Brampton, Ontario

Brampton (pronounced /ˈbræmptən/ or /ˈbræmtən/) is a city in the GTA of Ontario, Canada and the seat of Peel Region. As of the 2006 census, Brampton's population stood at 433,806.^[1] As one of Canada's fastest growing municipalities, the city has found it difficult to cope with such significant growth, in terms of the provision of adequate public infrastructure and services. It celebrated its sesquicentennial anniversary in 2003, marking 150 years since its incorporation as a village in 1853, taking its name from the rural town of Brampton, Cumbria, England.

Brampton was once known as The Flowertown of Canada, a title it earned due to the city's large greenhouse industry, which included Dale's Flowers, a company that won many international rose awards for nearly half a century.

The city is home to Canadian Forces Army Reserve unit The Lorne Scots (Peel, Dufferin and Halton Regiment).

[edit] History

Image:John Haggert.gif

John Haggert, Brampton's first mayor

Main article: History of Brampton, Ontario

See also: List of mayors of Brampton, Ontario, Brampton Fall Fair, and Brampton Library

Prior to 1834, the only building of consequence at the corner of Main and Queen streets, the recognized centre of Brampton, was William Buffy's tavern. In fact, at the time, the area was referred to as "Buffy's Corners". All real business in Chinguacousy Township took place 1 mile distant at Martin Salisbury's tavern. By 1834, John Elliott laid out the area in lots for sale, and applied the name "Brampton" to the area, which was soon adopted by others.^[2]

In 1853, a small agricultural fair was set up by the then-new County Agricultural Society of the County of Peel, and was held at the corner of Main and Queen streets. Grains, produce, roots, and dairy products were up for sale, a precursor of today's Brampton Farmers' Market. Horses and cattle, along with other lesser livestock was sold at market. This agricultural fair eventually became the modern Brampton Fall Fair. In that same year Brampton was incorporated as a village.^[2]

A federal grant allowed the village to create its first public library in 1887, which included 360 volumes from the pre-existing Mechanic's Institute (est 1858). In 1907, the library successfully received a grant from steel magnate Andrew Carnegie to build a new multi-person building, featuring a library. See Brampton Library.

A group of regional farmers in Brampton had trouble getting insurance from city-based companies. After several meetings in Clairville Hall, it was decided that they should found the County of Peel Farmers Mutual Fire Insurance Company. In 1955, the company moved to its third and current location, 103 Queen Street West, and renamed itself Peel Mutual Insurance Company. It reigns as the longest running company in modern Brampton. Harmsworth Decorating Centre was established in 1890, as Harmsworth and Son, operated out of the family's house on Queen Street West. The store purchased its current location on September 1, 1904, after a fire destroyed their original store. Purchased for $1400, the 24 Main Street South location is the longest operating retail business in what is now Brampton.

[edit] Neighbouring Bramalea created

Image:Brampton City Hall.jpg

Brampton's City Hall

Created as an innovative "new town", Bramalea was developed as a separate community, approximately 40 kilometres northwest of Toronto.

Located in the former Chinguacousy Township, it was Canada's first satellite community developed by one of the country's largest real estate developers, Bramalea Limited, formerly known as Brampton Leasing. The name "Bramalea" was created by the farmer William Sheard, who integrated the BRAM from Brampton, MAL from Malton (A neighbouring region), and the EA from his own farm; SunnymEAd Farms. He sold the land to Brampton Leasing developers and built one of Bramalea's first houses on Dixie Road across from the former headquarters of Nortel. The community had an extensive Master Plan, which included provisions for a parkland trail system and a "downtown", which would include essential services and a shopping centre. The downtown area's centrepiece was the Civic Centre, which included the city hall and library. Directly across Team Canada Drive from the Civic Centre, Bramalea Limited built a shopping centre named Bramalea City Centre. The two centrepieces were connected by a long underground tunnel, which has long since been closed due to safety issues. Other features included a police station, fire hall, bus terminal, and a collection of seniors' retirement homes.

Each phase of the new city was built with progressing first letters of street names. Development started with the "A" section, with street names like Argyle, Avondale, and Aloma. Developer then created a "B" section, "C" section, and so forth. Children on the boundaries of these divisions would regularly compete in street hockey games, pitting, for example, the "D" section versus the "E" section.

