[10] In late 2018, the Guelph Eramosa and Puslinch entity had an unemployment rate of 2.3%, which decreased to 1.9% by January 2019, the lowest of all Canadian cities.

According to the University of Guelph, "the area was home to a First Nations community called the Attawandaron who lived in longhouses surrounded by fields of corn".

Galt was a popular Scottish poet and novelist who also designed the town to attract settlers and farmers to the surrounding countryside.

[17] The founding was symbolized by the felling of a tree by Galt and William "Tiger" Dunlop, who would be significant in the history of Goderich, Ontario, on April 23, 1827.

[19] A sawmill was erected in 1833 by Charles Julius Mickle, originally from Scotland,[35] on the Marden Creek which runs into the Speed River; its ruin survives today.

[39] For several years, the economy of the village suffered and some residents moved away; relief came in the form of wealthy immigrants from England and Ireland who arrived in 1832.

[40] The Smith's Canadian Gazetteer of 1846 indicates that the town had a jail and court house made of cut stone, a weekly newspaper, five churches/chapels and a population of 1,240; most were from England and Scotland with a few from Ireland.

[53] The Gothic Revival style Roman Catholic church on Norfolk St., called the Basilica of Our Lady Immaculate since December 8, 2014, was built between 1876 and 1888.

[55] The first section of the Wellington, Grey & Bruce Railway, between Guelph and Elora, opened in 1870; the line would eventually run as far as Southampton, Ontario,[56] with stations in communities such as Palmerston, Harriston, Listowel and Wingham.

The only "royals" to actually visit were John Campbell, the Marquis of Lorne, and his wife was Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll, one of Queen Victoria's daughters.

Ladies order their groceries, consult their medical advisers, call their husbands home from the club and gossip with their friends by telephone.

Fredrick T. Metcalf created MacLean Hunter Television (now part of Rogers Communications) and their first broadcast was Queen Elizabeth's Coronation in 1953.

Other noteworthy items: the city's covered bridge (now part of a walking trail), built by the Timber Framers' Guild in 1992, is one of only two of its type in Ontario, using wooden pins to hold it together.

[18] Guelph has several buildings on the National Historic Sites of Canada register: the Basilica of Our Lady Immaculate, McCrae House and Old City Hall.

The intent is to transform the Baker St. parking lot and properties fronting Wyndham Street's north end into a mixed-use development, with urban intensification.

The private enterprise partner for the project is Ottawa-based Windmill Development Group; there was also discussion about an additional partnership with Conestoga College and the YMCA.

There are also many creeks and smaller rivers creating large tracts of densely forested ravines, and providing ideal sites for parks and recreational trails.

The city is built on several drumlins and buried waterways, the most notable being an underground creek flowing below the Albion Hotel, once the source of water used to brew beer.

It is generally a couple of degrees cooler than lower elevation regions on the Great Lakes shorelines, especially so in winter, the exception being on some spring afternoons when the lack of an onshore breeze boosts temperatures well above those found lakeside.

[12] 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.

[116] 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.

"[124] 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.

[17] The most common mother tongue in 2021 was English; spoken by 74.5% of the population, followed by Chinese languages (2.3%), Punjabi (1.5%), Italian (1.3%), Vietnamese (1.2%), Tagalog (1.2%), Spanish (1.2%), and French (1.1%).

Between 1911 and 1915, prisoners had built the Administration building, the cell blocks, ponds and waterways, dry stone walls, stairs, gates, bridges and terraced gardens.

The prison abattoir was eventually sold off and became the privately owned company, later known as Better Beef (purchased by Cargill Canada in 2005), a massive meat processing plant.

In December 2017, City Council voted to buy 98 hectares (240 acres) for subsequent sale to developers, including the area that was then the Turf Grass research building and the jail farm, the so-called York District Land.

[174][175] The Romanesque Revival building, with its Italianate tower, has been listed on the Canadian Register since 2006 and was formally recognized as one of Canada's Historic Places in November 1992.

[28][178][25] After this brick building was no longer used as a rail station, it was converted for other purposes; eventually it was moved to the Galt area of Cambridge, Ontario.

[211] Both of those publications disappeared but the city was served by a daily newspaper for 149 years until the Guelph Mercury ceased operations in January 2016 due to declining subscriptions and revenues.

The latter increased its reporting of local news, assumed publication of the Guelph and District Homes section and, in April 2016, took over operation of the Mercury website.