Church in Guelph

ABOUT GUELPH SAINTS

In 2004, a brother from the church in Kitchener made contact with some believers in Guelph whom he knew from the workplace. He shared the written ministry with a sister who attended the Roman Catholic church. The sister started reading ministry booklets and received Emanna. So impressed was she with Emanna, that she would make several copies of the emails and pass them out in a Catholic charismatic worship meeting she attended. Eventually, a number of those at that gathering wanted to hear more and they invited the Kitchener brother to address that group. He visited  and shared with the group a half dozen times.  A year later, he was invited to commence a Bible study with some of these believers there in Guelph.  With the exception of the one evangelical brother, all the others who attended the Bible study were Roman Catholic, involved in their parish’s charismatic worship meetings. 

On average that Bible study comprised some 10-12 participants. The others who attended varied in their seeking and hunger; some stayed a few months, some a year or two. About half continued faithfully to attend. Beginning with Galatians, that Bible Study also covered John, then Colossians and finally Philippians. Before Galatians was completed, these hungry ones wanted to come and see the meeting the Kitchener brother attended. Once they started meeting they remained, faithfully attending the meetings of the church in Kitchener, getting their own Recovery Version with footnotes of the whole Bible, attending area conferences, attending live and video trainings and participating in the 96 lessons training conducted in Kitchener. They all have served in the church, either on children’s service, the service office and chair arranging.

They continue to have a group meeting on Monday night and on Tuesday they have a prayer meeting. The sisters gather on Thursday to pray.  On Lord’s day, the saints continue to go to Kitchener to break bread. After the Lord’s day meeting, the Guelph brothers have been having a short but dedicated time to pray for the Lord’s move in Guelph and for the Lord to establish a lamp stand, there. Now these saints have been having a Wednesday prayer time specifically to seek the Lord’s guidance to raise up a lampstand in Guelph.

The composition of Guelph saints is as follows:

  • There are over twenty saints who live there.  
  • The original core of five saints have lived all or most of their lives there, and are in their 50’s and 60’s; they are in active contact with many people in the community, including younger families, friends, work colleagues and acquaintances. 
  • Besides the original core of five saints, there is Chinese-speaking family, two Filipino families, a Columbian family and an east African family. 

There is a burden to see the saints there take the ground in that city. We look to the Lord that 2020 is the year for the Church in Guelph.

The saints in Guelph would welcome support from the Body, in the form of migration.  For saints considering migrating, the following section, “The Ciyt of Guelph”are facts about Guelph that might be of help in your consideration.

THE CITY OF GUELPH

Guelph, a city in south western Ontario, Canada, is roughly 28 kilometres (17 mi) east of Kitchener-Waterloo and 100 kilometres (62 mi) west of downtown Toronto at the intersection of Highway 6 and Highway 7. It is the seat of Wellington County.

According to the 2016 Canadian Census Guelph’s population is 131,794 making it the fourth fastest growing city in Canada with a population growth rate of about 2% per year. Guelph’s population according to the Ontario Places to Grow plan is projected to be about 195,000 by the year 2031. Population varies throughout the year because of variations in the University of Guelph student population. Because of its low crime rates, clean environment and generally high standard of living, Guelph is consistently rated as one of the country’s most livable cities. 

Historically, Guelph’s population has been principally British in origin, with 92% in 1880 and 87% in 1921. Later the ethnicity of the city changed to reflect a wider European/North American mix. Now, some 10 percent of the resident population described themselves as visible minorities, predominantly South Asian mostly of Afghan, Indian and Pakistani origin: 2.43%, Chinese: 2.42%, Black Canadian/African Canadians: 1.25%, and many others including Filipino and Vietnamese. 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 Hinduism. 

SOME FACTS ABOUT GUELPH

  1. Guelph was named Canada’s Most Caring Community by Maclean’s Magazine. The Royal City is the volunteer capital of Canada because 69.7 per cent of its population volunteers. (August 28, 2008)
  2. Guelph was ranked among the top ten places to live in Canada for four out of five demographic categories – university graduates, mid-career professionals, families with children and retirees. 
  3. The Canadian Council on Learning (CCL), ranked Guelph fourth among 4,716 Canadian cities in their Composite Learning Index, an annual measure that gauges learning conditions needed to foster social and economic well-being. (2009) 
  4. Statistics Canada named Guelph Canada’s safest city (2009)
  5. 1460 CJOY was the first Canadian radio station to have a call-in talk show.
  6. The wire coat hanger was invented here in the 1920s, probably by Steele’s Wire Spring Company.
  7. The Ontario Veterinary College is the oldest school of its kind in the Western hemisphere (founded in 1862).
  8. Colonel John McCrae, who wrote the poem “In Flanders Fields” was born and raised in Guelph.
  9. Led by potato breeder Dr. Gary Johnston, a research team at the University of Guelph created the Yukon Gold, the first Canadian-bred potato to be marketed and promoted by name.  It received a Canadian license in 1980.