The community was also initially developed with a large number of recreational facilities, including tennis courts, playgrounds, hockey/lacrosse rinks and swimming pools. An extensive parkland trail and sidewalk system that connects the entire city, amplifying what Brampton already had in a smaller scale.

[edit] Region of Peel

In 1974, the Ontario government decided to update Peel County's structure. Along with amalgamating a series of villages into the City of Mississauga, the new City of Brampton was created out of the greater portion of the Townships of Chinguacousy and Toronto Gore, including Bramalea and the other communities in those townships. The province converted Peel County into the Regional Municipality of Peel. Brampton retained its role as the administrative centre of Peel Region, which it already had as county seat. The regional council chamber, the Peel Regional Police force, the public health department, and the region's only major museum, the Peel Heritage Complex, are all located in Brampton.

This move was not met with open arms. Bramptonians feared urban sprawl would dissolve their town's personality, and Bramalea residents took pride in the built from scratch and organized structure that came with a new city. Many residents of the former community of Bramalea do not classify themselves as Brampton residents.^{[citation needed]}

In 1972, Bramalea created its civic centre. Two years after it was built, when Brampton and Bramalea merged, the new city's council chambers and other facilities were created in the building, moving from the town of Brampton's modest downtown locale. The library systems of Brampton and Bramalea became one, creating a system of four locations.

The future of Peel Region as encompassing all of Brampton, Mississauga, and Caledon, has been called into question by some. Mississauga council, led by Mayor Hazel McCallion, voted in favour of becoming a single tier municipality and asked the provincial government to be separated from Peel Region, arguing that the city has outgrown the need for a regional layer of government and that Mississauga is now being held back by supporting Brampton and Caledon with its municipal taxes.

[edit] Development of Brampton as a city

In the 1980s, the Capitol Theatre, then owned by Odeon, closed its doors. The City bought the facility in 1981, under the spearhead of then-councillor Diane Sutter, turning the former movie house and vaudevillian stage into a theatre for the musical and performing arts. It was renamed the Heritage Theatre. In 1983, Toronto consultants Woods Gordon reported to the City that, rather than continue "pouring money" into the Heritage, a new 750-seat facility should be built. The 2005/06 season was designated as the theatre's "grand finale" season, and the new Rose Theatre opened in September 2006.

The early 1990s brought a new city hall to Brampton's downtown. The facility was designed by local architects and constructed by Inzola Construction.

The Brampton Fair Grounds were sold in 1992 to the City of Brampton, leading the Agricultural Society to relocate to Heart Lake Road and Old School Road (outside the boundaries of the city) in 1997.

The Health Services Restructuring Commission (HSRC) decided in 1997 that Georgetown and District Memorial Hospital, Etobicoke General Hospital and Peel Memorial Hospital amalgamate into the William Osler Health Centre, becoming what now is the province's 6th largest hospital corporation. In early 2006, the Brampton campus of the William Osler Health Centre was renamed back to Peel Memorial Hospital, as residents continued to use the old name, a cause of much confusion. On October 28, 2007 at 6am Brampton Civic Hospital opened its doors while Peel Memorial Hospital closed for renovations.

[edit] Current events

Image:North brampton hospital in the works.jpg

Bird’s eye view looking north-westward at the development of the new Brampton hospital. Photo by MPP Linda Jeffrey.

A new hospital is being built in north Brampton, to supplement the Peel Memorial Hospital.

Brampton's 2003 Sesquicentennial celebrations were a booster to community spirit, restarting the tradition of a summer parade (with 100 floats), and creating other initiatives. To commemorate the Flowertown history, the city under Mayor Fennell reintroduced floral projects to the community, including more plantings around town, the restart of the Flowercity Parade in 2005, and participation for the last few years in the Canada Communities in Bloom project.

Image:Apr 21 ontario place punjabi virsa miss brampton.JPG

Miss Brampton and Punjabi Virsa Art & Culture Academy, before a bhangra performance at Ontario Place.

