With over 1 million residents, Peel Region is the second largest Administrative Region in Ontario. Conveniently located with Halton Region to the West and York and Toronto to the East, the Region has experienced fast growth in both residential and commercial developments. Peel Region was incorporated into the organisation it is today when the old County of Peel had its municipalities reformed into the 2 cities of Brampton (central region) and Mississauga (largest city south of the region) and the Town of Caledon (north of the region).

As with all of Ontario, Peel Region has an extensive heritage. Starting with the native peoples and then the settlement by the westerners in the 16/17 hundreds. The Peel Heritage Complex has been constructed to provide ample coverage of this.

The Regional education programs are administered by 3 school boards - The Peel District School Board for the public, English based students. The Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board for Catholic denomination students and The Conseil Scolaire de District du Centre Sud-Ouest which is for the French students.

The Region also has its own administration for Healthcare which follows the Provincial system. As with the rest of the GTA, transportation links are the best in Canada with Highways, Railroads and the country's largest airport - the Lester Pearson International.

The Municipalities

The City of Mississauga is Canada's sixth largest city, with a Population of at least 680,000 is still growing rapidly and is named after a band of the Ojibwa First Nation. Many new businesses are being attracted by competitive tax rates with exceptional services, infrastructure and transportation links. The lowest crime rate across all the major Canadian cities also makes it a prime location for families to settle.

Well situated on the shores of Lake Ontario adjacent to Toronto, Mississauga is a business powerhouse. Many of Canada's top companies are based here including Bell Mobility, Air Canada, Pratt & Whitney, GlaxoSmithKline, RBC and TD Financial Groups. Over 20,000 businesses in total are in the city employing over 400,000 people.

The Peel Region local government is headquartered in the City of Brampton (chartered as a village in 1853) and is one of the major employers in the area. With over 370,000 residents, Brampton is a large city with numerous attractions, parks and businesses. Two major automobile manufacturers have their Canadian bases here - Ford and Daimler/Chrysler - along with Canadian Tire, Coca-Cola and Nortel. The unemployment rate is around 7.5% and there is an average growth rate for industry of 3.8%.

The city is dissected by five of Ontario's major highways, is close to Lester Pearson International airport, has rail links and the local Brampton Transit connects to the GTA GO Transit and Mississauga Transit.

There are the standard recreational activities - 3,000 acres of parks, trails, arenas and leisure centres. Also, the large man made Professor Lake has sandy beaches and provides wind surfing, canoeing and boating in the summer months. Staying on the aquatic scene - the Wild Water Kingdom is Canada's largest water park and attracts millions of visitors each year. The Peel Heritage Complex is in the city and the new Performing Arts Centre will be opening in 2005. Gage Park was the first municipal park and is still open to the public today with concerts, wading pool for the kids which becomes an ice arena in the winter.

The schools and healthcare are administered by the Peel Region Government with one major hospital in the city. Housing costs are rising at around 10% per year with the 2003 average for a detached home at around $295,000. The average household income was $75,000. The city is known for being a safe place to live with low average crime rates and is policed by the Peel Region Police Force. Overall, the city offers an excellent standard of living to its residents and is set to continue as one of Canada's fastest growing cities.

The Town Of Caledon is a smaller, fairly rural community in the Northern section of the Peel Region. Again, it’s a very fast growing community with an increase in population of over 26% between 1996 and 2001 to around 50,000. The Town is made up of several smaller communities with Bolton being the larger. The others are Caledon East, Mayfield West, Cheltenham, Alton, Inglewood and Caledon itself.

Most employment is in the Manufacturing, Retail and Business services sectors with a low unemployment rate of only 3.3%.

Like the rest of the Peel Region, Caledon has excellent transportation links with close proximity to Pearson International airport and the independent airport at Brampton.

For more detailed information and great links please go to http://www.onestopimmigration-canada.com/peel_region.html

Submitted by: Dave Lympany dave Lympany emigrated to Canada with his family in 2003 and has developed a free onestop information resource for Canada and Canadian Immigration - http://www.onestopimmigration-canada.com