women’s curling teams from across the country.

The standard schedule for weekday and round-robin play typically features draws at 9 a.m., 2 p.m., and 7 p.m. (Eastern Standard Time). The championship final is scheduled for Sunday, February 1, 2026.

Hurry hard before tickets sell out

Whether you love to play curling, enjoy watching it on TV or are new to the sport, nothing beats watching a game live to experience strategy, sportsmanship, and unforgettable highlights. With an anticipated attendance of thousands and a strong ticket response, particularly for Championship Weekend Packages, fans are encouraged to act quickly as tickets are selling fast.

With affordable options like single-draw tickets to family packages to group seating, the ticket options are endless! Tickets start at just $21 for single-draw tickets, with special youth pricing at $10 for those under 18 and post-secondary students with valid ID.

Single-draw tickets

• Draws 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 16 – starting at $21
• Draws 2, 4, 6, 12, 15 – starting at $26
• Draws 1, 5, 17, 18, 19, 20 – starting at $36
• Draws 3, 21, 22, 23 – starting at $45
• Draw 24 (Final) – starting at $60

Ticket packages

Curling fans and sports lovers alike can take advantage of packages during the tournament, which include:

• Full Event package – access to every draw, tickets range from $420–$480
• Championship Weekend package (January 30 to February 1) – final 6 draws, tickets range from $228–$240
• Opening Weekend package (January 23 to January 25) – first 6 draws, tickets starting from $108
• Weekday package – three draws on your chosen weekday, $60–$72
  • Monday Day package – three draws (Monday, January 26)
  • Tuesday Day package – three draws (Tuesday, January 27)
  • Wednesday Day package – three draws (Wednesday, January 28)
  • Thursday Day package – three draws (Thursday, January 29)
• Group and premium seating options are also available.

Please note, tickets are subject to standard facility and ticket service fees. All sales are final. For all draw times, please click here.

Paramount Fine Foods Centre is an accessibility-friendly venue (e.g., wheelchair access, family-friendly amenities), committed to removing, and preventing barriers to accessibility and inclusion.

Tickets are selling fast. Secure your tickets soon at curling.ca/tickets or at the Paramount Fine Foods Centre box office during regular hours (Monday to Friday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.)

For questions or more information, please call 905-305-6000 or email Ticket.operations@mississauga.ca

Swept up with excitement: matches to look forward to

Photo credit: Curling Canada/Andrew Klaver

The 10-day event is set to attract thousands of attendees and spectators from across the country and the world. The tournament will showcase a round-robin format, with the top teams advancing to the playoffs. The winning team will be the national champion and will go on to represent Canada at the BKT World Women’s Curling Championship from March 14-22 in Calgary, and return to next year’s Scotties Tournament of Hearts as Team Canada.

While most of the scheduled games won’t be known until the 14 provincial and territorial champions are decided, game times for Team Canada, the host team from Ontario and the other pre-qualified teams are now locked in.

Fierce matchups include a Saturday night showdown between Team Canada (Kerri Einarson) and the host Ontario hometown heroes on January 24 at 7 p.m. (Eastern Standard Time).

From the hack, down the ice to the final hammer, the excitement continues with a highly anticipated rematch between Team Alberta (Kayla Skrlik) and Team Nova Scotia (Christina Black), last year’s playoff opponents, guaranteeing some stone-cold competition on the sheet.

A big hit and roll for Mississauga

The event, hosted at the Paramount Fine Foods Centre in Mississauga, is more than just a tournament. The Scotties Tournament of Hearts is one of Canada’s largest curling events, with national and international exposure.

Visit Mississauga, in collaboration with the Toronto Curling Association, is thrilled to host this prestigious event, projecting significant local economic impacts, including more 2,500 hotel room bookings and upwards of $6 million in economic benefit.

Join us in celebrating one of Canada’s premier curling events and get ready to see some amazing shot rocks!

For more updates and information, visit curling.ca or follow @VisitMississauga on social media.

This includes increasing penalties for operators who violate the City’s Short-Term Rental Accommodation Licensing By-law (Short-Term Rental By-law). Enabled by support from Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada (HICC) and $4.75 million from the federal government’s Short-Term Rental Enforcement Fund (STREF), the City is enhancing its enforcement program to decrease the number of unlicensed short-term rentals in the city and better regulate the sector.

Short-term rentals in Mississauga

A short-term rental is considered a home, or part of a home, that is rented out for 30 consecutive days or less. Often booked through platforms like Airbnb, Vrbo, and Booking.com, they provide guests with an option for a more local or affordable stay. They also provide residents with an opportunity to generate additional income. As per Mississauga’s Short-Term Rental By-law, residents can only operate a short-term rental from their principal residence (e.g., the home where they live for most of the year) and they must have a short-term rental licence from the City.

