The Recreation and Culture Division offers a variety of free youth programs through city-wide initiatives and neighbourhood-based projects. These programs aim to promote physical activity, social interaction, and positive engagement. They are designed to serve youth throughout Mississauga, emphasizing accessibility, geographic coverage, and community impact.
Free youth initiatives:
- Mississauga Youth Week: (Ages 12-24)
From April 27 to May 8, 2026, the City will host free events and programs for youth and young adults aged 12 to 24.
Choose from various drop-in and registered activities to express your creativity, exchange ideas, try something new, and connect with the youth community in Mississauga!
- Sauga At Play Program (Ages 10-17)
Offers free, low-barrier recreational opportunities for youth in community settings, supporting skill development, confidence-building, and positive youth experiences in a welcoming environment. Located at all Community Centres each weekday after school Monday-Friday). NEW: Thrilled to share we are adding Skating, Fitness and Swim drop-in times a few times a week at select community centres starting this fall.
- Sauga Summer Pass (Ages 12-16)
Provides youth with free access to select recreation programs and facilities, such a Fun Swims and Fitness throughout the summer, encouraging regular participation, active lifestyles, and exploration of City services at no cost. The program has a capacity of 11,000. The program has not reached capacity.
- Play in the Park (Ages 6-12)
Delivers free, drop‑in recreational activities in local parks, bringing programming directly into neighborhoods and removing transportation and registration barriers. Programming promotes physical literacy, unstructured play, and community connection.
- Free Swim and Free Skate
The Program Delivery team ensures year‑round access to core recreational activities by providing designated free swim and free public skate times across City facilities, supporting affordability and broad participation. Occurs March Break, Summer during Drowning Prevention Week
Additionally, the Active Assist program is available to families who qualify: ActiveAssist gives residents in low-income households and newcomers with refugee status access to recreation and culture programs. Each eligible family member listed on the application will receive a non-refundable credit of $ 275, valid for one year, to be used toward recreation and fitness activities throughout the city, including swimming lessons, fitness memberships, and more. Active Assist
Collectively, these initiatives strengthen Mississauga’s commitment to youth inclusion by ensuring that cost is not a barrier to participation. They also contribute to safer, healthier communities by providing structured and unstructured opportunities for youth engagement, particularly during high‑demand periods such as summer evenings and weekends.
Starting April 27, Mississauga youth can take part in fun, free activities during Youth Weeks and register for the Sauga Summer Pass.
City services | April 22, 2026
Back again this year, these popular programs are designed to help youth stay active and on the move. They encourage physical activity, healthy lifestyles and creativity during one of the busiest times of the year.
Mississauga Youth Weeks
Mississauga Youth Weeks will run from April 27 to May 8, 2026. This action-packed program gives youth aged 12 to 24 the chance to take part in free activities at community centres and libraries across the city.
All events are free. This year’s notable activities for youth aged 12 to 24 include:
- Clay and crafts workshops
- Water safety and aquatic activities
- Career workshops at Mississauga Valley on May 4 and Malton Youth Hub on May 7
- Sledge hockey at Iceland Arena on May 1
- Sports tournaments, skills building and more
Build your schedule of drop-in programs and registered activities online and get ready to enjoy the sessions!
Register for a Sauga Summer Pass
Make the summer months easier on your wallet with a pass that provides Mississauga youth ages 12 to 16 with access to free MiWay bus rides and public fun swims at all City indoor and outdoor pools. The pass also offers free fitness centre access for youth ages 14 to 16 at all participating locations with parental consent.
The Sauga Summer Pass is a valuable annual offering for staying engaged in the summer months. Pass holders can save on drop-in swimming and fitness centre fees and transit fares. For example, with the Sauga Summer Pass, youth save $4.50 on a single cash fare and $2.90 on a PRESTO fare. It’s an easy and affordable way for youth to explore Mississauga this summer.
Registration opens on Monday, April 27 on a first-come-first-served basis. To register, bring a completed application form and a physical piece of identification to verify your birth date to one of the community centres listed on the registration form.
The pass is valid from June 26 to September 7.
Calling all crafters! Minecrafters of all ages are invited to Mississauga this summer to experience the thrill of participating in an epic interactive quest at Minecraft Experience: Villager Rescue, happening at Square One beginning June 20.
This Minecraft experience combines advanced technology with game design, experiential storytelling and high-tech multimedia. Now, for the first time in Canada, Minecrafters of all ages can take part in this epic rescue mission and story-based experience brought to life before their eyes.
Event details:
What?
Minecraft Experience: Villager Rescue interactive adventure’s debut in Canada.
Who?
Open to all ages, this experience is designed to welcome long-time players, new players and families of all ages. No prior knowledge of Minecraft is required to enjoy the experience.
Where?
Square One
199 Rathburn Rd. W
Mississauga, ON
When?
Beginning June 20, 2025, for a limited time.
Tickets:
Tickets are on sale now and start at $32. Multi-pack, group and flex tickets are also available. For additional information and tickets, visit minecraftexperience.com.
About Minecraft
Minecraft is the best-selling game of all time with more than 300 million copies sold, entertaining players from around the world through gaming and the recently released blockbuster film A Minecraft Movie. Minecraft is the most popular video game of all time with a worldwide community of millions including Antarctica and the Vatican City. At its core, Minecraft is a game about placing blocks and going on adventures.
