Tuesday, June 17, 2025
The City of Brampton announced a landmark $4 billion partnership with Zenobe, a global fleet electrification and battery storage specialist headquartered in London, UK, to fully electrify Brampton Transit’s bus fleet the largest zero-emission transit initiative in Canada.
The historic announcement was made on June 15 in Ottawa, where Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown and Zenobe leadership met with UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to recognize the groundbreaking partnership between Canada and the United Kingdom, highlighting a model of international cooperation, foreign investment and public-private innovation.
“This historic investment marks a turning point for Brampton and for public transit across Canada,” said Mayor Brown. “By transitioning to a fully electric bus fleet, we’re not only reducing emissions we’re creating jobs, improving air quality, and building a cleaner, healthier future for our residents. Brampton is proud to lead one of North America’s largest zero-emission transit projects, and we are grateful to our partners in the U.K. and Canada for helping make this bold vision a reality.”
The agreement will launch the first phase of a 10-year electrification framework that will ultimately see Brampton’s entire diesel-powered bus fleet replaced with up to 1,000 battery electric buses (BEBs), supporting more than 40 million annual passenger trips. Once complete, the program is expected to eliminate the majority of transit-related greenhouse gas emissions which currently account for approximately 70 per cent of the City’s corporate GHG emissions.
Left to Right: Zenobe Global Direcor of EV Fleet Tim Boothman; Zenobe Co-Founder and Director Steven Meersman; The Rt Hon Sir Keir Starmer; Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown, Hon. Fouzia Younis, U.K.’s Consul-General to Ontario.
In addition to the significant environmental benefits, the partnership is expected to support 5,000 direct and indirect jobs across Canada and the United Kingdom and deliver $1 billion in foreign investment into Canada.
The announcement builds on the Canada Infrastructure Bank (CIB) investment of up to $400 million to support Brampton Transit’s purchase of up to 450 zero-emission buses (ZEBs) by 2027. The CIB’s financing contributes towards the upfront capital cost of the ZEBs, and more specifically battery electric buses, to help accelerate the electrification of the City’s bus fleet.
“We bring considerable experience working with local and federal public sector partners to enable and accelerate their transition to electric fleets,” said Steven Meersman, Co-Founder and Director, Zenobe. “Our customized match-funding options, combined with the experience from delivering over 120 electric depots globally, lowers costs and de-risks the inevitable path to zero-emission fleets. We are delighted to grow our presence in Canada, with Brampton, as we jointly achieve their financial and ecological objectives. We expect this will serve as a model for other projects currently under development.”
