BRAMPTON, Ont. — The federal government says it is giving “serious consideration” to Brampton’s request for assistance to combat a growing wave of extortion crimes in Peel Region and plans to convene a summit in January bringing together governments and law enforcement agencies.
Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree confirmed the move in response to a Dec. 16 letter from Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown, who warned that the “scale, sophistication and cross-border nature” of extortion targeting local businesses and families has pushed the problem beyond what municipal resources can manage alone.
Brown’s letter followed a unanimous motion passed by Brampton city council calling on Ottawa to:
- extend dedicated federal funding for extortion and organized crime task forces to Peel, similar to the model used in British Columbia;
- provide funding for victim support and community outreach; and
- establish formal intelligence-sharing and coordination frameworks among federal, provincial and municipal police to disrupt transnational criminal networks.
“We will give serious consideration to the proposals Brampton Council is advancing,” Anandasangaree said in a written statement this week. “As we saw in British Columbia, the best way to attack this crime is to bring all orders of government together to share ideas and pool resources. Municipalities, provinces and the federal government have a role to play.”
Anandasangaree said Ottawa will host a summit in Peel in January aimed at uniting governments and law enforcement to “address extortion head-on,” adding that more details will be announced in the coming weeks.
Brown has also appealed to Queen’s Park, sending a letter to Premier Doug Ford and Solicitor General Michael Kerzner seeking urgent provincial action.
In that letter, the mayor urged Ontario to partner with Ottawa to create a dedicated victim support fund, modeled on a program in British Columbia, to provide “timely, co-ordinated, and culturally responsive support” to those targeted by extortion.
Such a fund, Brown wrote, would “complement law enforcement efforts, reduce long-term social and economic costs, and demonstrate Ontario’s leadership in protecting communities from organized criminal activity that transcends municipal boundaries.” He added that the city is ready to work with both levels of government to design a framework reflecting local needs.
Asked about the proposal during an unrelated news conference Dec. 17, Ford said the province is already devoting significant resources to the issue.
“We’re throwing every single resource we can to combat this,” Ford said, urging victims to report extortion immediately. “I have all the faith in the world in our RCMP, our OPP and all regional police services that have a specific task force to go after these people that are trying to extort Ontarians.”
The push for action comes amid a sharp rise in reported extortion cases in Peel. At a Dec. 10 Brampton council meeting, Peel Regional Police said business-related extortions in Brampton and Mississauga climbed from 50 cases in 2023 to 153 in 2024, with 172 reported so far this year.
Concern has been especially acute within the Sikh community. On Dec. 7, Sikh organizations hosted a town hall in Brampton with police, elected officials and residents to address what they described as an unprecedented wave of extortion targeting Sikh families and businesses.
With federal and provincial leaders now signalling engagement, Brampton officials say they hope coordinated action will bring relief to communities grappling with the growing threat.