Only one councillor hasn’t signed up for upcoming election in Brampton

All but one of the current Brampton City Councillors have officially signed up to run again to keep their seats with the cutoff date to enter less than a month away.

Candidate nominations for the upcoming Ontario municipal elections opened in May, and since then there have been current and former councillors who have entered the race along with longtime political hopefuls and newcomers.

Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown has confirmed to INsauga.com that he plans to run for a third term, but has yet to file his entry paperwork.

But besides Brown, who acts as the head of council, only one current member hasn’t signed up to run again in their ward.

As of Monday afternoon, Regional Councillor for Wards 9 and 10 Gurpartap Singh Toor is the lone sitting member of council not seeking reelection. Multiple requests for comment on whether Toor plans to run again have not been returned.

Councillors Paul Vicente and Rowena Santos (Wards 1 and 5), Michael Palleschi and Navjit Kaur Brar (Wards 2 and 6), Martin Medeiros and Dennis Keenan (Wards 3 and 4), Pat Fortini and Rod Power (Wards 7 and 8), and Harkirat Singh (Deputy Mayor and City Councillor Wards for 9 & 10) have all officially registered to run.

The deadline to enter the race is Aug. 21 at 2 p.m.

And while not a current councillor, there’s one other familiar face who’s entered the Wards 9 and 10 race – former Coun. Gurpreet Singh Dhillon.

The two-time Brampton councillor lost his seat in 2022, and was the only incumbent not re-elected to city council, following allegations of sexual misconduct and harassment of a female staffer while on a trade mission to Turkey in 2019.

The former councillor has said the accusations against him were withdrawn in a letter he says retracts the claims, while the city’s integrity commissioner says she was unable to verify the letter actually came from the complainant.

Here are all the candidates registered to run for Brampton City Council in the October 2026 election as of July 27.

Wards 1 and 5

Five challengers have registered to run against Santos as of Monday, including Tracy Pepe and Stacey Ann Brooks, who failed to unseat Santos in the 2022 municipal election. Wellness professional Amit Dutta and Brampton residents Romolo Tantalo and Khimani Williams are also running in the ward, however, little information is available about the candidates.

There are two challengers for Vicente’s seat – School and community advocate Idris Orughu and Steven Lee, who also ran against Santos in 2022 and got 6.25 per cent of the votes.

Wards 2 and 6

Navjit Kaur Brar is seeking her second term on Brampton City Council after coming into politics from a healthcare and nursing background. Her challengers are Jermaine Chambers (who previously ran for MP of Brampton West in 2021 and mayor of Brampton in 2022), local realtors Keval Shah and Raghav Dhir, and Carmen Wilson(who also ran in the ward in 2022).

Palleschi was first elected to Brampton City Council in 2014 and is the son of late former Coun. Paul Palleschi. Challengers to the seat are public servant Prem Gill, realtors Parth Sharma and Romy Dogra, and administration worker Sameer Tandon.

Ward 3 and 4

Keenan is seeking re-election after his first term on council along with two other candidates – local realtors Gita Dawadi Dhakal and Santokh Randhawa – while  Sandeep Kumar Goel is challenging Medeiros.

Wards 7 and 8

Fortini was first elected to Brampton City Council in 2014. He was re-elected in 2018 and again in 2022. There are four other candidates registered to run against Fortini as of Monday; local dentist Aman Sharma, Anil Sahajpal, Vedaant Vyas and Ripudaman Dhillon – who also ran for the seat in 2022 and received more than 17 per cent of the vote.

Power is facing three challengers – current Township of Southgate Coun. Monica Singh Soares, local businessman Rakesh Sharma and strategic consultant Nayan Brahmbhatt.

Wards 9 and 10

Deputy Mayor Singh is a former School Board Trustee at the Peel District School Board and was elected to city council in 2018. Two candidates in the pairing have been in previous elections – Janice Gordon-Daniels (who ran in 2022) and community organizer Azad Goyat (also a city council candidate in 2022). Jagdish Grewal and Kamran Hassan are also candidates, however, little information on them is available.

Dhillon will have to beat out at least four other candidates if he wants back on Brampton City Council – lawyer Sukhman Sangha, brand consultant Mike Dancy, Peel District School Board  Vice Chair Satpaul Singh Johal, community advocate Nirmala Devi Madhu.