Joined the programme in 2021

On November 10, 2021, Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie and members of Council proudly signed the Urban Diabetes Declaration making Mississauga the only active Canadian municipality participating in the Cities for Better Health program. Niels Lund, Vice President for Global Prevention and Health Promotion at Novo Nordisk  and Béatrice Clerc, President, NNCI  attended the Council meeting to mark the occasion.  

Mississauga is a richly diverse community. Over 50 per cent of Peel Region residents identify as Asian, Arab, Black, Hispanic or Indigenous peoples1 and are at an increased risk of  type 2 diabetes.2 In 2015, Peel Region, which includes Mississauga, had a diabetes incidence (newly diagnosed cases) rate that was 1.4 times higher than Ontario (while considering differences in age distribution). The number of new cases of diabetes in Peel increased by 182% between 1996 and 2015. This increase was due to the aging and growing population, and changes in diabetes risk. In 2015, one in six adults in Peel had Diabetes.3 Overall, an increase in the total number of diabetes cases is expected given the rising rates of obesity and changing demographics.4

 

Using projections from 2015/2016, Peel Region is expected to have almost 100,000 new cases of diabetes over the following 10 years, putting a significant strain on the Region’s healthcare system including an estimated cost of $643 million.5

Mississauga has already implemented many programs and initiatives that contribute to diabetes prevention and healthy living, based on the principle that a healthy and complete community is compact, pedestrian-friendly and transit-supportive, and contains a mix of uses that support daily living and enable physical activity through active transportation.

By joining Cities for Better Health, Mississauga is taking the next step in its journey to lower the rate of diabetes in the City.  Mississauga will leverage its participation in the Cities for Better Health programme, along with its partnerships with Peel Public Health, the University of Toronto Mississauga, Trillium Health Partners and other stakeholders and the community to build a made-in-Mississauga Diabetes Prevention Strategy.

Using a comprehensive approach, the Mississauga Diabetes Prevention Strategy aims to reduce the risk factors and improve the protective factors associated with the development, and/or the progression, of type 2 diabetes, ultimately to decrease the prevalence of type 2 diabetes in Mississauga. The City will work with the community, stakeholders, industry, agency and government partners to understand and define the burden of diabetes in Mississauga, build the strategy, identify community needs and priorities, and determine the action plan. 

The Mississauga Diabetes Prevention Strategy will contribute to a healthier and more liveable city for years to come.

1.

Census 2016, Statistics Canada.

 

2.

Region of Peel – Public Health. The changing landscape of health in Peel: A Comprehensive Health Status Report. 2019. Available at https://peelregion.ca/health/resources/pdf/CHSR-changing-landscape-health-peel-full-report.pdf

3.

Diabetes Incidence and Prevalence, 1996-2015, Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences.

4.

Hux.J.E., Booth GL, Slaughter PM, Laupacis A, editors. Diabetes in Ontario: An ICES practice atlas. Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences; 2003.

5.

Region of Peel - Public Health. Diabetes in Peel: Looking forward. Using the diabetes population risk tool (DPoRT) 2.0 to predict diabetes in the Region of Peel using 2015/2016 Canadian Community Health Survey Data. Mississauga, ON: Region of Peel - Public Health; April 2019.