Guelph, Ontario
Flag Coat of arms
Nickname: The Royal City
Motto: Faith, Fidelity and Progress
Coordinates:
Country	Canada
Province	Ontario
County	Wellington County
City Wards	There are 6 Wards
Founded	April 23, 1827
Incorporated	April 23, 1879
Government
- Mayor	Karen Farbridge (elected November 2006)
- Governing Body	Guelph City Council
- MPs	Brenda Chamberlain (LPC)
- MPPs	Liz Sandals (OLP)
Area
- City	86.72 km  (33.48 sq mi)
- Urban	78.39 km (48.71 sq mi)
- Metro	378.45 km (146.12 sq mi)
Elevation	334 m (1,096 ft)
Population (2006)<ref name="population" />
- City	114,943
- Density	1325.5/km (3,433.2/sq mi)
- Urban	115,635
- Metro	127,009
- Demonym	Guelphite
Time zone	EST (UTC-5)
- Summer (DST)	EDT (UTC-4)
Postal code span	N
Area code(s)	(519) and (226)
Website: City of Guelph website

Guelph (IPA: gwɛlf) (population 114,943^[1]) is a city located in the Southwestern region of Ontario, Canada.

Known as the Royal City, Guelph is roughly 28 km east of Kitchener-Waterloo and 100 km west of downtown Toronto at the intersection of Highway 6 and Highway 7. It is the seat of Wellington County but is, in many respects, politically autonomous from the county itself. Nevertheless, Wellington County is largely influenced by Guelph and, as one entity, Guelph and Wellington County have a population of 200,425.^[2]

Residents of Guelph are called Guelphites. Guelph also has a number of sister cities, which are selected based on economic, cultural and political criteria.

Because of its low crime rates, clean environment and generally high standard of living^[3], Guelph is consistently rated as one of the country's most livable cities. Moneysense magazine ranked Guelph fourth in the country to live in 2007 ^[4], and was also rated among Canada's ten best places to live by Chatelaine magazine.

History

Guelph is considered to be one of the first planned communities in Canada, Guelph was founded on St. George’s Day, April 23rd, 1827, thus emphasizing its English origins (as opposed to Scottish or Irish), as that saint is the patron of England.

Guelph was selected as the headquarters of the Canada Company, a British development firm, by its Canadian superintendent John Galt, a popular Scottish novelist who designed the town to attract settlers to it and to the surrounding countryside.

Galt designed the town to resemble a European city centre, complete with squares, broad main streets and narrow side streets, resulting in a variety of block sizes and shapes which is still in place today. From a birds eye view incorporating the two rivers the street plan was designed to resemble a lady's fan, many of the streets forming triangles (the segments of the fan). The original downtown centre was an intersection today called the "5 points", where a number of these angled streets come together. Though it was moved to it's present day location a bit further south due to mud slides down the easter point, a steep hill down to the river.

The town was named to honour Britain's royal family, the Hanoverians, who were descended from the Guelfs, one of the great political factions in late medieval Germany and Italy, and the ancestral family of George IV, the reigning British monarch, thus the nickname The Royal City The directors of the Canada Company, Galt's employers, had actually wanted the city to be named Goderich, but reluctantly accepted the fait accompli.

Early settlement was destroyed when a large tornado hit Guelph on June 2, 1829, which delayed development of the town for some time after. More recently, two F2 tornadoes touched down in the city on July 17, 2000, causing some property damage but no injuries.

Incorporated as a village in 1851, the water power potential of the town site attracted a number of large mills during the 19th century; the most important of these were owned by William Allan and James Goldie. From the 1860's, several local industries established a worldwide reputation based on technological innovation; these included the Raymond Sewing Machine Co and the Bell Organ Co.

Sir John A. Macdonald owned 50 acres of land in St. Patrick's Ward in 1854. Baker Street was named after Wellington District's first inspector of weights and measures - Alfred Baker - who was a Guelph resident.^[5]

It was not until the Grand Trunk Railway connected the town to Toronto in 1856, and several buildings were erected in the late 19th century, that Galt's grandiose plan for Guelph was fully realized. It became a city in 1879.

