Hundreds more bullets fired at people and homes in Mississauga, Brampton last year: police

Violent offenders are not only carrying many more illegal guns in Mississauga and Brampton, but they’re quicker to use them and are firing hundreds more bullets indiscriminately at people and homes, police say.

Peel Regional Police statistics show 1,249 rounds of ammunition were discharged by offenders in 174 shootings across the region in 2024 compared to 661 rounds discharged in 102 shootings in 2023 (see chart below).

That’s a dramatic increase — 89 per cent rise in rounds discharged, 70 per cent hike in number of shootings — that’s putting people’s safety at greater risk than ever before in Mississauga and Brampton, Peel police Det.-Sgt. Ian Harloff told the Peel Police Service Board meeting on Friday morning.

In his presentation to members of the board, the civilian body that governs Peel’s police force, Harloff referenced the number of shootings, rounds discharged and firearms seized by police each year between 2021 and last year.

(Source: Peel Regional Police)

He said all three numbers remained relatively stable from 2021 to 2023, but then the figures show the “significant increase” in number of shots fired and shootings from 2023 to 2024.

“This (increase) isn’t exclusive to Peel; we saw this across the Greater Toronto Area with our partner agencies,” Harloff told board members and others in attendance at Region of Peel headquarters in Brampton.

The veteran officer added the number that most concerns him is the “spike in rounds discharged,” an 89 per cent increase in 2024 from the previous year.

“These rounds discharged are the indiscriminate shootings at houses and behind each of these shootings is the victimization and trauma that happens in our community that I really want to touch on,” said Harloff.  “Where it’s numbers here (on the chart), these are people’s lives that are being impacted by the shootings and the ongoing violence in our community.”

Peel police Deputy Chief Nick Milinovich shared the concern, noting illegal guns and shootings have in the last few years become “increasingly relevant” and a greater threat to community safety.

“We continue to see here in Peel an illegal firearm seized or used every day in our jurisdiction,” he said. “These are the tools of violent crime that are being used to facilitate carjackings, home invasions, shootings and homicides.”

Peel Regional Police Det.-Sgt. Ian Harloff, shown here making a presentation to the Peel Police Service Board on Friday, said an increase in shootings and shots fired in Mississauga and Brampton is also happening in other GTA communities.

Peel police have recently taken their concern about illegal guns, the vast majority of which are smuggled into Canada from the U.S., to Ottawa.

They’re pushing the federal government to strengthen Canada’s borders in order to stop the constant flow of the firearms into Mississauga and Brampton — and other Ontario communities — from south of the border.

While they applauded Ottawa’s recent move to beef up border security to curb drug trafficking, members of the Peel Police Service Board insist Canada must also take strong and immediate action to keep guns out of communities on this side of the border.

Peel police top brass have long pounded the table for additional measures to stop the huge number of illegal guns from making their way into Ontario from various places in the U.S.

“Policing today requires a coordinated, intelligence-led approach to combat organized crime and the trafficking of both drugs and firearms,” Peel police Chief Nishan Duraiappah said in a news release in early February.

Peel Regional Police Chief Nishan Duraiappah stressed the importance of keeping both illegal drugs and guns out of Peel and other communities across Canada.

Nando Iannicca, chair of the police board, said the safety of Peel and Canadian communities “depends on a comprehensive approach” to border security.

“While we strongly support the federal government’s recent steps to curb illicit drug trafficking, we must ensure that firearms smuggling receives the same level of attention,” he said. “The majority of gun crimes in Canada involve illegal firearms smuggled across the border and we cannot afford to overlook this issue. Peel is ready to support and partner with the federal government in any way necessary to strengthen these efforts.”

In December, Duraiappah told the community his officers recovered a “staggering” 205 illegal guns in 2024 (one every 36 hours), an increase of more than 60 from 2023. The guns were connected to 147 shootings in Mississauga and Brampton.

The vast majority of the 205 illegal firearms — in fact, nearly all of them, police say — originated south of the border and were smuggled into Ontario.

Nando Iannicca, chair of the Peel Police Service Board, said “we must ensure that firearms smuggling receives the same level of attention” as drug smuggling.

Last July, police in Peel revealed details of a largest-ever bust in which 69 of 71 guns — 67 handguns, four assault-style rifles — that were confiscated had been smuggled into Ontario from the U.S. Investigators said at the time they believed the weapons were destined for use in home invasions, carjackings and other violent crimes in Mississauga, Brampton and across the GTA.

Peel police also noted earlier that nearly 100 per cent of carjackings and home invasions in Peel are carried out using illegal guns that have been smuggled into Canada from south of the border.

In a letter sent in early February to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Minister of Public Safety David McGuinty and Minister of Justice Arif Virani, the police board in Peel urged Ottawa to expand its border security efforts to include stronger measures targeting the flow of illegal firearms into Canada.