The City of Mississauga is launching a public awareness campaign to combat racism and discrimination amidst a rise in hate-motivated crimes.
The One Mississauga campaign was developed and designed in partnership with the City’s Combatting Racism, Discrimination and Hatred Advisory Committee.
As part of the campaign, the city has developed bright colourful posters and signage displaying commonly used racist and discriminatory language, followed by a call to action to “embrace and celebrate our community.”
Many of the posters can be seen in public spaces like bus shelters.
One poster writes, “Go back to where you came from,” followed by the response “Where? Port Credit?”
Another poster says, “You people are taking our jobs!” followed by “Who? Qualified candidates?”
“One Mississauga isn’t just a campaign, it’s a call to action for residents, businesses, and City staff to come together, collaborate, and shape the kind of city we all want to live and work in,” the city said in a statement to Now Toronto on Monday.
The campaign is part of a larger initiative to stop and prevent hat-motivated crimes which are on the rise, according to the city.
According to a 2024 report from the Police Services Board, the number of total crimes in 2023 was 53,057, with 162 of those being designated as hate motivated, marking a 32 per cent increase in hate-motivated crimes from 2022 to 2023.
Of that number, 35 of the reported hate crimes resulted in charges, according to the report.
The report goes on to say that members of the Black community in Peel face the highest reported victimization numbers, with 45 incidents, while South Asians face the second highest at 29 incidents, an increase from 17 in 2022.
Meanwhile, reports of victimization from members of the Jewish community also went up during that year, as well as hate crimes motivated by sexual orientation and religion.
The purpose of the campaign is being celebrated and spoken highly by people online.
“We need to have more cities take this proactive approach. Some people need to be reminded and some people just plain need to learn some common decency,” a Bluesky user said.
“These are fantastic!” another user said.
In addition to the campaign, the city tells Now Toronto that it’s combating the issue through education, upcoming action plans, and policies.
“The goal is to break through the noise, invite curiosity and conversation, and most importantly, make every resident feel they are a part of something bigger,” the statement said.
