A common obstacle to effective government is that decisions that impact local areas are often made by people who lack an understanding of the needs and desires of these people.
At the Department of Planning and Building Growth Management for the City of Brampton, in the Greater Toronto Area, there is no such problem. This is because its Commissioner, Steve Ganesh, knows the city and its people like the back of his hand.
“I’ve been a resident my entire life, born and raised in Brampton,” he tells The CEO Magazine. “I feel very privileged and humbled to be in this position, to have grown up in Brampton and now to be living and raising my family here.”
“My journey, if anything, demonstrates that if you’re willing to venture into uncharted territory but yet use a common set of skills, you can pretty much do anything.”
Brampton is part of the Golden Horseshoe region on the western edge of Lake Ontario, and with more than 800,000 residents, it is one of Canada’s most populous municipalities.
A range of different roles in local government preceded Ganesh’s current role as Commissioner, from serving as Senior Policy Analyst for the Ontario Ministry of Transportation to being made Director of Corporate Strategy as well as Growth Management Strategist for the Peel Region.
Despite not having a specialism in planning before entering his current role, his wealth of experience meant that he could offer a human-centered approach to growth, informed by data and business acumen, to really push the City of Brampton into the future.
“My journey, if anything, demonstrates that if you’re willing to venture into uncharted territory but yet use a common set of skills, you can pretty much do anything,” he says.
Growth of Brampton
Ganesh recognizes the significance of the current moment for the city and is confident that it will find success.
“Brampton is at an apical point in its evolution,” he says. “We’re continuing to transform from what was a greenfield suburban city to a thriving metropolis and urban city.”
Its recently published Brampton Plan lays out its official plan for growth, and the work is already underway.
“Transformational things are happening in Brampton, in particular in our downtown,” Ganesh says. “Like many downtowns after the COVID-19 pandemic, our downtown is trying to rebound.
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“We’re making significant investments through our Downtown Revitalization Program, whereby we’ve got massive streetscape works underway to make the downtown much more vibrant, pedestrian-oriented and bike friendly in order to help boost the local economy.”
Central to this strategy is its collaboration with the private sector, which perfectly suits Ganesh’s ability to work effectively to create usually beneficial outcomes for both partners.
“We are undertaking interesting partnerships with the industry because we realize that the government can’t do it alone,” he says.
Valued private sector partners include the likes of Paradise Developments, Blackthorn Development and Reed Realty.
“We’re telling the world that Brampton is open for business in all sectors,” he adds.
“We’re telling the world that Brampton is open for business in all sectors.”
The City is also investing in exciting new institutions that will bring innovation to the City.
“We’ve just approved our Heritage Heights Secondary Plan, which is Brampton’s last greenfield area. It’s like a blank canvas, if you will.
“That’s going to be a very new, transformative type of development that will bring an emphasis on not only live or play but burning investment in the med tech sector, which is where Brampton is really pushing.
“We also have TMU [Toronto Metropolitan University] opening their medical school in Brampton. In particular, we want to pivot off the med school investment and encourage wet labs and the medical technology industry.”
Promoting opportunity
Thanks to previous experience heading up transportation, Ganesh is well aware of how crucial it is for a city to keep improving its transport to suit the changing demands of its residents.
“So like many suburban cities that were originally very much planned for the car, we’re working on a new plan called Brampton Mobility Plan,” he explains.
“This is a much more multimodal transportation plan to really promote transit, cycling and walking as well as the automobile, to let our residents know there’s choice.”
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This new plan will unlock economic opportunity in the area.
Another innovative project combining vital infrastructure with providing business opportunities for downtown Brampton is called the Riverwalk Project, which has recently received a grant of CA$29.8 million [US$21.2 million].
“This is a stormwater channel that we’re going to redevelop to have homes and pedestrian trails and retail all along this channel in our downtown, while still serving the stormwater function,” Ganesh says.
“That’s going to unlock our downtown to just shy of 13,000 new homes and businesses. It’s a massive game-changer for the city because once that opens, we’ll hopefully start to see Brampton as an epicenter for global investment.”
Leadership excellence
This bold, forward-facing approach isn’t the only reason why Ganesh’s tenure has been noteworthy.
“As the Commissioner, I believe I’m the first Brampton resident and the first individual of color to take this role,” he says.
His leadership style, he says, is one of a humble servant.
“I’m not here with all the answers; I’m here to help get the answers,” Ganesh says. “I do that by giving people opportunities to shine.
“And then the people-centric leaders, in my mind, are the ones who have demonstrated that they’ve given people the opportunities to fail, because it’s something that we all do.”
“Transformational things are happening in Brampton.”
Similarly, in order to encourage the best outcomes, he welcomes an honest and open culture where employees feel comfortable discussing the decisions he makes.
“I give people opportunities to have a healthy challenge function with me,” he says. “Yes, I’m the Commissioner, but let’s have these conversations, because I don’t have the answers, and I haven’t forgotten where I’ve come from.”
This illustrates a respect Ganesh has for employees and their ideas, which is one of his non-negotiable leadership principles.
“Surround yourself with people smarter than you, because there’s always an opportunity to learn from them. As my father says, you don’t know what you don’t know,” he says.
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This open and receptive culture Ganesh promotes is reflective of an organization that is eagerly embracing operational excellence alongside innovative and bold projects to propel the city to further success.
“We aren’t afraid to take chances and think outside of the box, which can be a struggle in the public sector in particular, where big bureaucracies are not as agile and fast-paced as say, other sectors,” he says.
“We’re not afraid to embrace new relationships and ecosystems, and we’ve attracted funds because of our willingness to look at relationships differently.”
And at the end of the day, providing an excellent service is always the core objective.
“If we get a call, within 24 hours we will always acknowledge the call back, whether it’s a resident, member of council or any other stakeholder,” Ganesh says.
“The message to my team is: let’s continue working with our colleagues to keep driving service quality excellence.”