CLIMATE AND WEATHER  

The weather and climate of our area of Ontario is moderate in both summer and winter with 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. 

ECONOMY

The city of Guelph’s diversified economy helped Guelph obtain the country’s lowest unemployment rate at 4.2 per cent in 2011and at 3.9 per cent in February 2016. The great diversity in the types of employers is a significant factor too; the city is not dependent on a single industry. The workforce participation rate of 72% was the best in Canada in December 2015 according to BMO senior economist Robert Kavcic. The job growth of more than 9 per cent at the same time was also of great value to the community.[83] At the time, the BMO economist also rated Guelph as the top city in Canada for those looking for work.[84] Over subsequent months, the rate increased steadily and the jobless rate was at a more typical 5.9% by October 2017, compared to 5.1% in Kitchener-Waterloo.[85] The rate in June 2018 had decreased to 4.5%. By December 2018, StatsCan was indicating an unemployment rate of only 2.3%, down from 4% in November, and the lowest in Canada at that time. 

The overall economy of the Guelph “region” (including the city and the townships of Guelph/Eramosa and Puslinch, Ontario) grew at an average of 3.5% per year over the previous five years and was expected to be 2.1% in 2019 and also in 2020 according to the Conference Board of Canada‘s August 2019 report. Guelph’s real gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 3.6% per cent in 2018, the highest among medium sized cities in Canada. “Although economic growth is poised to moderate in 2019, Guelph will maintain its place as one of Canada’s economic growth leaders,” the report predicted. 

MANUFACTURING SECTOR

Manufacturing is the leading sector of the economy of the city with the most significant sector being auto parts manufacturing[13]. The Conference Board of Canada‘s August 2019 report stated that the Guelph region’s manufacturing was experiencing significant growth, averaging 5.9% over the past five years and expected to be 4.2% in 2019. 

Linamar is the city’s leader in this sector, with 22 manufacturing plants. The company has received government funding for expansion that would create additional jobs, most recently in 2015 ($101 million) and in 2018 ($99 million). The latter would create 1,500 additional jobs and maintain 8,000 others in the Canadian operation. 

According to research completed by the City of Guelph in 2010, fabricated metal product manufacturing accounted for 26.1% of the types of industries, followed by machinery manufacturing for 12.8% and miscellaneous manufacturing for 10.4%. The City’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. 

The City also touts the importance of advanced manufacturing which is its largest employer. The roughly 360 businesses of this type employ approximately 14,755 people (roughly 25% of Guelph’s labour force). The category includes “high precision manufacturing and auto parts assembly to plastic injection moulding machines manufacturing and automation devices. This enables advanced manufacturing to be a strong driver of the local economy.” 

Guelph is very attractive to the agri-food and biotechnology market sector, according to the City. It was ranked as the top cluster in Ontario and one of the top two in Canada. This sector includes over 90 companies in Guelph-Wellington, employing approximately 6,500 people. 

The second largest industry is Educational services, accounting for 11.3%. 

EMPLOYMENT DATA

According to the Bank of Montreal‘s fourth quarter 2018 report, Guelph was the leading city in Canada in terms of job growth and low unemployment. In January 2019, the city had the lowest unemployment rate in Canada. 

The 2016 Census indicated a labour force of nearly 76,000, of which about 55% said they worked full-time all year. At the time the data was gathered, 4,610 persons indicated they were unemployed. The top five occupations in terms of the number so employed were Sales and service (16,195), Education, law and social, community and government services (10,205), Business, finance and administration (10,150), Trades, transport and equipment operators and related occupations (9,170) and manufacturing and utilities (8,205). 

The City of Guelph’s published 2016 data was sorting occupations in a different manner. In that report, Professional, Scientific and Technical jobs employed 39,141, Advanced Manufacturing employed 20,735, Retail and Service employed 11,345, Agri-Innovation employed 11,345, Culture and entertainment employed 7,711 and that Distribution, warehousing and wholesale employed 5,909. 

The largest private enterprise employers in Guelph (2016) included: 

  • Linamar Corporation
  • Cargill Meat Solutions
  • Polycon Industries
  • The Co-operators
  • Guelph Manufacturing Group Inc.
  • Blount Canada Ltd.

The Cooperators was one of the Platinum Winners in Canada’s Best Employers 2017 report; the company has been on this list for 14 years. 