With a growing multicultural population, the Peel Board of Education introduced evening English as a Second Language (ESL) classes at high schools. Originally taught by volunteers, the classes eventually became daytime courses taught by paid instructors. In the 1980s, the public and Catholic board expanded its languages programs, offering night classes in 23 languages. These were introduced by the urging of parents who wanted their children to learn their ancestral heritage and language.

Carabram was founded in 1982, after volunteers from different ethnic communities wanted to organize a festival celebrating diversity and cross-cultural friendship. With a name based on Toronto like-event, Caravan Festival of Cultures, Carabram's first event included Italian, Scottish, Ukrainian, and West Indian pavilions. By 2003, forty-five-thousand visitors visited 18 pavilions. Canada itself had an anchor pavilion in the late-1980s and early-1990s, and this past year for Carabram's 25th Anniversary, it was included once more.

[edit] Geography and climate

Brampton has a total land area of 265 square kilometres. The City of Brampton is bordered by Highway 50 (Vaughan) to the East, Winston Churchill Boulevard (Halton Hills) to the West, Mayfield Road (Caledon) to the North (except for a small neighbourhood, Snelgrove, which is part of Brampton despite extending somewhat north of Mayfield Road) and the Hydro Corridor (Mississauga) to the South.^[3]

Bramalea was built as a "satellite city", Canada's first when built in the 1960s. It was annexed into Brampton in 1974, but still remains essentially autonomous in spirit, with even new residents responding that they live in Bramalea. Chinguacousy and Toronto Gore were two townships incorporated into Brampton mid-way through the twentieth century. From this merger, communities such as Bramalea, Heart Lake and Professor's Lake, Snelgrove, Tullamore, and Mayfield, were formed.

Rural villages, such as Claireville, Ebenezer, Victoria, Springbrook, Churchville, Coleraine, and Huttonville were merged into the larger city. While only Huttonville and Churchville still exist as identifiable communities, other names like Claireville are re-emerging as names of new developments.

The early 1980s brought new development, as the city released large tracts of land to residential developers. The large new suburban community of Springdale was developed in 1995 and is the area where most of the urban sprawl has taken place. This land began in its largest boom in 1999, when development started to appear as far north as the city's border with Caledon. The Region has designated this border as being the line of demarcation for urban development until 2021. However, neighbouring communities not part of Peel have also been massively affected by the city's sudden spurt. The end of Brampton and start of Georgetown, for example, is essentially non-identifiable.

[edit] Demographics

Numbers are according to StatCan research and include multiple responses.^[4]
Ethnic Origin	Population	Percent
Canadian	69,485	21.42%
English	55,540	17.12%
Indian	54,900	17.03%
Scottish	37,050	11.42%
Irish	35,735	11.01%
Italian	25,775	7.94%
Jamaican	18,890	5.82%
Portuguese	17,865	5.50%
French	17,455	5.38%
German	14,520	4.48%

[edit] Ethnicity

The City of Brampton has long been considered one of Canada's fastest growing communities. Brampton's recent exponential growth in population is due primarily to immigration. The City of Brampton has a fast growing South Asian presence. Between 1996 and 2001, the South Asian population grew from 34,000 to 63,000. Visible minorities comprise 40.16% of Brampton's population, and persons of Aboriginal-Identity comprise 0.53% of the city's population.^[5]

[edit] Religion

Some 67.78 percent of Brampton claimed various Christian denominations. The largest was Roman Catholicism (35.11%), followed by various Protestant denominations Anglican, United Church, Lutheran, at (27.96%), while the remaining numbers of Christians (4.70%) consists mostly of the Eastern Orthodox rite. Other religions with a notable presence include Sikhism (10.63%), Hinduism (5.43%), and Islam (3.53%). More than 10 percent of the population have no religion.^[6]

[edit] Population growth

1858: 50
1922: 8,000 (according to Celebrating 150 Years)
1949: 6,000 (according to Brampton: An Illustrated History)
1959: 14,500
1963: 26,363
1967: 37,701
1978: 95,000
1983: 165,000
1985: 180,000
2001: 325,428
2006: 433,806^[1]
2007: 452,000 (according to sign entering Brampton on Highway 410)

These numbers are of the population of Brampton proper and do not include areas that were later annexed by Brampton prior to the expansion of municipal boundaries.

