Learn About Peel Region

Peel Region is located immediately west of Toronto. It is made up of the  City of Mississauga, City of Brampton and Town of Caledon.

Peel Region is the second largest municipality in Ontario, with a population of more than 1.4 million people and 143,000 businesses in the cities of Brampton and Mississauga and the town of Caledon.

Peel Region has undergone a major transition during the past few decades. Rapid population growth and commercial development have transformed what was primarily a rural area of farms and villages into a dynamic blend of urban, industrial and residential areas. It is known for its large and vibrant newcomer community, with approximately half the residents being recent immigrants.

It has a good transportation infrastructure as it includes the Toronto Pearson International Airport and 7 major highways go through the region. There are colleges and a university in Peel Region.

According to the 2016 census, Peel’s key highlights on Income, Immigration and Ethnic Diversity and Housing include:

• Peel’s median household after-tax income was $75,667
• 51.5 percent of Peel’s population are immigrants
• 73.3 percent of Brampton’s population are visible minorities
• 35.5 percent of Peel’s recent immigrants were born in India
• 31.8 percent of Peel households spend 30 percent or more of income on shelter costs
• 13.9 percent of Peel’s tenant households live in subsidized housing 12.6 percent of all dwellings built in Brampton were constructed between 2011 and 2016
• 65.3 percent of Peel’s renters live in Mississauga

The 2 largest employers in Peel Region are the school boards: the Peel District School Board and the Dufferin-Peel Separate (Catholic) School Board. Each of these School Boards reports that it has approximately 10,000 employees employed across Peel. The top 5 businesses (measured by number of employees 1000+) in the City of Brampton and the Town of Caledon were Rogers Communication, Chrysler Canada, Loblaw Company Limited, Maple Lodge Farms and Canadian Tire Corporation distribution center. In Caledon, the top 1000+ employers were Husky Injection Molding Systems Limited followed by Mars Canada Inc. and Town of Caledon. It should be noted however, that many Peel Region residents work in other parts of the Greater Toronto Area.

There are a number of public holidays that are observed in Ontario. Depending on your job, you may not get some of these holidays off.

Migrating to a new country can be exciting but at the same time quite stressful. Read some of the real life settlement experiences of newcomers.

Canada is famous for its different weather patterns. There are 4 distinct seasons:

Spring

Starts in late March and runs until mid June. Spring is usually a rainy season and the temperatures are cool but sunny. Trees begin to bloom in spring and plants and flowers begin to grow.

Summer

Runs from mid June until late September. Summer weather starts off warm but gets very hot in July and August. By September, it starts to cool down.

Region of Peel has excellent information on being safe in Extreme Hot Weather and Sun Safety.

Fall

This is the shortest season, running from late September to late November. The weather starts to cool down and the leaves on the trees change colours to red, yellow and orange before they fall off the trees to prepare for winter.

Winter

The longest season of the year, winter runs from late November to late March. Winters are cold and snowy and it’s important to get warm winter clothing to wear when you are outdoors. If you are driving in the winter, you must be extra careful because the roads can be icy and slippery.

Region of Peel has excellent information on being safe in Extreme Cold Weather.

Additional information

Environment Canada has a very useful website to help you understand the daily weather forecast and see the daily weather listings for:

• Mississauga
• Brampton
• Caledon