GUELPH, ONTARIO

'Guelph' (IPA: ) (population 114,943Statistics Canada: Community Profiles for Guelph) 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.Statistics Canada: Community Profile for Wellington
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 livingCity of Guelph Website, 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 canadianbusiness.com, and was also rated among Canada's ten best places to live by ''Chatelaine'' magazine.

Contents

History

Geography and climate

Topography

Climate

Economy

Demographics

Education

Secondary schools

Universities/Colleges

Public library system

Politics

City Hall

Members of Provincial Parliament

Members of Parliament

Culture

Tourism

Historic sites

Outdoor attractions

Arts facilities

Music

Shopping

Sports teams

Media

Transportation

Bus

Rail

Highways

People

References

See also

External links

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.
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.About Guelph
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%,