Generally speaking, the GTA has spawned growth in all its neighbouring bedroom communities (Pickering, Ajax and Whitby to the east, Markham, Richmond Hill and Vaughan to the north, and Brampton and Mississauga to the west) since the early 1980s, due to a number of converging factors including an exponential rise in the cost of real estate within the city and high property and corporate taxes. Due to Toronto's high cultural diversity and infrastructure (including public transit), it is a leading destination for emigration, which continues to drive demand for living space, thus buoying the real estate market.

Brampton, with its proximity to the Pearson International Airport and road infrastructure, population growth, cost of land, and more favourable corporate tax structure, has become a prime location for corporate head offices, factories, warehouses, etc., as well as the typical domestic goods and services required to provide for the population.

[edit] Economy

Major companies in Brampton include Brafasco, Ford, Rogers Communications, Nortel, Para Paints, Coca-Cola Bottling, Nestlé, DaimlerChrysler Canada Ltd., Maple Lodge Farms, Hudson Bay Companies, Loblaw Companies Ltd., Frito Lay Canada, MD Robotics, Parkinson Coach Line,Canadian Tire and Hbc (Hudson's Bay Company)

[edit] Education

Besides private post-secondary facilities, Brampton's only place of higher education is Sheridan College. Also with a campus in Oakville, Sheridan's "Davis Campus" primarily focusing on education for the business world and for trades.

Local high schools include Bramalea, Brampton Centennial, Cardinal Leger, Central Peel, Chinguacousy, Fletcher's Meadow, Harold M. Brathwaite, Heart Lake, North Park, North Peel, Notre Dame,Sandalwood Height's Secondary School, St. Augustine, St. Edmund Campion, St. Marguerite d'Youville, St. Thomas Aquinas,Turner Fenton (Canada's only campus-based high school) and Mayfield Secondary School (Bramptons first fine arts school, as well as the city's number one sports destination).

[edit] Culture

There are several cultural entities in the city under the umbrella of the Brampton Arts Council. These include Visual Arts Brampton, the Brampton Historical Society and the Brampton Symphony Orchestra. Also in the city is the Peel Heritage Complex, which is run by the Region of Peel.

The Rose Theatre (originally the Brampton Performing Arts Centre), billed as "a cultural and tourist destination that will attract significant new business to surrounding restaurants, shops and services", opened in September 2006. The City says that the facilities are expected to generate $2.7 million in economic activity the first year and grow to $19.8 million by the fifth year. This is predicted to attract more than 55,000 visitors annually who will spend about $275,000 on before and after-show entertainment, creating close to 300 permanent jobs. Despite the great promises, this project is the source of much cynicism among the community. Many have questioned the need for a larger facility, as the current Heritage Theatre rarely reaches capacity, and a great deal of residents don't meet the prime theatre-going audience profile.

Major shopping areas include Bramalea City Centre, Shoppers World, and "big box centre" Trinity Common Mall. The downtown area has some retail, the Centennial Mall and the Brampton Mall are also of note.

[edit] Media

Brampton was one of the first areas Rogers Cable offered its service in. As a result, it started a community access channel in the 1970s, which is still operational today. While some programs on the channel are produced in their Brampton studios, most are headquartered out of their Mississauga location.

The Brampton Guardian is the community's only newspaper after Brampton's original newspaper The Daily Times stop circulation in the early 1980s. For a little over a year, The Brampton Bulletin attempted to challenge the Guardian, but it was dismantled after a series of editor changes.

[edit] Sports and recreation

Main article: Sports in Brampton, Ontario

Sports teams of Brampton
Club	League	Sport	Venue	Established	Championships
Brampton Battalion	OHL	hockey	Powerade Centre	1998	0
Brampton Capitals	Ontario Jr. A OHA	hockey	Brampton Memorial Arena	1984	4
Bramalea Blues	Ontario Provincial Junior A Hockey League Tier II Junior "A"	hockey	Victoria Park Arena	1972	1
Brampton Excelsiors	Major Series Lacrosse Senior "A" Lacrosse League.	lacrosse	Powerade Centre	1912	30
Brampton Thunder	Canadian Women's Hockey League	hockey	Powerade Centre	1999	0
Junior Excelsiors	OLA Junior A Lacrosse League	lacrosse	Brampton Memorial Arena	1971	4

There are many sporting venues and activities including the outdoor ice path for skating through Gage Park and the ski lift at Chinguacousy Park. In the summer amateur softball leagues abound and crowds line the beaches at Professor's Lake.

