Highlighting some of the city’s strongest qualities
While a majority of students’ time is spent on the University of Guelph campus during the semester, the city of Guelph is an incredible place to be. Among the multiple community activities, workshops, and concerts taking place daily, Guelph is a proven city of innovation—it boasts some of the lowest unemployment rates in Canada and also has a revered eco-friendly reputation as a highly sustainable city. It’s easy for students to fall into the trap thinking that they are solely students who study in Guelph—however, the “Royal City” offers numerous opportunities for meaningful involvement and rewarding volunteer experiences.
Economy and Employment
While Guelph isn’t directly considered a part of the Greater Toronto Area, it still benefits from the growing and expanding municipalities around it. In an article published by The Globe and Mail in January 2016, Guelph gained national attention when it was ranked as the city with the lowest unemployment rate in Canada. The rankings, assembled by BMO Nesbitt Burns, found that 4.2 per cent of Guelph’s population was jobless, with the highest majority of it’s shared population successfully holding employment. For comparison, Toronto had a 7.0 per cent jobless rate, and Montreal had 8.7 per cent.
Eco-friendly initiatives
Guelph holds a long-standing reputation as being a highly eco-friendly community. Through a variety of unique initiatives and award-winning programs, Guelph and its population have demonstrated a willingness to preserve the environment in a shared and sustainable way. More recently, the city received a 2016 Gold Excellence Award in the collections systems category at the Solid Waste Association of North America. Further, Guelph has received various awards for its environmental prowess including recognition from the Ontario Energy Association and Ontario’s Chief Energy Conservation Officer in 2007.
Culture and community
The next category is not easily as quantifiable as the previous two because it exists largely at the level of Guelph’s population. As is evident for anyone who has visited or lived in Guelph, the attitude and kind nature of its people is astounding. The community is engaged at multiple levels and in a variety of ways. Whether it is the plethora of volunteers who gather and camp out at Hillside Festival every year, the countless open mics and poetry slams densely scattered across the downtown core, or the dedicated individuals volunteering for the Guelph Humane Society, this is a place that nurtures volunteerism and promotes it as an essential component of the community.