Guelph, also known as ‘The Royal City,’ is located in Southwestern Ontario in Canada and less than an hour’s travel away from Hamilton and Toronto. Guelph offers that perfect fusion of small-town life but with city perks. It’s absent the hustle and disadvantages of a major metropolis but seems to provide all the advantages, just on a smaller scale.
Guelph life has a real community vibe, and if you put that together with a high employment level, a low crime rate, and an affordable cost of living, the question really should be, why wouldn’t you want to live in Guelph?
Why Is Guelph Known As a Royal City?
The name ‘Guelph’ (which rhymes with ‘self’) was chosen by the town’s founder, John Galt, in 1827 because it was a family name of the British royal family and had not previously been used to name any other location. The town was named to honor King George IV, the reigning monarch in Britain at the time. The rather unusual name harks back to the House of Welf from which the Hanoverian Guelfs or Guelphs were descended.
John Galt worked for the Canada Company, a development firm, and Guelph is known as the first planned city in Canada and became home to the headquarters of the British company. Officials of the Canada Company initially objected to the name Guelph because they thought the settlement wouldn’t necessarily prosper into anything significant; they believed that the name should be reserved for a more auspicious location. They suggested the name ‘Goderich’ as an alternative. But the name Guelph stuck.
Galt was a well-known Scottish novelist and poet, and it must have been this streak of creativity that inspired the layout of Guelph, which was designed to attract new farmers and settlers to the surrounding countryside.
Galt’s town design mimicked a classic European city layout with wide thoroughfares meeting spacious squares and narrow side streets; the grid system is ordered but also varied and interesting.
Daily Living in Guelph
Guelph is a small city that offers urban conveniences to suit all ages, with a strong sense of community and plenty of activities and groups to engage with. Guelph is friendly and welcoming, and its affordability makes it a popular location for families.
Education
Whether you have a young family or are considering heading to the University of Guelph for higher education, the city offers several highly-rated schools with diverse extracurricular activities and community involvement. Guelph’s high school graduation rates are 86%, above the Canadian average.
Some people come to Guelph for higher education, and the university has an excellent academic reputation. Founded in 1964, it has a spacious and beautifully landscaped campus, comprises seven different colleges spanning a wide range of courses, and is Canada’s number one vet school.
The University of Guelph ranks amongst the top twenty universities in Canada, according to Times Higher Education. It is also famed for the Guelph Arboretum, a 165-hectare site open all year round and containing 400 unique species of trees, an internationally renowned rose collection, and the G. Porter Memorial Japanese Garden.
A Family-friendly Environment
Guelph could have been tailor-made for families, with lots of indoor and outdoor activities for fun and downtime away from school and college. Guelph has playgrounds and libraries, and the city provides a selection of programs for children and young people to engage, entertain, and stimulate. Free, safe drop-in programs for teens focus on volunteering, leadership development, or socializing.
Heading Outdoors in Guelph
Guelph was designed with lots of outdoor spaces; it’s a green city with plenty to offer for outdoor activities and recreational time.
There are parks and easily accessible trails for hiking, biking, sports, and leisure. The Guelph Lake Conservation Area has specially designated trails for walkers of different calibers, all with panoramic views of the lake. Riverside Park has areas for sports like hardball, softball, and disc golf, with trails for walkers, joggers, and cyclists. The more adventurous may want to take a trip to the Rockwood Conservation Area, a landscape with limestone cliffs and a beautiful sandy beach down on the reservoir. Walk, swim, and camp.
The City of Music
A culturally vibrant city, Guelph is also often called ‘The City of Music’ because of its numerous music festivals. These include the Guelph Spring Festival, a 10-day event held in late May, and the Hillside Festival, a summer weekend music event in July. There is also a jazz festival on the second weekend in September.
Cultural and Recreational Opportunities in Guelph
Music isn’t the only element of the cultural scene in Guelph, a city with a longstanding reputation for the creative arts and heritage. The city has consistently made significant investments in cultural facilities and provided funding for arts organizations, museums, galleries, and performing arts venues like the River Run Centre, which opened in 1997 at a cost of $15 million.
