Essential English phrases

Mississauga, shortened. Universal locally and in the city's own marketing. Saying the full four syllables marks you out as new faster than anything else.

The area code ringing the city of Toronto, used as shorthand for the suburban GTA — Mississauga, Brampton, Markham, Oakville. Contrasted with 'the 416', meaning Toronto proper. It is a cultural and political label as much as a phone prefix.

Hazel McCallion, mayor from 1978 to 2014 and known as Hurricane Hazel. She died in 2023 aged 101 and her name is on the light rail line, a campus and a hospital wing. Older residents date everything by her.

The Region of Peel, the upper-tier government you also live under. It runs your water, your public health and your paramedics; the City runs your roads, parks, library and transit. Getting this wrong is why your call goes unanswered.

The second-largest shopping centre in Canada and, for want of a traditional main street, the de facto town square. It anchors City Centre, where most of the condo towers are, and locals give directions from it.

Ontario highways take a definite article. The 401 is the continent's busiest motorway and it runs straight through the city; the QEW is the Queen Elizabeth Way along the lake. Nobody says 'Highway 401'.

The tolled express route across the top of the city, privately operated with no booths and no barriers. Cameras read your plate and a bill arrives weeks later. Drifting onto it by accident is the classic newcomer's expensive mistake.

The regional fare card. It works on MiWay, GO, the TTC and the other GTA systems, and since the One Fare programme began in 2024 it also makes the transfer between them free rather than a second full fare.

The city's bus network, including a dedicated busway running beside Highway 403. It is the City's, not the Region's, and it is separate from the TTC — but One Fare joins them.

The pharmaceutical and life-sciences cluster in the north of the city — AstraZeneca, Amgen, Roche and several hundred others. The nickname is decades old and the sector has long since outgrown it.

GO Transit, the provincial commuter rail and coach network. Lakeshore West through Port Credit and Clarkson runs frequently all day; the Milton line through the north of the city is peak-only and in one direction, which decides where a lot of people live.

Social Insurance Number. No employer can put you on payroll without one. Free, from Service Canada, and usually issued during the visit if you attend in person.

Coffee with two creams and two sugars, ordered at Tim Hortons. Understood in every drive-through in the country and worth knowing before your first one.

Police, fire and ambulance. 811 is Health811, the provincial nurse line; 311 reaches the City for anything municipal.