By Mzwandile Poncana, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Mississauga.com
October 24, 2025
Peel Region is on a collision course with a growing infectious disease crisis, according to Peel Public Health.
As cases of serious illnesses like tuberculosis and invasive Group A Strep (iGAS) rise, the local public health unit warns its services are already critically overstretched, and that provincial funding is miles behind keeping pace.
In a recent report to regional council, Peel Public Health revealed it has “insufficient” resources to meet growing service demands, and its programs are facing challenges due to the rise in complex infectious diseases.
In the first half of 2025, Peel recorded notable increases across several communicable diseases. Cases of invasive Group A Streptococcus rose by 36 per cent, while infections caused by Streptococcus pneumonia and cases of latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) more than doubled compared with the previous five-year average.
Health officials also logged 147 cases of antibiotic-resistant CPE bacteria — a 99 per cent increase compared with the most recent five-year average — placing Peel on track for another record-high year. The region has also seen eight measles cases that required followup with more than 1,400 contacts.
The report noted a profound long-term risk driven by climate change. With warming temperatures and changing weather patterns, the risk of tick-borne illnesses like Lyme disease has surged as the tick population grows in the region. Peel is now considered a Lyme disease risk area, with local (non-travel-related) cases increasing over time.
According to the report, the health burden is falling hardest on people with limited access to preventive care. Residents who are under or unvaccinated — including children, newcomers, and those with compromised immunity — face the greatest risk from resurgent infections such as measles and iGAS.
Seniors and people living in congregate or low-income housing are also disproportionately affected, as are clients in sexually transmitted and blood-borne infection programs who often require co-ordinated social supports like housing or mental health care.
Peel’s numbers in context
The trends are not entirely unique to Peel. Across the Greater Toronto Area, other public-health units are reporting increases in infectious diseases, leading to collective emergency response measures.
In neighbouring York Region, some infections are rising even faster than in Peel, while others remain lower. Cases of invasive Group A Streptococcus have increased 53 per cent this year — higher than Peel’s 36 per cent rise — while invasive Streptococcus pneumonia infections are up 77 per cent, compared with a 103 per cent increase in Peel.
Over the past year, York’s latent TB infections — cases where individuals carry the bacteria but are not yet sick or contagious — have remained consistent with the 2020-24 average, while Peel’s have increased by 104 per cent over that same period. Similarly, Peel’s 99 per cent increase in highly-resistant CPE bacteria far outpaces York’s increase of 36 per cent for the same period.
York has recorded 13 measles cases so far in 2025 — five more than Peel’s total — with more than 2,400 contacts followed up. The region has managed 287 infectious-disease outbreaks in institutional and congregate settings between September 2024 and August 2025, up from 107 before the pandemic.
However, they developed a dedicated infectious-disease surge plan during the COVID-19 pandemic which enables a scalable response to new outbreaks. In response to a current measles outbreak and rising provincial activity, the health unit partially activated its emergency response plan, training additional staff and running post-exposure vaccine clinics to prevent illness among people who were exposed.
“These measures allowed us to manage exposures effectively while maintaining core public health services and communicable disease response,” said Scott Cholewa, manager of York Region’s Infectious Diseases Control Division.
Public Health Ontario (PHO) said the resurgence of infectious diseases in Peel and other regions is part of a broader trend across Ontario and beyond.
For invasive Group A Streptococcus (iGAS), nearly every public-health unit in the province has seen higher case counts since 2022 compared to pre-pandemic years. Provincial rates remain above pre-COVID levels, with the highest rates generally reported in northern Ontario.
PHO said Peel’s iGAS levels are elevated but consistent with the wider provincial trend, mirroring similar increases reported across Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom.
PHO said the trend likely stems from several factors. During the pandemic, masking and distancing sharply reduced exposure to common infections, while also lowering population immunity. As those measures ended, exposure and transmission rose again, leading to a rebound in cases.
What could explain the rise?
Colin Furness, an infection-control epidemiologist at the University of Toronto, said Peel region’s demographics and density make it particularly susceptible to infectious diseases such as tuberculosis, which tends to be more common in areas with higher proportions of foreign-born residents and where poverty and crowded housing are prevalent.
“The increase in rates of tuberculosis activation in Peel is higher than most public-health units, but lower than Toronto and the far north,” he said. “Peel has many foreign-born residents, and it has its share of poverty too.”
He also noted the region’s proximity to Pearson airport — which employs thousands of local residents who work in proximity to international travellers — make it more vulnerable.
“Travel is a huge potential amplifier because some travellers bring disease with them,” he said.
Furness added that temporary immune-system harm from COVID-19 infections may also be contributing to the increase in other illnesses — a factor that remains plausible but unproven.
“It’s not being studied, but it’s possible that COVID left many people more vulnerable to other infections,” he said.
He added that preventive habits such as wearing well-fitting N95 masks in crowded indoor settings, using portable HEPA filters, and improving ventilation remain among the most effective ways for individuals to protect themselves against respiratory infections.
Struggle to keep up with growing demands
In its Oct. 9 report, Peel Public Health said the unit’s base funding has not kept pace with the region’s rapid population growth, inflation, or the increasing complexity of cases.
The agency said it faces rising demands for outbreak management, disease surveillance, and clinical services without a corresponding increase in permanent provincial funding or staffing.
The Oct. 9 report notes that communicable disease investigations are becoming more time-consuming as residents present with multiple health and social needs, such as unstable housing or barriers to care. Staff have had to triage case management and outbreak followup as workloads grow.
Unlike York Region, which maintains a dedicated surge plan and additional training capacity, Peel said it has had to reassign staff to respond to urgent outbreaks.
Peel has raised the issue of stagnant provincial funding in the past — in a 2023 report to council, they noted the region had one of the lowest provincial per capita funding rates among public health units in Ontario.
For cost-shared programs, they were funded by the Province at approximately $34 per capita in 2022, while Toronto, Hamilton and Ottawa received $49, $49, and $39 per capita respectively.
Peel warns that without added resources, its capacity will remain under “substantial and sustained pressure.” The report says stagnant funding could slow outbreak investigations, reduce prevention work, and increase disease spread among vulnerable residents.
It adds that limited capacity raises the risk of more severe illnesses and deaths, along with recurring community outbreaks.
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The Ministry of Health, asked whether it plans to review funding allocations in light of Peel’s growing burden, did not respond by publication deadline for this article.