Minecraft Experience: Villager Rescue was created by Montreal-based multimedia creative studio, Supply + Demand, in close collaboration with Experience MOD and game developer Mojang Studios.
Keep the fun going in Mississauga!.
The adventure in Mississauga doesn’t need to stop after you’ve completed your heroic feat. Be sure to check out Square One for shopping, food and more fun to be had at The Rec Room, or you can immerse yourself in another fantasy world at LVLUP Games board game café. Or, if you’d like to head outdoors, check out what’s happening at Mississauga Celebration Square – there are many fun events scheduled for the summer.
The City of Mississauga is pleased to announce that Tahira Rajwani will be its fifth Youth Poet Laureate. Tahira will hold this position from 2025 to 2027 and will serve as a literary ambassador for youth in the city, as well as help elevate the status of poetry, literary arts and young writers through community poetry events and projects.
Tahira is a spoken word artist whose work is rooted in themes of diaspora and women’s empowerment. She was recently shortlisted for the 2024 League of Canadian Poets Spoken Word Award and nominated for the Emerging Literary Arts category of the 2024 Mississauga Arts Awards. As runner-up in Button Poetry’s 2022 Poem Cover Content, she has been seen on poetry slam podiums across the GTA. With a passion for fostering arts, Tahira is a founding member of Sauga Poetry, a local open mic series. In April 2025, she will take part in the Canadian Individual Poetry Slam in Vancouver.
Every two years, the City embarks on a search for its new Youth Poet Laureate. This honourary position recognizes a young poet who writes excellent poetry or spoken word and has written on themes that are relevant to the residents of Mississauga.
Tahira will take over the role starting on April 9 from, Lisa Shen.
The public can expect to hear from the new Youth Poet Laureate at the City’s sixth annual Poetry Slam on April 24. She will also make an appearance as part of the Canada Day celebrations at Celebration Square on July 1.
As a way to kick-off her new role and celebrate National Poetry Month, Tahira read from one of her poems titled, April (see verse below) at today’s General Committee meeting.
April
It has been a long Winter
But here, the snow gives way
The clocks move past this season of grey sky
April leaves forgiveness on our doorstep
For all the things we said in the cold
At dawn, sunlight gently wraps her rays
Against these suburban window panes
Coats come undone button by button
And how easy laughter become again
Without the weight of all these layers of uncertainty
Survival is always hardest in the dark
The night is always longest before the day
Summer is always a promise we are unsure
Will be kept another year
But how resilient we are
How forgiving
How practiced
At unfurling into this hope
At stepping into the light
Again
It is hard to remember sometimes
That better days are just a horizon away
This grief always feels so long
A winter solstice of ache
But look, we made it another
Season
Look, at how the blossoms reemerge
Look, at how all this doubt
Melts into the soil
And leaves only
Softness in its wake
On Friday March 21st, 2025, Peel Regional Police launched a progressive and forward-thinking strategy that is aimed at shaping the service’s future engagement with youth, parents/guardians and community partners who serve youth.
Their new Youth Engagement Strategy will be carried out in consultation with community partners and youth over the coming years. This will include the creation of specific initiatives, such as establishing a youth mentorship program, providing training opportunities for PRP members to better engage with youth, and strengthening support to youth affected by hate and bias.
In 2024, a survey and focus groups were conducted to provide an independent, unbiased lens on youth safety, policing and police interaction with youth within Mississauga and Brampton. This research will help to shape the development of new programs and the refinement of existing ones.
PRP has several existing programs that bring young people and officers together in the spirit of cooperation, education and mentorship, including the Youth In Policing Initiative, the Young Women’s Mentorship Program which is aimed at empowering at-risk girls by fostering leadership skills, building confidence and providing mentorship opportunities, and the Boys to Men Program – an initiative designed to provide at-risk boys with guidance, support and positive role models.
The new strategy builds on the foundation of these and other existing programs and is designed to encourage a positive relationship between youth and police and to ensure youth feel comfortable engaging with police officers, something that ultimately supports the safety and well-being of youth and the broader community.
Please take a moment to view the Youth Engagement Strategy here.
PRP’s news release here: https://x.com/PeelPolice/status/1903111382159200477
The City of Mississauga will recognize its fifth Youth Poet Laureate in 2025. The role of the Youth Poet Laureate is to serve as a literary ambassador for youth in the City of Mississauga and to elevate the status of poetry, literary arts and young writers within their communities.
This honorary position recognizes a young poet who writes excellent poetry or spoken word and has written on themes that are relevant to the citizens of Mississauga.
Candidates must be current Mississauga residents.
Term and Payment
The Youth Poet Laureate will serve a 24 month term beginning in April 2025 and will receive a $3,000 honorarium paid in 6 instalments throughout the term.
Additional project funding of $1000 is available to support the execution of a Youth Poet Laureate event or project.
Submissions
Submissions will be accepted between February 12 and March 9, 2025
Review the submission guidelines (pdf).
Contact
For more information about the Youth Poet Laureate program email eldiana.begovic@mississauga.ca.