Before the colonization and development of Guelph, the area was considered by the surrounding indigenous communities to be a "neutral" zone. On selected dates members from these communities would meet and trade goods by the Speed River.

The city is home to the University of Guelph and Sleeman Breweries Ltd.. The Ontario Agricultural College (OAC), the oldest part of University of Guelph, began in 1873 as an associate agricultural college of the University of Toronto. Guelph's most famous landmark is the Church of Our Lady Immaculate.

Guelph is also unique as being the first municipality in Canada to have its own federally chartered railway and the only municipality in the British Commonwealth to own its own line, which it still does to this day. The Guelph Junction Railway is a 16 mile link to the CPR.

Innovative projects, firsts and unique history

Guelph has been home to many innovative projects, firsts and unique history. The city was the North America test site of the Mondex electronic cash system in 1997. Parking meters, buses, bank machines, and payphones were converted to accept the cards which stored 'money' on a microchip. Many local merchants also installed card readers. Ultimately, however, public reception to the program was poor, and the trial ended without further expansion.

The City developed one of the most advanced municipal waste management systems in Canada called Wet-Dry+.

In order to maximize recycling and diversion of waste from landfills, household wastes is divided into three streams: wet, dry, and clear. The wet stream, which must be placed at the curb side in translucent green bags, is composed of compost-able materials. The dry stream, which must be placed in translucent blue bags, handles recyclable materials. The clear stream, which uses transparent bags, is for non-compost-able and non-recyclable items. The city estimates compliance with the program at 98%.

The system prevents about 70% of household waste from going to landfills. The Wet-Dry+ system is controversial among some Guelph citizens although the number of residents who don't obey the system is minor and most have come to accept the system. The city has now shut down its ten-year-old composting plant because of structural and odor problems and will be shipping its Wet and Clear garbage to a New York incinerator instead. Meanwhile, residents are still being required to sort these two into their separate streams in the old system. The city is currently investigating on re-opening the composting plant.

Guelph was one of North America's first cable TV systems. Neighbourhood Television Ltd. was established in 1952, one of the first broadcasts was Queen Elizabeth's Coronation in 1953. Fred Metcalfe later created Maclean-Hunter Television.

The term Hat-trick was invented in Guelph. The Biltmore Hat Company sponsored a Guelph hockey team called the Guelph Biltmore Mad Hatters. When a player scored three goals, fans were encouraged to throw their hats onto the ice. This was known as the "hat trick".[1]

Guelph's police force had Canada's first municipal motorcycle patrol.[2] Chief Ted Lamb brought back an army motorcycle he used during the First World War. Motorcycles were faster and more efficient than walking. Guelph's police force was also the first to have two-way car radios.[3] Coincidentally enough, Guelph Police was also the first in Ontario to take advantage of a new state-of-the-art province-wide police radio system.[4] The Communist Party of Canada was organized with great secrecy in a barn near the city of Guelph in May 1921.[5] Guelph had one of Canada's first militia units of gunners in 1866.[6] Guelph was also home to Canada's first army cadet corps and the year of its founding became part of their name - the 1882 Wellington.[7] Colonel John McCrae, who wrote the poem "In Flanders Fields" was born and raised in Guelph.

One of Guelph City Council's set up Canada's first city manager system.[8] The system's creator, John McVicar, later became the secretary of the League of American Municipalities. Guelph city planners conceived a way to easily convert units into condominiums. Chicago was so impressed with the system they used it as a model for their city and it has since become a North American standard.[9]

Guelph is a noted city for its resistance to Wal-Mart's protracted efforts to set up a store in the community. Community activists staunchly opposed the corporation's plans to build one of its megastores in the north end of the city, near a Jesuit retreat center. With the election of a new city council in 2003, the city supported an official plan amendment (to commercial designation from industrial) to permit Wal-Mart's application for a zoning change. The store opened on November 8, 2006.