For pure recreation, residents and visitors can enjoy Ribfest, a weekend of music and food, Autofest, a classic car show, and the Great Canadian Brewing Festival. Guelph is known as a centre for craft brewing.
The Food and Drink Scene in Guelph
Aside from the craft and microbrewery scene for which Guelph enjoys a stellar reputation, foodies are never disappointed in this city. There is a broad cross-section of culinary outlets with a range of cuisines that embrace all that is good about innovation and international menus while focusing on local produce and farm-to-table dining.
For keen home cooks, Guelph has a vibrant food scene with farmers’ markets offering plenty of fresh, locally sourced ingredients and the Guelph Farmers Market at the heart of it. Open year-round on Saturdays, more than 100 vendors offer a vast range of food and artisan products.
The Cost of Living in Guelph
With an unemployment rate of less than 2%, Guelph consistently offers a low cost of living and a variety of reasonably priced housing options, not always found in adjacent urban centres like Toronto. Moneysense magazine lists Guelph as the best place to acquire real estate in Canada, and Zolo lists it as the fifth most affordable large city in Ontario.
Unsurprisingly, Guelph is popular among young professionals and couples with families attracted by the economic activity and high employment rates. The Bank of Montreal (BMO) rates Guelph as one of Canada’s best employment destinations. At the other end of the spectrum, the city is also a top destination for retirees for sheer affordability and quality of life.
Accessibility and Commuting
Guelph is within easy reach of some major cities in this part of Toronto. Toronto is only 70 kilometres from Guelph, and the city’s east is only 23 kilometres from Waterloo. Hamilton is 46 kilometres to the north.
Recent investment in the transport infrastructure with an integrated and low-cost system for the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area has made public travel easier and cheaper with GO transit. Guelph has a well-organized bus system, which is free for students.
Despite its location, Guelph is not known as a commuter city because its economic prosperity means there is usually employment for all ages and in a wide range of sectors.
Environmentally Conscious and Sustainable Living
Known as the greenest city in Ontario, Guelph has consistently shown a commitment and dedication to the environment and sustainable practices. Guelph has long cherished a mission to create a healthy and resilient environment for its residents. This informs almost everything it does, from waste management to infrastructure and transport systems development.
A hallmark of Guelph’s green credentials is the city’s commitment to zero waste supported by a comprehensive waste management system that focuses on reduction, reuse and recycling. In particular, the waste reduction program has diverted thousands of tons of waste from landfills.
Sustainable transportation is another feather in Guelph’s cap. The city has spent significant sums creating bike lanes and trails to promote green forms of travel. It also has a transit plan that actively encourages reducing single-occupancy vehicles, diverting drivers instead to public transport.
Guelph has embraced new green building standards ensuring developments comply with the latest energy and environmental criteria. The city also endorses renewable energy and actively supports the development of sources such as solar and wind power.
In 2018, Guelph was named Canada’s most sustainable city by Corporate Knights, a Toronto media company focusing on advancing sustainable objectives. Guelph has also received an accolade from the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), which recognized the city as an Earth Hour Capital in 2014.
A Safe City
Guelph has been ranked as the tenth safest city in Canada, with a high rating of 69.57 and a low crime index of 30.43. This data reinforces its attraction for middle-class professionals, young families and an elderly population looking to retire.
Need Any More Convincing…?
Guelph offers the ultimate and irresistible mix of city vibe with culture, green spaces, room to relax and unwind, and a high quality of life founded on economic prosperity. Its links with major centres in Ontario and access to nature mean Guelph is the best of both worlds whether you’re a young professional, a growing family, or a retiree.
Thinking about moving to Guelph? Looking for mortgage advice or considering refinancing your current mortgage? Or maybe you just want to say hi and learn more about this amazing city? Visit our contact page to get in touch—we’d love to hear from you!
