Peel Region to develop 80-bed youth shelter in Brampton

Swimming upstream

A Peel Region housing development success story about the Brampton Youth Shelter.

By: Matt Durnan

The City of Brampton is looking to bolster a critical piece of its housing continuum with a proposed low-rise development that would bring 80 permanent shelter beds to local youth in need of housing.

The Region of Peel has submitted an official plan and zoning by-law amendment for a piece of vacant regionally-owned land at 1358 Queen Street West in Brampton to permit the development of a four-storey, 80-bed youth shelter. In addition to the beds, the proposal also seeks to accommodate a mix of uses in the new building in order to allow for the operation of on-site support services, along with youth programs and recreational space.

The need for a youth shelter has existed in Brampton for some time, with the Region of Peel leasing a temporary Brampton shelter location at a motel at the corner of Queen Street and Goreway Drive since 2015, while actively seeking a more permanent location.

In addition to bringing much-needed permanent youth shelter space to the city, the proposed development represents a shift in planning for an area along Queen Street that is largely surrounded by low-density single-family housing.

The site is designated as "Greenfield area", "Communities" and "Open Space" under Brampton's official plan and "Low-Density Residential" in the Credit Valley secondary plan. The shelter proposal seeks to redesignate the site through an official plan amendment to a special policy area to permit non-market housing uses defined as affordable housing.

Currently, the property is zoned "Residential Hamlet One" which permits single-detached dwellings, supportive housing type one and non-residential uses such as parks and recreation areas. Peel Region is seeking to amend the zoning to "Residential Apartment A" which would allow for taller building heights and increased density.

"The Region of Peel has land all across Mississauga, Brampton and Caledon so it was about 'How do we choose the best location' and they felt that this location would be ideal. It's located close to Brampton Transit bus routes, it's within a close distance to parks, health care facilities and it's not that far from Downtown Brampton," Brampton ward 1 and 5 Regional councillor Paul Vicente told NRU.

"Queen Street is up and coming, and this location was found to serve the purpose of having a brand-new youth shelter. It really was about the location and we feel youth will be able to take advantage of the services that are in close proximity."

The proposed shelter has faced its share of contention from area residents however. Vicente explained that council and planning staff have heard concerns from local residents around the density being proposed and the precedent it may be setting for the largely low-density area, along with potential safety concerns that could arise from bringing this housing type to the neighbourhood.

Five years ago, this site may not have been considered as a potential location for a youth shelter, given its built form and its medium density, as the area had been designated for low-density housing, much like the surrounding established neighbourhoods.

With increased housing pressure from the Province to get 1.5 million new homes built by 2031, Brampton, like many other Ontario municipalities, has had to ramp up its housing efforts, and low-density sprawl just isn’t as feasible a means to reach the city's target of 113,000 new homes by 2031.

Thus, areas like this section of Queen Street are being given a closer look for increased housing density, and the proposed youth shelter is indicative of the direction that staff and council are taking with these sites when it comes to the range of development types they would like to see take shape.

"Over the past three or four years I would say, interest from the development community in this area has completely changed, and the plan for this area has changed," Vicente said.

"Given that the development community is moving in that direction [of more density], the City of Brampton responded and rezoned this area to allow for medium density."

City of Brampton council recently passed its Springbrook tertiary plan, which encompasses the Queen Street corridor to the west of the site, moving as far west as Mississauga Road. The plan allows for higher density along Queen Street and building heights of up to 12-14 storeys. This plan was passed in anticipation of higher-order transit coming online along the Queen Street West corridor with planned bus rapid transit (BRT) service.

With respect to the housing type itself, a youth shelter fills an important role in the city’s housing continuum and addresses some of the gaps that exist within the city’s supportive housing system.

Brampton is one of the youngest cities in Ontario by average age, and while it may not have a visible youth homelessness crisis in the sense that local youth are not seen living on the streets or in encampments, there are numerous Brampton youths who are couch surfing where they can, or are trapped in family situations where they lack access to needed shelter services.

“Various shelters in Peel Region don’t accommodate young people after a certain age, whether it be at the men’s shelters where some people may feel unsafe in those situations. We’ve been addressing the issue of gender-based and intimate partner violence, and I know that some of the family shelters for women escaping partner violence, they can’t bring their older children,” Brampton ward 1 and 5 Regional councillor Rowena Santos told NRU.

"So if these kids are over the age of 16 or 18, you can't bring them to these family shelters. We have a lot of situations like that, and there are just layers of different social issues that exist in our region. For us, the beds for young people are really important to have."

Bringing this type of housing to the community is also of vital importance in taking a proactive or "upstream" approach to preventing homelessness, and Santos says providing one of the most basic needs in the form of housing to young people is critical in ensuring they're able to go to school, find jobs and pick themselves up.

"Without housing, these young people won’t have a fresh start, and consistently throughout our planning meeting [January 15], our entire council was behind this because this is so necessary," Santos said.

"This is the right thing to do, our young people in this city need us. Otherwise what we will face is more young people at risk, and as they grow older, more and more of them will become homeless, which creates a bigger issue for the city and the region. This is an upstream preventative measure that we must take as a city, and you can turn to various other GTHA municipalities to see what the aftermath is when you don’t invest early."

City of Brampton planning and development committee approved recommendations to amend its official plan and zoning by-laws to permit the development of the youth shelter at its January 15 meeting.

Posted with permission of the publisher of NRU Publishing Inc.