The jock strap was invented in Guelph, On. It was created by Guelph Elastic Hosiery (now Protexion Industries) in the 1920s.[10] The company held a contest to name the product and jock strap was the winning name. The prize was five dollars.[11] The radio station, 1460 CJOY was the first Canadian radio station to have a call-in talk show. [12] The Ontario Veterinary College is the oldest school of its kind in the Western hemisphere (founded in 1862).[13] Riverside Park was named by priest William Carroll who was the winner of a contest to name the new park in 1905.[14] P.T. Barnum's circus came to Guelph in 1879.[15]

Until 1868, horses were used to operate the Guelph Mercury's printing press. In 1868 a steam engine was installed to operate the presses.[16]

Geography and climate

Guelph is roughly 100 km (60 mi) west of downtown Toronto. The city is 86.66 km² (33.46 sq mi) in area and located at an elevation of 334 meters above mean sea level. Guelph is at Latitude 43°33'N Longitude 80°15'W.

Topography

The city is intersected by two rivers and numerous tributaries: the Speed River enters from the north end and the Eramosa River enters from the east; the two rivers meet downtown and continue southwest. There are also many creeks and rivers that create large tracts of densely-forested ravines, and provide ideal sites for parks and recreational trails. The city is also built on many drumlins.

Climate

The weather and climate of that region of Ontario is moderate in both summer and winter. There are no considerable extremes in either temperature or the type of weather that might be associated with locations that are in close proximity to a landmass such as a body of water or a mountain range. However, due to its location close to other moderate or major cities (Cambridge, Kitchener-Waterloo, London, Toronto and the GTA) Guelph experiences the highest percentage of acid rain downfall in all of Ontario and the area is prone to severe weather causing high winds in summer, due its location on the Lake Breeze Front.

Weather averages for Guelph in the Annual Temperatures and Annual Precipitation & Sunshine Report

Economy

The leading economic sectors include Manufacturing, accounting for 18 per cent of employment.[17]. The main manufacturing sectors include transportation equipment, machinery and fabricated metal, wood, electrical and chemical products.

Guelph's Economic Development Strategy identified life science, agri-food and biotechnology firms, environmental management and technology companies as growth industries on which to focus economic development activities. [18]

The city has been a pioneer in the trend to municipal ownership of utilities. In the 1880s it built its own railway, the Guelph Junction Railway, which it still owns. After the turn of the 20th century, led by its major businessmen through the Board of Trade, the city took over the water, gas, electricity and streetcar (now Guelph Transit) systems.

Guelph's major employers include the University of Guelph, Linamar Corporation, and Sleeman Breweries among others.

Demographics

Ethnic Origin	Population	Percent
English	36,975	31.93%
Canadian	36,845	31.82%
Scottish	27,875	24.07%
Irish	24,445	21.11%
German	14,505	12.52%
Italian	11,135	9.61%

Guelph is the 5th fastest growing mid-size city (population 100,000 to 200,000) in Ontario with a population growth rate of about 2% per year. Guelph's current population is estimated to be around 125,872 and is projected to have a population around 153,000 by the year 2027. Population varies throughout the year because of variations in the University of Guelph student population. [19]

The 2001 census indicates 117,344 people residing in Guelph, of whom 49.1% were male and 50.9% were female. Children under five accounted for approximately 6.2% of the resident population of Guelph, whereas 12.2% of the resident population in Guelph were of retirement age. The average age is 35.7 years of age. In the five years between 1996 and 2001, the population of Guelph grew by 10.7%. Population density of Guelph averaged 310.1 people per square kilometre.

Some 10 percent of the resident population described themselves as visible minorities, predominantly South Asian (mostly Afghanis): 2.43%, Chinese: 2.42%, Black Canadian/African CanadiansSierra Leones]: 1.25%, and many others including Filipino, Vietnamese and Arab. Also a lot of First Nations people reside in Guelph.The city is mostly Christian: 74.17%, almost evenly split among Protestants and Roman Catholics. The largest non-Christian religion is Buddhism: 1.45%, followed by Islam, and Hinduism.[20]

Education

Guelph is home to a diverse range of public and private educational institutions. There are two major public school boards that operate inside the city. The Wellington Catholic District School Board administers a Catholic education in Guelph and Wellington County, while the Upper Grand District School Board administers to the area surrounding the upper Grand River.

