Centre Wellington is a

township A township is a form of human settlement or administrative subdivision. Its exact definition varies among countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, this tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Canad ...

in south-central

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, Canada, located in Wellington County. The primary communities are Elora and Fergus. The area is agricultural but also includes industries such as manufacturing. In the

Canada 2016 Census The 2016 Canadian census was an enumeration of Canadian residents, which counted a population of 35,151,728, a change from its 2011 population of 33,476,688. The census, conducted by Statistics Canada, was Canada's seventh quinquennial censu ...

, the population was stated as 28,191.

History

The township was established on January 1, 1999, by amalgamating Fergus, Elora, the Townships of Nichol, Pilkington, West Garafraxa and a part of Eramosa. Fergus and Elora, in particular, have interesting histories that started in the 1830s.

Communities

In addition to Fergus and Elora, the township includes several small communities, hamlets and villages including; Aboyne, Belwood, Creek Bank, Cumnock, Dracon, Ennotville, Inverhaugh, Living Springs, Oustic, Pentland Corners, Ponsonby, Salem, Shiloh, Simpson Corners, Speedside and Spier.

Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by

Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; ), formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and culture. It is headquartered in ...

, Centre Wellington had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of . With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021. According to the

2011 Canadian Census The 2011 Canadian census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population on May 10, 2011. Statistics Canada, an agency of the Canadian government, conducts a nationwide census every five years. In 2011, it consisted of a mandatory short form ...

, the median age was 42.7 years old, a bit higher than the national median at 40.6 years old. According to the 2011 National Household Survey, the median value of a dwelling in Centre Wellington was $300,625, a bit higher than the national average at $280,552. The median household income (after-taxes) in Centre Wellington was $66,764, higher than the national average at $54,089. Most of Centre Wellington's population in 2011 was of European descent; the following is the racial breakdown: * 96.5%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

* 2.1% Aboriginal; ''1.4%

First Nations First nations are indigenous settlers or bands. First Nations, first nations, or first peoples may also refer to: Indigenous groups *List of Indigenous peoples *First Nations in Canada, Indigenous peoples of Canada who are neither Inuit nor Mé ...

, 0.7% Metis'' * 0.4%

South Asian South Asia is the southern Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia that is defined in both geographical and Ethnicity, ethnic-Culture, cultural terms. South Asia, with a population of 2.04 billion, contains a quarter (25%) of the world's populatio ...

* 0.3%

East Asia East Asia is a geocultural region of Asia. It includes China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan, plus two special administrative regions of China, Hong Kong and Macau. The economies of Economy of China, China, Economy of Ja ...

n;'' 0.3% Chinese, 0.0%

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, people from the Korean peninsula or of Korean descent * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Korean **Korean dialects **See also: North–South differences in t ...

, 0.0% Japanese'' * 0.2%

Latin American Latin Americans (; ) are the citizenship, citizens of Latin American countries (or people with cultural, ancestral or national origins in Latin America). Latin American countries and their Latin American diaspora, diasporas are Metroethnicity, ...

' * 0.2%

Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

* 0.1%

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...

n; ''0.1% Filipino '' * 0.0%

Arab Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...

* 0.0%

West Asian West Asia (also called Western Asia or Southwest Asia) is the westernmost region of Asia. As defined by most academics, UN bodies and other institutions, the subregion consists of Anatolia, the Arabian Peninsula, Iran, Mesopotamia, the Armenian ...

* 0.0%

Multiracial The term multiracial people refers to people who are mixed with two or more races (human categorization), races and the term multi-ethnic people refers to people who are of more than one ethnicity, ethnicities. A variety of terms have been used ...

; ''0.7% including Metis'' * 0.2% Other

Economy

Centre Wellington is heavily agricultural but is also the home to industries, manufacturers, retailers, health care services and trades people. The local economy also benefits greatly from tourism. At the time of the 2011 census, 6.4% of the workforce of Centre Wellington was involved in agriculture and other resource-based industries/utilities, 24.8% in manufacturing and construction, 19.8% in health and education and 13.2% in wholesale and retail trade. The top three categories for employment (in order of importance) were in Manufacturing, Healthcare and Agriculture. The major employers in the township include Jefferson Elora Corp., Nexans Canada, Polycorp Ltd., Groves Memorial Hospital, Wellington Terrace and PR Donnelly. The average real estate value, for a single detached home in 2014 was $342,817 in Centre Wellington. Many tourists visit Centre Wellington, especially Elora, on daytrips, attracted by the historic nature of the towns or the Grand River Raceway with horse racing and slot machines. Also at the edge of town, the Elora Gorge Conservation Area often fills to capacity on summer weekends. The park offers paddleboat rentals, hiking, camp-grounds, fishing and picnicking. Also operated by the Grand River Conservation Authority, the nearby Elora Quarry is a popular swimming area. The annual Elora Festival (2 weeks in July) is particularly popular; the headliner in 2017 was

