Ozone is commonly used for bacteria disinfection and organic pollutant oxidation in drinking water treatment. Bromate (BrO3-) will be generated during ozonation if water contains bromide (Br-). BrO3- is a potentially carcinogenic ozonation byproduct. Heterogeneous catalytic ozonation, which is designed to improve recalcitrant pollutant removal during ozonation, may be applied to minimize the bromate formation potential (BFP) through choosing appropriate catalyst. This work investigated the synthesis of cerium (Ce) incorporated mesoporous sieves, MCM-48 with different Si/Ce ratios (i.e., 200, 100 and 66) and their effectiveness on the BFP minimization during ozonation of Br--containing water. The prepared catalysts were characterized with X-ray diffraction (XRD), Nitrogen (N2) adsorption-desorption, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and pH of surface zero charge (pHpzc). Among the catalysts synthesized, the Ce-MCM-48 with the Si/Ce ratio of 66 could most effectively minimize the BFP (> 90%) and simultaneously enhance the degradation of a model pesticide compound, atrazine which is hard to remove during ozonation. In addition, the Ce-MCM-48 (66) exhibited a steady activity in minimizing BFP during semi-continuous experiments. The percent reduction of BrO3- in catalytic ozonation with Ce-MCM-48(66) (O3/Ce-MCM-48 (66)) maintained at high levels in the range of solution pH form 5.5 to 9.5. Additional experiments on inorganic bromine species adsorption, bromine mass balance, and ozone decomposition clarified the mechanism of BFP minimization during O3/Ce-MCM-48 (66) in comparison to ozonation alone. Results indicate that the adsorption of BrO3-, Br- and HOBr/OBr- on the catalyst was insignificant. Compared with ozonation alone, O3/Ce-MCM-48 (66) accelerated O3 decomposition, thus inhibited the oxidation of HOBr/OBr- to BrO3- by molecular O3. Another possible reason for BFP minimization by Ce-MCM-48 (66) might exist in that it reduced the concentrations of H2O2 generated from ozone decomposition.