After achieving sister city status with a number of communities across the globe, Brampton is looking to expand its list of strategic relationships with the Portuguese city of Ribeira Grande.

On Saturday, Mayor Linda Jeffrey and Alexandre Gaudencio, the mayor of Ribeira Grande, a community of 32,112 located on the island of São Miguel in the Portuguese Azores, will sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). That document will be inked during a ceremony at Our Lady of Fatima Church, 101 Malta Ave., in Brampton and initiate the process to formalize economic, social or cultural relations between the two cities.

Brampton has formal relationships with several cities and international organizations around the globe, including the Chinese city of Xuzhou, Plano Tex., Miami Beach Fla., and Brampton, Cumbria, England.

Regional Coun. Martin Medeiros won support from council colleagues to investigate the idea of establishing economic, social or cultural ties.

According to Medeiros, a significant portion of Brampton’s Portuguese community originates from the Ribeira Grande area.

“This is an area that has very strong ties to the City of Brampton. There is already a natural relationship and I think this MOU formalizes that relationship,” Medeiros told members of council, including those not too keen on the idea initially.

Coun. Grant Gibson pointed to Brampton’s ties to Miami as a point of caution. He said Brampton taxpayers were often on the hook for costs of running cultural and other events south of the border.

“I don’t want to see us do that anymore,” said Gibson.

Medeiros said since 2004, representatives from Ribeira Grande have visited Brampton to celebrate the friendly connection between their cities, and the Portuguese-Canadians now residing in Brampton and surrounding areas.