Every year, since 1967, the Brampton Canadettes host the Brampton Canadettes Easter Tournament [1] women's and girls' hockey teams invade Brampton for 3 1/2 days of head-to-head competition. Teams of all ages and categories from across Canada and the United States compete in this annual tournament. Teams from England, Switzerland, Japan, Kazakhstan and Russia attend this international tournament.

Thousands of players and spectators will pass through the doors during the tournament. There is no limit on the number of teams in a division.

The Intermediate AA and Midget AA divisions are highly scouted by local and American colleges and universities seeking recruits for varsity teams. Teams from as far as Alaska and Calgary, Quebec and Carolina, Michigan and Minnesota, as well as virtually all hockey centres in Ontario will compete in a minimum of 3 games each over the course of the tournament. Including championship finals, over 600 games are played in just 3½ days. For the best in hockey tournament competition, Brampton is second-to-none in the world of women's and girls' hockey.

[edit] Infrastructure

[edit] Health and medicine

Main articles: Brampton Civic Hospital and Peel Memorial Hospital

[edit] Transportation

Main article: Transportation in Brampton, Ontario

[edit] Public transit network

Main articles: Brampton Transit and GO Transit

Local transit is provided by Brampton Transit, with connections to other systems such as Mississauga Transit, York Region Transit, and Toronto Transit Commission. Brampton is currently planning a new Bus Rapid Transit system, called Acceleride along Main/Hurontario and Queen Streets, which would form the backbone to its bus network. Acceleride received funding from the provincial government in 2006 to begin implementation of this system.

Both Canadian National Railways and the Orangeville-Brampton Railway short line (formerly part of the Canadian Pacific Railway line) run through the city, CN's Intermodal Yards are located east of Airport Road between Steeles and the former Highway 7/Queen Street East. The CN Track from Toronto's Union Station, is the Georgetown GO Transit Rail Corridor providing commuter rail and bus services to and from Toronto with rail station stops at Bramalea, Downtown Brampton, and Mount Pleasant. There is GO Bus service to York University and subway stations at Yorkdale Mall and York Mills in Toronto. VIA Rail connects through Brampton as part of the Quebec City-Windsor Corridor.

[edit] Airports

Canada's busiest airport, Toronto Pearson International Airport (CYYZ), is located near Brampton, in Mississauga.^[7] For general aviation the city is served by the privately-owned Brampton Airport (CNC3), located to the north of the city in neighbouring Caledon.

[edit] Road network

See also: Municipal expressways in Brampton, Ontario

Brampton is served by several major transportation routes: Highway 401 from Toronto is a short distance south in Mississauga, and can be reached by Highway 410, which runs north-south through the middle of the city. Highway 407 runs along the southern portion of the city, just north of the boundary with Mississauga. Steeles Avenue, which runs north of the 407, is another thoroughfare from Toronto. The former Highway 7 (now Regional Road 107 in Brampton) is another east-west corridor, (actually two, as it incorporates the eastern part of Queen Street and the western part of Bovaird Drive.

[edit] Sister cities

Image:Wikinews-logo.svg

Wikinews has related news:

Brampton, Canada and Marikina, Philippines seeing double as cities twin

Image:Flag of the United States.svg Plano, Texas [2]
Image:Flag of the Philippines.svg Marikina City, Philippines [3]

[edit] Notable Bramptonians

[edit] Sportspeople

Image:Rick Nash.jpg

Rick Nash in 2006, playing for the Columbus Blue Jackets, versus Vancouver.

NHLers Rick Nash, Andrew Cassels, Jamie Storr, Kris Newbury, Todd Elik, and Luciano Borsato are from Brampton, as is TSN and NBC play-by-play announcer and author Chris Cuthbert. Brampton-born Cassie Campbell was captain of the 2002 and 2006 Canadian national women's hockey team, and has since become a Hockey Night in Canada personality, while Bernadette Bowyer played for the Canadian field hockey team at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. Professional soccer players Atiba Hutchinson (FC Copenhagen) and Paul Stalteri (Tottenham Hotspur), NCAA football defensive end Jamaal Westerman^[8], as well as Olympian high-jumper Mark Boswell are locals.