The largest public sector employers (2016) included: 

  • Upper Grand District School Board
  • University of Guelph
  • City of Guelph
  • Wellington Catholic District School Board
  • Guelph General Hospital
  • Homewood Health Centre

The University’s staffing fell into three categories in 2015: there were 2,600 regular full-time faculty and staff, 1,890 temporary (full-time and part-time) and 3,690 student employees.[113] The University was among Canada’s Best Employers in 2016 according to Forbes magazine, making the top 20 in the list.[  

Two Guelph companies were among the 2018 winners of the Waterloo Area’s Top Employers competition. According to the report, Reid’s Heritage Group of Companies, a home builder with 212 full-time employees, “supports employees who are new mothers with maternity leave top-up payments …. [provides] flexible work hours, helps employees balance work and their personal commitments with up to 10 paid personal days … and offers referral bonuses [for staff hires].” Sleeman Breweries Limited, with 991 full-timers, offers “generous tuition subsidies … opportunities for the next generation to gain meaningful experience through summer employment and co-op placements … retirement planning assistance and phased-in work options” as well as bonuses for salaried staff and profit-sharing for those who are unionized. 

POST-SECONDARY EDUCATION

The University of Guelph (U of G) is a comprehensive public research university in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. It was established in 1964 after the amalgamation of Ontario Agricultural College, the MacDonald Institute, and the Ontario Veterinary College, and has since grown to an institution of more than 32,000 students (including those at the Humber campus, off-campus degree enrollments, diploma enrollments and part-time students) and over 1,500 faculty (academic staff) as of fall 2015. 

The University of Guelph offers 94 majors in 13 degree programs. The University is home to 17,332 full-time and part-time undergraduate students, 2,076 full-time and part-time graduate students and almost 3000 faculty and staff[ Over 99.8% of students entering the University of Guelph for the first time have academic averages of 75% and above. Guelph students also have the highest graduation rate among Canadian comprehensive universities (at 89%), 5.8% higher than the national average. As well, University of Guelph has been stated to be the best comprehensive university of Canada by Macleans magazine in 2006 and 2007.

Ranking and reputation – In a national online survey of university students by the University Report Card, University of Guelph students graded the university as the top medium-sized university in Canada.  Guelph was also the only school among large and/or medium-sized universities to receive an “A” for student services. They also received an “A” for overall educational experience. The University of Guelph is currently ranked by Maclean’s magazine as the fourth best comprehensive university in Canada (“comprehensive” indicating institutions with significant research activity and a range of programs at the undergraduate and graduate levels, including professional degrees). The University of Guelph has ranked as a top 3 of comprehensive universities in Canada ranking #1 in 1999, 2002, 2003, and 2006.  University of Guelph’s main campus has a student undergraduate enrolment of 18,700 and graduate enrolment of 2400 for a total of 21,100. Together with their Humber college program comprising 3300 full-and part-time students, the total University of Guelph enrolment is 24,400.  

The Veterinary medicine program at the University of Guelph was ranked 4th in the world in 2015. The University of Guelph is ranked 4th in Canada in Maclean’s “University Rankings 2018” in the Comprehensive category, which includes universities that conduct a significant degree of research and offer a wide range of undergraduate, graduate and professional degrees. It is given top marks for student satisfaction among medium-sized universities in Canada by The Globe and Mail. It has held these rankings with its reputation, innovative research-intensive programs, and lively campus life cited as particular strengths. According to the Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research, the university’s Hospitality and Tourism Management program has Canada’s highest research index. The university has a key focus on life science. 

The faculty at the University of Guelph hold 28 Canada Research Chair positions in the research areas of natural sciences, engineering, health sciences and social sciences. Academic achievements include the first scientific validation of water on Mars, Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer (APXS) on board the Curiosity rover,[9] and the Barcode of Life project for species identification. 

Medical facilities

The city currently has one hospital, Guelph General, which is rated as one of the safest in Canada in terms of the hospital standardized mortality ratio; the lower the better. Guelph’s facility had a score of 78 in 2017, notably better than the national average of 91. By comparison, Cambridge Memorial Hospital had a score of 95. St. Joseph’s Health Centre was previously a hospital, but is now a 240-bed long-term care home with a 91-bed specialty unit for complex continuing, rehabilitation and palliative care. Various outpatient services are also provided at this facility. 

Another major facility, Homewood Health Centre offers treatment for mental health and addiction issues. Homewood grew to a 312-bed mental and behavioural health facility and also formed a partnership with R.B. Schlegel Holdings Inc.to operate Oakwood Retirement Communities Inc., a long-term care facility.