City Council Meeting Summary

Council added discussion items on home business hours and traffic congestion tied to construction, approved several procurement and budget items, heard delegations on home care and library services, and passed motions on healthcare advocacy, e-bike regulation, and staff reports on traffic management and home business operations.

Topics Discussed

1. Traffic congestion from construction and events

Councillor Rowena Santos added a discussion item on traffic flow and congestion caused by construction. She asked staff to report back on "what it is we're doing to deal with traffic flow in order to decrease congestion during construction periods" and to include "timing of light signals" and "options to even have a traffic ambassador during rush hour traffic in some of those pressure point areas."

Staff said the city has tools to adjust signal timing and is expanding its traffic management technology. Peter from staff said the system "gives us remote access so we can remotely change signal timing in real time," and added that an AI pilot project will test hardware with sensors able "to make real-time adjustments."

Santos said she wanted "everything summarized on what it is that we are doing right now to deal with construction season as well as the event season that's coming up proactively," particularly as more downtown roads are closed.

2. Home businesses operating late at night

Councillor Dennis Keenan raised concerns about the hours of operation for home businesses and asked staff to review whether limits should be recommended. Keenan said, "Home businesses are extremely important in our community and they need to stay. It's not something that we're trying to change, but the hours of which they are allowed to operate, I think, is something that we really need to look at."

He later moved that "staff report back on the hours of operation for home businesses and give recommendations to council," which council approved.

3. Healthcare and the second hospital

Council debated a motion urging the province and partner agencies not to delay Brampton's second hospital project. Santos tied the issue to overcrowding at Brampton Civic, saying, "In Brampton, we still have one full hospital, only one one emergency room," and called that situation "unacceptable" in a city of 800,000 people.

Mayor Patrick Brown supported sending a letter pressing for timelines, saying, "I think a letter to say we don't want any delays from the commitments made by the minister and the premier would be well served." He added that "any time there's any delay it makes me nervous."

Council approved a recorded vote motion directing Brown to write to the Ministry of Health, Infrastructure Ontario and William Osler Health Services seeking timing details and expedited construction.

4. Home care delegation referred to Peel Region

Council heard from Jacqueline Anderson of Nurse Jackie Home Care, who said, "The crisis is happening right now. Clients are refuses home making, laundry, meals and they're sometimes left alone and there's a shortage, a crisis of shortage in home care support worker."

Councillors discussed gaps in home support services and the limits of the city's role. Council approved forwarding the correspondence to Peel Region and directed staff to help the organization arrange delegations to Peel Region and the Health Systems Integration Committee.

5. Library services and expansion plans

Brampton Library CEO Todd Kyle updated council on branch usage and future projects. He said staff are "looking forward to continuing to work on the design of our new Chingacousy branch at Howden Community Center as well as the design of our new branch at Embleton."

Brown said the city should do more to publicize library programming, noting that after he attended a reading event, residents told him "they had no idea that happens and not just during book week, but all the time in our libraries."

Keenan praised the renovated branch at Susan Fennell Sportsplex, saying, "It is packed. It is so well used."

6. E-bike regulation

Council also backed a motion supporting provincial action on e-bike rules. Santos said e-bikes "continue to be a safety issue in our city" and asked the province to consider licensing, age, weight, speed and battery regulation.

Motions

Passed

• Consent motion approving:
  • Item 8.2.1: Street naming requests
  • Item 8.2.2: Special event road closures for community Garba street festival celebrations
  • Item 8.2.4: Transit goods and services procurement
  • Item 8.2.5: Budget amendment for traffic safety impacts related to automated speed enforcement transition
• Item 8.2.3: LED Signal Retrofit Program - request to begin procurement phase one
• Item 9.2.1: Joint Fire Communication Center - cost-share and lease agreements
• Item 9.2.2: Sandalwood Fieldhouse construction procurement
• Items 12.2.1 and 12.2.2: 2026 first quarter operating budget and reserves reports
• Motion to forward home care correspondence to the Region of Peel and direct staff to assist with delegations to Peel Region and the Health Systems Integration Committee
• Recorded vote motion directing Mayor Brown to send correspondence to the Ministry of Health, Infrastructure Ontario and William Osler Health Services regarding timing and expediting the second hospital project
• Motion supporting provincial e-bike legislation and regulation
• Motion directing staff to report back on hours of operation for home businesses
• Motion directing staff to report back on traffic flow and mitigation related to construction congestion
• Motion regarding CCT/CET-related scope, mandate and work plan review before funding release
• Motion to receive the Lagos delegation after reopening the agenda
• Item 15.1: Capital budget approval of $1,113,000 for development approval process technology, foundational implementation and modernization activities

Deferred / Referred

• Item 10.2.1: Administrative penalty system progress update was referred back to staff to explore maintaining virtual hearing options and report back at the next council meeting

Held for Debate

• Item 7.1: Government Relations Staff Update
• Item 8.2.3: LED Signal Retrofit Program - request to begin procurement phase one

Withdrawn

• Item 15.2

Attendees

Councillors identified in the meeting notes as present or participating: - Mayor Patrick Brown - Deputy Mayor Harkirat Singh - Councillor Dennis Keenan - Councillor Rowena Santos - Councillor Rod Power - Councillor Michael Palleschi - Councillor Martin Medeiros - Councillor Gurpartap Singh Toor