Simcoe County is preparing to open a taxpayer-funded asylum centre in Bradford West Gwillimbury despite residents’ objections and the incoming mayor’s pledge to seek its removal.
The county bought the property before residents were told about the asylum centre plans. Officials say property negotiations were confidential and federal funding conditions restricted when they could announce the project.
Bradford’s incoming mayor, Nickolas Harper, opposes the centre. He has pledged to ask the county to remove it and announced a complaint to Ontario’s Ombudsman about how the decision was made.
Residents learned of the plans months after the county purchased the property in December 2025, only presenting the project to local council months later in August 2026.
