Brampton

The story of Brampton Ontario began with John Elliott, a settler from the Cumbrian countryside just outside the small market town of Brampton England. In the 1820’s he began selling lots from a 100 acre property he owned in Peel County, just northwest of present day Toronto. By 1853 enough people had put down roots in the area that it could be incorporated as a village. In 1856 the railway came through and 10 years later Brampton was elected the county seat for Peel. The population swelled to “Town” status by 1873 and it would remain that way for the next century.

In 1974, with the creation of the Peel Regional Municipality, Brampton was restructured to include portions of the surrounding Chinguacousy, Mississauga, and Toronto Gore townships, becoming an official City in the process. As a result a number of smaller existing communities were annexed, most notably Bramalea – Canada’s first planned satellite city. Today Brampton is one of Canada’s fastest growing cities with a population expected to double in the next two decades. The economy is grounded firmly in the manufacturing sector and the environment is increasingly suburban as the city is slowly engulfed by the sprawl of the GTA (Greater Toronto Area).