The Bramalea SNAP Tower Efficiency and Resilience initiative aims to facilitate revitalization work that increases climate resilience and energy and water efficiency, while helping to address local health and well-being priorities and achieve community benefits in the tower community.
Project Background
With more than a dozen residential towers and one townhouse complex, 3,115 households — 53% of the total — in the Bramalea SNAP neighbourhood are apartments in multi-unit residential buildings (MURBs).
The K-Section alone contains a cluster of 12 towers within four blocks, built during the post-war tower development boom of the 1960s and 1970s.
Bramalea is within an area identified as among the highest residential energy and water use intensity in Brampton. In addition, these higher density areas have low tree canopy cover and are identified as vulnerable to urban heat.
Many of these towers are home to the community’s most vulnerable populations, including low-income earners, recent immigrants, and seniors. A higher-than-average percentage suffers from Type 2 diabetes.
These vulnerabilities make the high-density pockets of the Bramalea SNAP neighbourhood particularly vulnerable to climate change impacts as identified by Peel Heat Vulnerability Index.
Locally identified design objectives for tower resilience and efficiency efforts — gathered through workshops, surveys, and tenant engagement — include:
- Growing, preparing food
- Active, healthy living
- More trees; green infrastructure
- Connections between towers; shared uses
- Eco-construction methods
- Climate resilience and building efficiency
- Community building; local employment; skills training
Taking Action
Potential initiatives at the towers focus on indoor and outdoor retrofits and revitalization projects to increase uptake in tree planting and sustainable landscapes, food growing and sharing, active and healthy living, energy and water conservation and efficiency, and supportive programming.
Collaborations with tower owners are underway. This work involves close collaboration with building tenants and local implementation partners. Below are a few recent collaborations.
Programs and Initiatives
“Three Towers” Community Garden Initiative
In 2022, CAPREIT installed the “Three Towers” community garden and shade structure at 3, 11 and 5 Knightsbridge and Kings Cross Towers.
Supported by Bramalea SNAP, Ecosource staff are working closely with local tenants from the towers to operate the garden, maintain it, and assist with tenant urban agriculture skills training and capacity building.
Growing Healthy Towers Initiatives
With funding from Public Health Agency of Canada’s Promoting Health Equity: Intersectoral Action on Social Determinants of Health Program, Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA) is leading Growing Healthy Towers: Transformative Partnerships for a Healthy Built Environment.
The goal of the Growing Healthy Towers initiative is to collectively address built environments in low-income tower communities in Knightsbridge, Bramalea and Rexdale, Toronto, where community health and built environment priorities intersect.
Project Crossroads
A series of tree planting and skills training events were completed on the tower properties in the fall of 2020 in collaboration with Association for Canadian Educational Resources (ACER)’s Project Crossroads, TRCA, City of Brampton, CAPREIT, and Peel Living.
Grown in Bramalea
To address community interests in food growing and healthy living, a collaborative partnership between Ecosource, TRCA, The Boys and Girls Club of Peel, the Bramalea Community Health Centre, and tower owner CAPREIT, is underway to implement the Grown in Bramalea project.
Funded by the Region of Peel Community Investment Program, the project aims to increase food security and promote food literacy among residents of the tower properties and Bramalea neighbourhood.
Grown in Bramalea comprises three main activities: community needs assessments, educational workshops on local food and the installation of garden beds.
Contact Us
Are you a local champion? We are looking for leaders!
Residents of Knightsbridge Kings Cross Apartments (3 and 11 Knightsbridge Rd and 5 Kings Cross Rd, Brampton) and Chelsea Gardens (4 and 10 Knightsbridge Rd, Brampton) are invited to join us in creating local change at your building. Contact justyna.braithwaite@trca.ca to learn more.
Are you a tower owner or tenant living in Bramalea?
Please connect with us to learn more an see how you can get involved in local change:
Justyna Braithwaite
Project Manager, SNAP Projects
justyna.braithwaite@trca.ca
(437)-880-2409
In Collaboration With:
