Regeneration Outreach is a group offering services to at-risk residents in Brampton based out of Grace United Church. (Photo: www.councillorsantos.ca)

Plans are moving ahead to bring a new hub for at-risk and homeless residents to Brampton, but it could take years for the up to $28 million facility to open.

Regeneration Outreach Community has operated out of Grace United Church at 156 Main St. North in downtown Brampton for some 15 years, but a plan to move the group to a new, yet-to-be-built facility on Rutherford Road was approved by Peel Region Council on Thursday.

And while approval to begin negotiations is a “positive step,” it could take years for the new 24/7 service hub to open, Ted Brown, CEO of Regeneration Outreach Community, says.

“The false illusion that some people may have is that this is going to happen overnight. This is going to be a process, and we’re hopefully going to see it proceed as quickly as possible,” Brown told INsauga.com.

He says the new location, currently the site of the old Brampton Fire and Emergency Services Station 201, is suitable for serving Regeneration’s clients, and that the group is “going to work with (the region) as much as we can, and hopefully we’ll see some great results over the next few years.”

The new 20,000 square-foot service hub would operate 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, “providing daytime drop-in services, social supports, and overnight accommodation” for individuals experiencing homelessness, a report reads.

The hub proposal doesn’t include long-term housing solutions, but would include a drop-in centre area, a food pantry, meals and eating areas, a kitchen, washrooms and showers, laundry facilities, a clinic, and a “Stay the Night” program for overnight stays.

It could cost between $24 million and $28 million for demolition of the old fire hall and construction of the new hub, with an annual operating cost of around $4.5 million. Some $600,000 in annual funding currently allocated to Regeneration would be redirected to the new hub, leaving a shortfall of $3.9 million per year “that will need to be added to the tax base in future budgets once the facility is constructed,” a report says.

Regeneration has been criticized by the city and some downtown residents who’ve said they’re dealing with public intoxication and drug use, prostitution, thefts, break-ins and robberies in the community – issues the city has said are up to Regeneration to fix.

The group has been sent at least two letters from the city threatening legal action, saying there were over 40 “incidents” calls from the area to 311 in all of 2024, compared to 145 between January and September of 2025. Police calls also trended upwards, with 393 incidents reported to Peel Regional Police in 2024.

Brown says the area doesn’t have the same level of issues during the colder months, but says Regeneration expects an “influx of transient people” as the weather improves.

“And it’s just figuring out and doing our best ahead of time before it happens,” Brown says. “We’re going to do our best to mitigate those issues that may pop up with the city.”


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