As of April 1, 2025, there were an estimated 1,855 short-term rentals advertised in Mississauga, of which staff verified 1,554 qualify as a short-term rental. As of April 1, 2025, 510 of these short-term rentals have a licence from the City. Between December 2021 and April 1, 2025, staff responded to over 2,000 service requests, resulting in 1,315 Notices of Contravention and 404 penalties for violations of the Short-Term Rental By-law alone. Many of these instances of non-compliance include residents operating a short-term rental without a licence, operating more than one rental or operating from a home where they do not live for most of the year. Effective November 17, 2025, the penalties for violating the Short-Term Rental By-law will increase to a minimum of $500 and a maximum of $1,000 to better encourage compliance.

Protecting Mississauga’s supply of long-term rental housing

The intent of STREF, delivered through HICC, is to help municipalities like Mississauga limit short-term rental units that take away from the long-term rental housing market. By enhancing the short-term rental enforcement program, the City aims to ensure that short-term rentals in Mississauga are safe and well-maintained, and long-term rental housing stock is protected and not being used as short-term rentals.

Increasing education and enforcement efforts

The City works to ensure that short-term rental operators are licenced, operating their rentals safely, and complying with the City’s Short-Term Rental By-law and all other by-laws such as property standards, noise, parking, nuisance gatherings and litter.

The support from HICC and $4.75 million from the STREF will help the City improve compliance with its by-laws and address residents’ concerns with short-term rentals. This will be done through hiring additional City staff, including enforcement officers, to:

• Proactively identify unlicensed short-term rentals.
• Complete proactive on-site inspections to confirm operators are following all City by-laws.
• Conduct mandatory inspections as part of the licensing process.
• Increase capacity to respond to complaints and issue warnings and penalties when needed.
• Educate operators and their guests about their responsibilities.
• Inform residents about how to report concerns.
• Review and process licence applications.

Operating a short-term rental in Mississauga

To operate a short-term rental in Mississauga, residents must:

• Hold a valid short-term rental licence from the City. This licence expires each year and must be renewed in order to advertise and operate.
• Ensure their property and guests follow all City by-laws, including by-laws that regulate noise, nuisance gatherings, lighting, litter and debris and parking.
• Understand and follow their condominium’s rules regarding short-term rentals, if living in a condominium.
• Include their licence number from the City on all print and online advertisements for the short-term rental.

Residents who operate a short-term rental in a condominium need to have written permission from their condominium corporation stating that short-term rentals are permitted.

Residents who do not own their home, and operate a short-term rental, also need to have written permission from the property owner. They should also be aware of their responsibilities under the Residential Tenancies Act and their lease agreement.

Residents who are concerned about a short-term rental in their neighbourhood can make a report by calling 311.

To learn more about operating a short-term rental in Mississauga, visit mississauga.ca/STA.

Running a red light has serious consequences and may result in a collision, life-altering injury or death. The City of Mississauga is reminding drivers to stop at red lights to help protect your own life and others – whether it’s a pedestrian, cyclist, transit user, passenger or another driver.

Drivers must come to a complete stop at red lights

Running a red light is considered aggressive driving that significantly contributes to collisions in the city. By law, drivers must stop at a red light and not enter the intersection. This includes before making a right turn. If drivers are making a right turn, they must come to a complete stop and check for pedestrians, cyclists and other traffic before proceeding. When the light turns yellow, drivers should slow down to a stop unless it’s unsafe to do so.

Peel Region has installed 19 red light cameras in Mississauga as a safety initiative to deter drivers from running red lights.

City’s review of 20 intersections

In 2023, the City led a review of intersections across Mississauga. Based on observations of driver behaviour at 20 intersections, it is estimated that an average of more than 240 drivers per year fail to stop at a red light at each location. That is more than 4,800 red light violations in one year at just 20 intersections. With hundreds of traffic signals across the city, this is a growing safety risk.

Working towards Vision Zero by improving intersections

The City is working towards the long-term Vision Zero goal of zero traffic-related fatalities and serious injuries on Mississauga roads. The City’s Vision Zero Action Plan has 99 actions that are being implemented over the next few years. This includes education around reminding drivers to come to a complete stop at red lights.

To learn more about other Vision Zero initiatives and actions, visit mississauga.ca/visionzero.

If you see a vehicle involved in dangerous and aggressive behaviour, you can report it to Peel Regional Police’s Road Watch program online: peelpolice.ca/en/report-it/make-a-report-online.aspx#What-types-of-reports-can-I-file-online