If you live in Mississauga, Brampton or Caledon, there’s a good chance you have used a Peel Region service without realizing it.

Peel Region is responsible for a surprisingly large number of services that residents use every day, from public health and paramedics to affordable housing, water, waste management, social services and transportation programs.

Now the region is hoping to make it easier for residents to find those services with a new virtual assistant on its website.

Peel Region launched the virtual assistant on Aug. 31, describing it as a digital helper designed to guide residents through the region’s programs and services and help them find the information they need.

One of its biggest advantages could be accessibility.

The assistant is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, in more than 30 languages, including English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Arabic, Hindi and Chinese.

It can also help visitors create a new My Account, which provides access to a variety of Peel Region online services, including the Affordable Transit Program, Peel Living services and water-bill payments.

The technology is being introduced as part of Peel Region’s broader effort to improve its digital services, but it also highlights a longstanding source of confusion for residents: exactly what does Peel Region do?

Peel Region is the upper-tier level of municipal government serving approximately 1.6 million people in Mississauga, Brampton and Caledon.

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The three municipalities handle many of the services people traditionally associate with their local government, such as roads, parks, recreation, planning and local bylaw enforcement.

Peel Region, meanwhile, is responsible for a range of larger-scale services that cross municipal boundaries.

Those include operating paramedic services and delivering public health programs, including disease prevention and immunization.

Peel also provides social assistance, affordable housing and homelessness services, including Peel Living, as well as children’s services and programs for seniors.

It is responsible for regional water and wastewater services and waste management, as well as emergency management and regional infrastructure planning.

Peel also plays a role in transportation, including programs designed to make transit more affordable for eligible residents.

In other words, a resident may never walk into a building labelled “Peel Region” but still interact with the regional government regularly.

That can make navigating the region’s website — and figuring out which level of government is responsible for a particular service — a challenge.

The new virtual assistant is intended to provide a starting point.

Rather than searching through Peel’s website for a particular department or program, residents can use the assistant to ask questions and be directed toward the appropriate information or service.

Peel says the virtual assistant has been developed with security controls and responsible artificial intelligence practices, with personal information protected during interactions.

“We continue implementing modern technology solutions to make access to Peel Region’s programs and services for residents and business faster and more efficient,” said Peter Parsan, Peel Region’s chief information officer.

“This innovative tool is a significant milestone in Peel Region’s digital transformation journey which will improve the overall digital service experience with Peel.”

The virtual assistant is part of the Service Excellence pillar of Peel Region’s Strategic Agenda for 2024-27.

For residents, however, its usefulness may come down to something much simpler: helping people figure out where to start when they need help.

And with more than 30 languages available, Peel hopes the new tool will make that starting point easier to find for a region that is home to residents from a wide range of linguistic and cultural backgrounds.


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