Secondary schools

Due to the presence of two different school boards, Guelph has numerous elementary and secondary schools. The secondary schools are as follows:

Public

• Centennial C.V.I. - Sports: Spartans
• College Heights C.V.I. - Sports: Crusaders
• Guelph C.V.I. - Sports: Gaels
• John F. Ross C.V.I. - Sports: Royals

Catholic

• Our Lady of Lourdes C.H.S. - Sports: Crusaders
• Saint James C.H.S. - Sports: Lions
• Bishop Macdonell C.H.S. - Sports: Celtics

Universities/Colleges

• University of Guelph is one of Canada's comprehensive universities. It is acclaimed for its focus on life sciences such as agriculture and food science.
• Conestoga College has a small campus in Guelph.

Public library system

In 1882, the Free Libraries Act was passed, allowing municipalities to establish libraries supported by local taxes. The City of Guelph was the first in Ontario to take advantage of this Act. The Guelph Library attempted to seek suitable quarters and moved to its current location on the corner of Norfolk and Paisley. Guelph was one of the first communities to take advantage of grants made available by steel magnate Andrew Carnegie.

Guelph is served by a growing library system composed of a main branch located in the downtown core, four branches and a bookmobile. It holds a membership of over 85,000, the Guelph Public Library system's goals include preserving and indexing public materials relating to the history of Guelph. Although no formal program has been developed, the library acquires municipal records of archival value from the City of Guelph.

The Guelph Public Library seeks to provide and promote to the citizens of Guelph friendly, efficient public library service. It provides appropriately selected and catalogued collections of materials, both print and non-print, properly designed and maintained facilities, and well-trained staff. The Guelph Public Library also offers a number of programs including a book club which maintains the Book Buzz.

Politics

City Hall

• ''See also: Guelph City Council

The city is a single-tier municipality governed by a mayor-council system. The structure of the municipal government is stipulated by the Municipal Act. There are currently 12 councillors and a mayor, with 2 councillors representing each of the six wards.

The mayor and members of the city council serve four-year terms without term limits with the next election in November 2010. Prior to the Guelph municipal election, 2006, the mayor and city councillors served three-year terms.

Guelph City Council is responsible for policy and decision making, monitoring the operation and performance of the city, analyzing and approving budgets and determining spending priorities.

The year 2007 saw Karen Farbridge defeat incumbent mayor Kate Quarrie, 51% to 35% along with 8 new City councilors who replaced many of the long-time council members.

Members of Provincial Parliament

The Ontario riding of Guelph is currently represented by Liz Sandals, a member of the ruling Liberal Party of Ontario.

Members of Parliament

Party		Member of Parliament	From	To	District
1.	Liberal	David Stirton	1867	1876	Wellington South
2.	Liberal	Donald Guthrie	1876	1882	Wellington South
3.	Liberal	James Innes	1882	1896	Wellington South
4.	Conservative	Christian Kloepfer	1896	1900	Wellington South
5.	Liberal	Hugh Guthrie	1900	1917	Wellington South
-	Unionist/ Conservative	Hugh Guthrie	1917	1935	Wellington South
6.	Liberal	Robert W. Gladstone	1935	1949	Wellington South
7.	Liberal	Henry Alfred Hosking	1949	1957	Wellington South
8.	Progressive Conservative	Alfred Dryden Hales	1957	1974	Wellington South/ Wellington
9.	Liberal	Frank W. Maine	1974	1979	Wellington
10.	Progressive Conservative	Albert Fish	1979	1980	Guelph
11.	Liberal	Jim Schroder	1980	1984	Guelph
12.	Progressive Conservative	Bill Winegard	1984	1993	Guelph/ Guelph—Wellington
13.	Liberal	Brenda Chamberlain	1993	present	Guelph—Wellington/ Guelph

Culture

Tourism

Guelph is famous for its natural attractions and environment as well as historic limestone buildings in its downtown.