[edit] Politicians

Three Canadian premiers got their start in Brampton; Premiers T.C. Norris and Howard Pawley OC of Manitoba, and "Brampton Billy", Ontario premier William Grenville Davis CC. Other notable politicians include John Coyne, Gordon Graydon. Alberta politician Sir James A. Lougheed was also from Brampton.

See also: Brampton City Council

[edit] The arts

Rohinton Mistry
Edo Van Belkom
David Feiss, creator of Cow and Chicken and I Am Weasel
Watercolourist Jack Reid
Little X, music video director

[edit] Actors and comedians

Michael Cera born and raised in Brampton is a rising star. He has been a regular on the note worthy series Arrested Development, and most recently starred in the very popular movies Superbad and Juno.

Image:Aaron Ashmore, 2006.jpg

Actor Aaron Ashmore.

Two notable comedians hail from Brampton, Scott Thompson and Russell Peters. Thompson, one of the first openly-gay television personalities in Canada, was part of the Kids in the Hall comedy troupe. Peters is an increasing popular stand-up comedian who was raised in town, and has now moved back, after winning a Gemini Award for his Comedy Now! special. Michael Cera (Arrested Development) and Paulo Costanzo (Joey) are both best known for playing lead characters in television sitcoms.

Alan Thicke (Growing Pains, Thicke of the Night) grew up in Brampton. Shawn Ashmore (X-Men movie series, Terry Fox in Terry) and his twin brother Aaron Ashmore (Smallville) are Brampton-raised. Tyler Labine is another young, locally-raised actor, having starred in Invasion. Police Academy series star George R. Robertson won a Gemini Award in 2004 for his Humanitarian work.

Other Brampton-born or affiliated actors include Andrew Bednarski (Katts and Dog), Johanna Black (Entourage, Night of the Living Dead 3D, Punk'd season 7 "field agent"), Joanne Boland (Slings and Arrows, Train 48), Kris Lemche (Joan of Arcadia), Sabrina Grdevich (Traders), Nicole Lyn (Student Bodies, married to Dulé Hill), Brenna O'Brien (InuYasha, Zixx: Level Two), Lynley Swain, and film director Mark Penney.

[edit] Musicians

Keshia Chante was raised in Brampton^{[citation needed]} before making it big as a pop and R&B singer. Composer and musician Friendly Rich, and bands The Junction and Moneen are from Brampton, as is Jason Collett, member of Broken Social Scene. Heavy metal and jazz artist Lee Aaron also has connections with Brampton. Gospel singer Karen Burke, cofounder of the Toronto Mass Choir, has been living in Brampton for many years.

[edit] Others

Robert William Bradford C.M., former director of the Canada Aviation Museum
Nathaniel Branden, psychotherapist, best known as a former associate of Ayn Rand and founder of the Nathaniel Branden Institute
Malgosia Majewska, Miss World Canada 2006

[edit] Notes

^ ^a ^b 2006 Statistics Canada data on Brampton, Ontario
^ ^a ^b "Brampton's Beginning" in Brampton's 100th Anniversary as an Incorporated Town: 1873-1973, Brampton: The Corporation of the Town of Brampton and the Brampton Centennial Committee, 1973, originally published in Ross Cumming, ed., Historical Atlas of Peel County, n.p.: Walker and Miles, 1877.
^ Brampton Market Profile (pdf)
^ 2001 Statistic Canada census figures for ethnicity (Multiple responses included)
^ Statistics Canada Census 2001 - Community Profile for Brampton.
^ 2001 Statistics Canada census figures for religion
^ Greater Toronto Airports Authority draft plan for Pickering Airport, Greater Toronto Airports Authority (2003). Retrieved on 2006-12-08.
^ Campbell, Mogan. "Local boy not quite local enough for the CFL", Toronto Star, 2008-01-03. Retrieved on 2008-01-03.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links