Updates to a development proposal could bring a new community of more than 100 townhouses to Brampton, with half of them planned as affordable housing units for lower-income residents.

Plans for the development at the corner of Beech Street and Church Street in Brampton go back to 2023, when Brampton City Council approved an application for a 14-storey apartment building with 273 units and three blocks of stacked back-to-back townhouses with 50 units.

But the proposal has since changed to remove the apartment tower in favour of a 13-block community of back-to-back stacked townhouses.

The development will have 104 homes, including 52 affordable housing units, according to an updated development application. The site is approximately 9217 square metres, and the townhouses would have a height up to four storeys. More than 20 per cent of the development will be landscaped, with 119 parking spaces.

The affordable housing units would have a maximum rent of $1,348 for a bachelor suite, $1,622 for a one-bedroom unit, $1,866 for two bedrooms and $2,002 for a three-bedroom suite, according to an earlier city report.

The units would be kept at the prescribed affordability levels for a minimum period of 25 years.

A non-profit group called Church Two says some of the affordable suites would be specifically for women and children fleeing abusive relationships, as well as single women with children. The group will partner with women’s shelter group Armagh House, Peel Region’s only transitional supportive housing program, according to the application.

A Housing Needs Assessment presented to a committee of council last year showed nearly 13 per cent of Brampton households were in “core housing need,” spending 30 per cent or more of before-tax income to pay rent.

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Data from 2023 also shows some 8,699 Brampton households were on Peel Region’s centralized wait list for subsidized housing – a list that had over 32,000 households waiting up to 20 years to find affordable housing in 2024.

A heritage property at 136 Church Street would need to be relocated to allow for the development, according to a city report.

The area is already approved for residential use and wouldn’t require a change to Brampton’s official plan, but changes would be required under the zoning bylaw to allow for “Low Rise Residential,” “High Density Residential,” and “Special Site Area” development.

An amendment to schedule 13d of the city’s Centre Street Major Transit Station Area plan is also required, the report says.

Potential issues tied to the project include the “appropriateness of the proposed built form, the reduction from 323 units to 104 units after the removal of the 14-storey apartment building as originally proposed, and traffic impacts on the surrounding road network.

A public meeting for the project is scheduled for Sept. 14.


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