Gordon Lightfoot Gordon Meredith Lightfoot Jr. (November 17, 1938 – May 1, 2023) was a Canadian singer-songwriter who achieved worldwide success and helped define the singer-songwriter era of the 1970s. Widely considered one of Canada's greatest songwriters, ...

. The Elora mill, built in the 1830s, was a hotel until 2010. It was restored to luxury level and reopened as the Elora Mill Inn and Spa on July 6, 2018. The township encourages the filming of movies and TV shows; quite a few productions have taken advantage of the historic look of Fergus and especially Elora for location work. For example, in 2016, parts of the 10-part mini-series, ''Canada: The Story of Us'', were filmed in Elora which stood in for scenes of WW II skirmishes in Holland and France.

Local government

Township council includes a mayor and six councillors. Three of the latter live in Fergus while one lives in Elora. The Township is also represented on the County of Wellington Council which is made up of seven mayors and nine councillors. The head of this council is the Warden. The township of Centre Wellington has an active historical society and operates the Wellington County Museum and Archives in a historic stone building in Aboyne, halfway between Elora and

Fergus, Ontario Fergus is the largest community in Centre Wellington, a township within Wellington County, Ontario, Wellington County in Ontario, Canada. It lies on the Grand River (Ontario), Grand River about 18 km NNW of Guelph. The population of this com ...

. This two-storey

Italianate The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style combined its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century It ...

stone building was the earliest known state-supported

poorhouse A poorhouse or workhouse is a government-run (usually by a county or municipality) facility to support and provide housing for the dependent or needy. Workhouses In England, Wales and Ireland (but not in Scotland), "workhouse" has been the more ...

almshouse An almshouse (also known as a bede-house, poorhouse, or hospital) is charitable housing provided to people in a particular community, especially during the Middle Ages. They were often built for the poor of a locality, for those who had held ce ...

in Canada, called the Wellington County House of Industry and Refuge when it opened in 1877. Subsequently, the home switched to caring for the elderly and chronically ill, eventually closing in 1971. The building was designated a

National Historic Site of Canada National Historic Sites of Canada () are places that have been designated by the federal Minister of the Environment on the advice of the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada (HSMBC), as being of national historic significance. Parks C ...

in 1995.

Climate

This township has a

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers, and cold ...

(''Dfb'') under the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

with cold winters and warm summers.

Sports

Centre Wellington recently expanded the community centre in Fergus which now has two ice pads, a pool, a hall and a gym. The complex plays host to the Centre Wellington Fusion & Mustangs minor hockey associations, the Centre Wellington Thistles jr C minor lacrosse team, the Centre Wellington Riverhawks (formerly Mohawks) minor Lacrosse association, and the Fergus Flippers aquatic club. The Elora arena plays host to the

Elora Rocks The Elora Rocks are a senior hockey team based out of Elora, Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territor ...

Sr.A hockey team, the Elora Mohawks Jr.B lacrosse team, and The Edge Ringette association. The Inverhaugh Cricket Club is the only privately owned turf wicket in Canada used for cricket. Highland Park is the home t
Centre Wellington Minor Softball Association
which has been providing safe and fun softball to families in CW for decades. They now offer Softball to both kids AND Adults to better serve the entire family and keep the people of Centre Wellington active. Fergus is also home to the Highland Rugby Club and the Fergus-Elora District Soccer Club (FEDS). Fergus Curling Club, Ontario's oldest continuously running Curling Club, was founded in 1834 by settlers from Scotland. Adam Fergusson was the first president. Matches were held outdoors until 1879 when an indoor rink was opened.

Media

Centre Wellington is covered by local newspapers, television and local radio through the following services: * ''The Wellington Advertiser'' * '' TVCogeco'' * ''EloraFergusToday'' * ''The Grand @ 101'' (101.1 FM)

References

External links

* {{Wellington County Lower-tier municipalities in Ontario Township municipalities in Ontario