Brampton City Council is down one member after the surprise resignation of Pat Fortini, who represented Wards 7 and 8 for more than a decade.

Fortini was first elected in the 2014 Brampton municipal election, and was voted in two more times in 2018 and 2022, serving as a Regional Councillor.

And while he was one of the first members of Brampton councillors to sign up for re-election in the upcoming 2026 municipal race, Fortini pulled out on the final day of the deadline. The now-former councillor confirmed to INsauga.com that he made the decision to pull out of the race after months of discussions with his wife.

But Fortini is still in for an election race, just not in Brampton.

He is now one of four candidates seeking a seat on Caledon Town Council in Ward 4, after incumbent local councillor Nick de Boer declined to run again.

“I want to make things nice and clear,” Fortini said in a conversation with INsauga.com about his decision to step down in Brampton. “I’ll resign my seat, take my name off the ballot (in Brampton).”

Fortini told INsauga.com that he’s owned property in Caledon since 1996, and owns two other properties in the Brampton area. He’s moving his primary residence to Caledon, and staying on in Brampton until the new council is sworn in “wasn’t right.”

READ MORE: Changes made to Brampton election candidate list at deadline

“So I said ‘I’m going to resign my seat,’ that way I’m not on the payroll,” he told INsauga.com. “It’s not right that I live up in Caledon and be a councillor here.”

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Fortini stepped down earlier this week, according to a letter on the agenda for an upcoming special meeting of Brampton City Council.

“As per our discussion this morning, I hereby tendering my resignation of my seat as a regional Councillor, City of Brampton effectively today August 25th 2026 at 11:59 p.m.,” the letter from Fortini reads. “I’m also copying this notice of resignation to the regional of peel and city of Brampton HR.”

To run for a position on council, you must be eligible to vote in that municipality, according to the province’s rules. If a  municipality has wards, residents can run in any ward and you do not have to live in a particular ward to be its councillor. A resident elector is an eligible voter who lives in a municipality, while non-resident electors can own or rent property in a municipality where they don’t primarily live.

Ontario residents can be a non-resident elector in any municipality where they own or rent property.

Staying in politics, but just not in Brampton, will give Fortini a chance to work on issues in Caledon – like the town’s ongoing struggles against illegal trucking operations.

Members of Brampton City Council make a base salary of $98,066, while Caledon councillors currently make $54,437. That number is scheduled to increase to $62,656 for the 2026-2030 term of council, according to town documents.

“I don’t mind serving, it’s a smaller community and I’ve always loved Caledon,” he says. “It gives me something to do and it’s not about the money for me.”

The seat Fortini leaves behind in Brampton he seeks election in Caledon has six contenders – local dentist Aman Sharma, Anil Sahajpal, Vedaant Vyas, Cynthia Sri Pragdash, Christopher Soranno, and Fortini’s now-former council colleague and ward partner, Coun. Rod Power.

Power is currently the city councillor for Wards 7 and 8, but switched to the regional race after Fortini backed out. If elected in the October race, this will be Power’s second term on council.

Fortini proposed the Peel Memorial Centre tax levy, and was part of a bloc of councillors who sparred with Mayor Patrick Brown and skipped meetings over what they called “authoritarian” conditions.

Update: An earlier version of this story said Fortini owned 200, not two, properties in Brampton.


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