MoveIn Status:
Praying for a team.

Firsthand:
There are many people from Pakistan and India living in this patch and the surrounding area. A woman said she likes the neighbourhood because people help each other out and there are schools close by.

The Landscape:
This patch includes apartment buildings on both sides of the intersection at Erindale Station Road and Forestwood Drive in Mississauga. Westdale Mall is adjacent to the patch in the southwest. Many people live in the Forestwood Co-op (subsidized apartment units), which is very close to the patch.

The Shalimar Mosque Complex at Cederglen Gate is an important gathering place for the many in the Forestwood Drive patch, as well as other surrounding neighbourhoods.

The Woodlands High school, which includes Grades 7 and 8, has over 1300 students - including youth from this patch. The facility has 12 portables.¹

The People:
Kids from the patch attend McBride Public School, which has approximately 570 students and was opened in 1973. In 2008, the school hired a settlement worker that helps students who are newcomers get oriented. The school has an annual multicultural night.²

In the wider neighbourhood that the Forestwood Dr. patch belongs to:³

• In 2006, 21% of the population was 14 or under, compared to Toronto average of 16%
• Married couples lead 81% of families, as compared to the Toronto average of 75%
• 65% of residents have a mother tongue other than English or French
• Immigrants comprise 65% of residents. Of those, 43% arrived before 1991, and a further 34% arrived between 1991 and 2000.
• This is not a transient neighbourhood - 65% of Forestwood residents lived at the same address 5 years ago.
• Around 49% of residents over the age of 15 have a postsecondary certificate, diploma or degree - 59% of them received their degrees outside of Canada.
• The 2006 unemployment rate was 10.6% compared to the Toronto average of 6.7%.
• 65% of residents were visible minorities, the largest group by far was South Asian.
• In 2006, only 22% of residents were considered to have low before tax incomes as compared to 18% in the rest of Toronto.

The History:
The Forestwood Drive patch lies in what used to be the village of Erindale. In 1822, Thomas Racey, a land speculator, bought land to build a sawmill and establish a village on the east bank of the Credit River. Racey sold the land to settlers in 1827 and a thriving village called “Toronto” soon developed around mills, farms, a post office, a chair factory, a brewery, and taverns. The Credit Valley Railway opened a station on Erindale Station Road in 1879. Unfortunately the village was not on the Great Western Railway so it did not prosper as quickly as villages to the south. The village became known as Springfield and in 1890, was renamed Erindale after the estate of Rev. James McGrath, the first minister of St. Peter’s Anglican Church who helped settle the area. St. Peter’s Anglican Church, which began in 1828, is on a hill overlooking the Erindale community.⁴ The church has a strong history of being involved in their community which today includes a food bank, ministry to refugees, and a parish nurse.⁵

The Challenge:
The Forestwood Drive patch is like an island of need within the larger City of Mississauga. Will you consider moving in to share Christ’s love?

Sources:
¹ The Woodlands School
² McBride Public School
³ Statistics Canada 2006 Census tract profile 0520.01 (CT), Toronto (CMA) and Ontario
⁴ Heritage Mississauga
⁵ St. Peter’s Anglican Church