Historic sites

• Downtown Guelph: Many downtown streets are lined with many old buildings, some of which are over a century old
• Church of Our Lady Immaculate' Roman Catholic Church, located downtown, is one of Guelph's major landmarks, and is designated as a National Historic Site in Canada.
• Guelph, Ontario railway station
• McCrae House: Guelph is the birthplace of John McCrae and his home is a museum.
• Guelph Civic Museum: Guelph Civic Museum is another museum located at the Downtown of Guelph. At Guelph Civic Museum one can find pictures, films and other antique materials related to the historic development of the City of Guelph at a 1850- three-story Guelph limestone building.
• Guelph Public Library
• Guelph City Hall a formal, classical civic building; built in 1856-57, and a National Historic Sites of Canada.

Outdoor attractions

Most of the natural attractions of Guelph are located beside the two rivers which pass inside the city, Speed River and Eramosa River.

• Guelph Lake
• University of Guelph Arboretum http://www.guelphhotlinks.com/parks/parks.html/
• Riverside Park: Located beside the Speed River at north of Guelph
• York Road Park (beside the former Correctional Centre)
• Hanlon Creek Park (Preservation Park)
• Royal City Park and Wellington Street nature sites.

Arts facilities

• River Run Centre
• Macdonald Stewart Art Centre:The Macdonald Stewart Art Centre serves the community by providing a balanced program of temporary exhibitions of contemporary and historical art, craft and design drawn from regional, national and international sources. As the major public collection in this area, the collection is presented through specialized exhibitions.
• The Bookshelf Ebar Art Space showcases monthly exhibits of local and regional artists. It functions as Guelph's main alternative art space located in the downtown core.

Music

Music has always played a large part in the lives of people living in Guelph. From a Bell Organ factory to the opera singer Edward Johnson, Guelph has been a source of musical contribution. Today, Guelph is notable for its indie rock scene, which has spawned some of Canada's most important indie bands, including King Cobb Steelie, Royal City, The Constantines, Jim Guthrie, The Barmitzvah Brothers, Flashlight Brown and the kramdens. Guelph is also home to the Hillside Festival, an indie music festival held at Guelph Lake during the summer, CFRU 93.3 FM, a campus radio station at the University of Guelph. Guelph is also home to Magic 106.1 FM and 1460 CJOY AM. Three Gut Records, the label responsible for The Constantines, Royal City, Jim Guthrie, Cuff The Duke, and others was based in Guelph. Other small and locally known labels/collectives such as Burnt Oak and Social Arts Club followed suit in supporting their own music scenes.

The following notable music festivals take place in Guelph:

• The Guelph Jazz Festival
• Hillside Festival

Shopping

• Downtown Guelph The historic core of the city, full of unique and independent shops and fantastic restaurants. Downtown boasts several popular events such as art on the street', *'http://www.guelphdowntown.com/artonthestreet/Dig-In Downtown restaurant tour in April and Winter Lights & Music.
• Old Quebec Street (Mall): The former Eaton Centre was redeveloped to capture the feel of a streetscape setting (the mall is located on what was previously a through road called Quebec Street). It's located in the heart of downtown and it is for pedestrian traffic only.
• Stone Road Mall: The largest shopping centre of Guelph is located beside Stone Road and Edinburgh Road.
• Willow West Mall

Sports teams

Sports teams of Guelph

Club	League	Sport	Venue	Established	Championships
Guelph Storm	OHL	Hockey	Sleeman Centre	1991	2
Guelph Royals	IBL	Baseball	David E. Hastings Stadium at Exhibition Park (Guelph)	1919	8
Guelph Gryphons	CIS	University	W.F. Mitchell Centre and Alumni Stadium	1874	0
Guelph Regals	Ontario Lacrosse Association	Lacrosse	Victoria Road Recreation Centre	1992	1
Guelph Rangers	Kitchener District Soccer League	Soccer	Centennial Park and Guelph Lake Sports Fields	1995	1
Guelph Underdogs SC	Conestoga College Indoor Soccer League	Soccer	Conestoga College Recreational Centre	2004	0
Guelph Dominators	Midwestern Junior B Hockey League	Hockey	Victoria Road Recreation Centre	1963	0
Guelph Bears	Ontario Varsity Football League	Football	John Ross High School and University of Guelph's Alumni Stadium	1997	0
Guelph Gargoyles	Ontario Australian Football League	Australian Football	Magaret Green Park	2001	0

Media

Main article: Media of Guelph

The city of Guelph is served by two main newspapers, two student newspapers, one alternative weekly, two local radio stations and a community channel. All other media, including newspapers and television stations, is regionally based, usually from Kitchener or Toronto.

