5 facts about Peel Region as Ontario drops plan to dissolve it

Ontario is scrapping its plan to dissolve Peel Region west of Toronto, citing concerns that it would lead to significant municipal tax hikes. The province says it will instead focus on finding efficiencies in the regional government and improving its services.

Here are five facts about the region:

A POPULOUS AREA: Peel Region is made up of three municipalities: the cities of Brampton and Mississauga and the town of Caledon. The region says on its website that it serves more than 1.5 million residents and 200,000 businesses.

THE ORIGINS OF THE NAME: According to the Region of Peel Archives, the region was named after Sir Robert Peel, who served as prime minister of the United Kingdom twice in the 19th century.

LONG HISTORY: Peel County was created in 1852 as part of the United Counties of York, Peel and Ontario. It separated from the York and Ontario counties in the 1860s, but it took more than a century for the county to become what is now Peel Region. According to the archives, provincial legislation dissolved the old County of Peel and replaced it with the Region of Peel in 1974.

REGIONAL GOVERNANCE: When the Region of Peel was created as an upper-tier municipality, its new regional government was given more responsibilities. By 2015 that included water delivery, public health, waste management, paramedic services, long-term care facilities and policing. Peel is currently governed by a regional chair and 24 members of council, representing Mississauga, Brampton, and Caledon. The three lower-tier municipalities handle responsibilities such as public transit, libraries, property assessment and tax collection.

THE DISSOLUTION CONTROVERSY: The province tabled legislation in May to break up Peel Region as of Jan. 1, 2025, saying it wanted to give municipalities the tools needed to support future population and housing growth, reduce duplication, lower the cost of government and speed up the delivery of services. Premier Doug Ford had also said that Mississauga and Brampton were large enough to stand on their own, but separating the two cities' assets and finances was always going to be messy. The housing minister on Wednesday said there was evidence that full dissolution would have led to higher taxes and a disruption of critical services but did not provide numbers or further evidence on his claims.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 13, 2023.