Despite years of compounding, soaring costs, St. Patrick’s Parish in Brampton, Ont., is pressing on with its Loaves and Fishes Campaign to fulfill dreams for a vibrant Catholic future for the parish. 

Initially launched by the late Fr. Vito Marziliano in 2018, the Loaves and Fishes Campaign was St. Patrick’s mission of building a new, larger church property to better serve the growing parish community. Msgr. Owen Keenan, current pastor of St. Patrick’s, the campaign is one closer to necessity than to luxury. 

“ The church we have now is a small, perfect little Irish country church that was built 130 years ago, and it’s long since passed the point where it's showing its age.  There's just no room and you can only do one thing (inside) at a time,” he said, thinking about youth groups and the CWL sharing the space. 

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“It's hard to keep up with the needs of a growing community with a very small hall. The City of Brampton, Region of Peel and the City of Caledon anticipate an increase of between 50,000 and 60,000 people within the confines of the parish in the next 15 to 20 years,” he continued. “I think it's fair to presume that a fair number of those will be Catholic, and they also need and deserve to be served by the church.” 

Initial Class D estimates put the new property cost at $12.9 million before taxes and contingencies. A steep price that became dramatically inflated by 2024, when more recent reports estimated the price for the original church as designed to cost $23.5 million, an almost 95-per-cent increase in just six years. Keenan said that while costs have increased drastically,  changes have been made to the plans to lower the final price. 

In a Sept. 12 update letter to parishioners, he shared that upon the archdiocese asking the parish building committee to look for all possible cost savings, the size of the original project was reduced by over 20 per cent, knocking back seating plans from almost 900 to under 600, with office and storage spaces rationalized and reduced and alternative materials being looked at to lower anticipated costs as much as possible. Keenan anticipates upwards of $8 million could be taken off the finished church, more than a third of the total cost.

“We had to be prudent and we had to be smart. Both of the parishes near us in St. Marguerite d'Youville and Holy Family are operating under capacity, so there is lots of room for overflow and sharing of resources,” he said. “ That is not the final price, and that's not what we anticipate we are going to have to pay now, but  you don’t need me to tell you that nothing is getting cheaper,” he said of the 2024 cost estimate. 

Lingering effects from the COVID-19 pandemic, supply-chain issues, rising building material costs and general inflation are all playing their part in the rising costs, all affecting the parish’s ability to fundraise. 

“ People are very uncertain about what's going on with tariffs. Are they going to have a job? Are we looking at a recession? Nobody can predict these sorts of things, and so people may be nervous about giving, rightly so,” Keenan said. 

Neil MacCarthy, director of communications for the Archdiocese of Toronto, told The Catholic Register that the change in cost for properties is something being observed in many parishes, not just St. Patrick’s. 

“Especially in the last five years, the difference between cost projections at the beginning of the process and the reality of ‘real costs’ when a community is ready to begin construction can be significant. This is the case not just for church construction but also for school construction, condominium or home construction,” he said. 

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“Every situation is unique, and it is not a cookie-cutter approach. The archdiocese works with the parish community to determine a realistic plan that may be adjusted along the way based on the factors noted.” 

Despite these realities, the Loaves and Fishes campaign is refusing to remain stagnant and instead continues to move forward with fervour. A productive meeting with the Archdiocese of Toronto last month left Keenan feeling “extremely positive” about its commitment.

Meanwhile, significant interest from parishioners remains, as seen in a $1-million pledge to be paid upon the start of construction, a planned $1-million bequest from an anonymous parishioner and a third $1-million pledge from an area business. Friends of Keenan also pledged close to $500,000 for the beginning of construction and another promise of close to $1 million worth of materials, with others said to be interested in committing similar donations.  

“ Whatever challenges there are, there are wonderful people in this parish and the goodness of the community is very heartwarming,” he said.

Further funds are expected to come from the gala, taking place Oct. 24, with past galas raising the better part of $1 million in three years. St. Patrick’s pastor shared his hopes for a night of fellowship that will both strengthen the campaign and reassure eager parishioners at the same time. 

“ People have always been generous, and when a project that's been around this long, you get to the point of people wanting to see a hole in the ground,” he said. “Our hope at this year's gala is that we would be able to announce a start date and give people an actual deadline to see a return on their investment of generosity. We’ll see.” 

MacCarthy is confident that with parishioners' and the communities' diverse gifts, the campaign will bear fruit. 

“We are grateful to all those at St. Patrick’s who have already given generously of their time, talent and treasure to support local efforts,” he said. 

As for Keenan, he says the time is now to continue forward with renewed spirits, no matter what challenges lie ahead. 

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“ If it wasn't COVID, it could have been tariffs. If not the tariffs, it could have been a recession, another pandemic or whatever it's going to be; there's always a thousand reasons to say no or  it's not the right time,” he said. 

“At some point, you have to make the leap of faith.”