Transportation

Bus

• Guelph Transit - provides local transportation around the city. Except a couple of routes, the frequency of coming buses to Downtown and Stone Road stations is each half an hour during off-peak times, and every 40 minutes during peak periods (effective September 2, 2007).
• Greyhound Lines of Canada - provides daily service to Toronto, Kitchener and Owen Sound. Connections made in Toronto for all points in Canada.
• Coach Canada - provides service to Hamilton and Niagara Falls.
• GO Transit - has bus connections to the Georgetown (GO Transit) Train as well as connecting buses to Brampton and into Union Station and York Mills.

Rail

• Via Rail - provides daily passenger rail service from the Guelph, Ontario railway station to London and Toronto connecting there to other points in Canada.

Highways

• Highway 401 to Toronto and London.
• Highway 7 to Kitchener and Acton.
• Highway 6 to Hamilton and Owen Sound. This highway is known as the Hanlon Parkway for most of its length inside the city.

People

Notable people associated with Guelph

• Carla Collins - actress, comedian
• Tom King - novelist and broadcaster
• Neve Campbell - actress, attended John F. Ross CVI
• A. J. Casson - member of the Group of Seven artists.
• Elinor Glyn - Edwardian writer of erotic novels; silent film screenwriter.
• Jean Little - novelist.
• John Kenneth Galbraith - economist, attended college in Guelph.
• John McCrae - First World War poet.
• Richard McDonaldhttp://www.imdb.com/name/nm0567961/ - writer.
• Robert Munsch - children's author
• Sue Richards - artist
• Seth - cartoonist
• Jane Siberry - singer-songwriter
• Ken Danby - Artist
• Luke Kirby - actor, attended GCVI
• John Edward Purcell - tennis and badminton player
• Lou Fontinato - NHL player
• Edeet Ravel - author
• Thai Mac - renowned entrepreneur
• Werner Zimmermann - writer and illustrator
• Thomas F. Ryan the inventor of five-pin bowling, was a Guelph resident.
• Kirk Maltby a current NHL player playing for the Detroit Red Wings

Also See:

References

See also

• Guardians of Order
• Guelph, Ontario railway station
• Monarchy in Ontario

External links

• City of Guelph website
• Maps of Guelph streets, attractions, trails, bus routes, truck routes, waste collection, and wards
• Facts about Guelph
• Guelph Public Library
• Guelph Downtown
• Wellington Guelph Community Portal
• Wellington County Museum
• Guelph Junction Railway

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	Kitchener, Waterloo, Breslau	Guelph	Rockwood, Halton Hills, Milton
		Cambridge, Puslinch Township, Hamilton

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Regional municipalities	Durham - Halton - Muskoka - Niagara - Oxford - Peel - Waterloo - York
Single-tier municipalities	Brant - Brantford - Chatham-Kent - Greater Sudbury - Haldimand - Hamilton - Kawartha Lakes - Norfolk - Ottawa - Prince Edward - Toronto
Separated municipalities	Barrie - Belleville - Brantford - Brockville - Gananoque - Guelph - Kingston - London - Orillia - Pembroke - Peterborough - Prescott - Quinte West - Smiths Falls - St. Marys - St. Thomas - Stratford - Windsor

•  • [ e] Canadian Census metropolitan areas (CMAs) by size

Toronto, ON Montreal, QC Vancouver, BC Ottawa–Gatineau, ON/QC Calgary, AB Edmonton, AB Quebec City, QC Winnipeg, MB Hamilton, ON London, ON Kitchener, ON St. Catharines-Niagara, ON Halifax, NS Oshawa, ON Victoria, BC Windsor, ON Saskatoon, SK Regina, SK Sherbrooke, QC St. John's, NL Barrie, ON Kelowna, BC Abbotsford, BC Greater Sudbury, ON Kingston, ON Saguenay, QC Trois-Rivires, QC Guelph, ON Moncton, NB Brantford, ON Thunder Bay, ON Saint John, NB Peterborough, ON