Join us on October 2 for an open house to discuss construction pace, Downtown waste, streetscaping, heritage and more!

Check out the Engagement Opportunities section below for more information or complete our online surveys

• Construction pace, phase 2 survey
• St Georges Square ideas survey

Downtown Guelph is the heart of our city. It’s a place where residents and visitors come to live, work, play, and love. We’re going to make it even better and breathe new life to our Downtown.

We have a vibrant and thriving Downtown, and we want it to stay that way for years to come. We also have aging water and sewer pipes, roads and sidewalks that must be replaced; some of the underground pipes are over 100 years old! We’re replacing our aging infrastructure and upgrading utility services, and, before we put the roads back together, we’ll also have an opportunity to modernize the streetscape.

Improving this important Downtown infrastructure will allow us to provide better community-driven service and help support the economic vitality of our vibrant Downtown core.

However, work like this takes time. It takes years to research, engage with the community, create a dependable plan, and replace the infrastructure. This necessary renewal work will ultimately improve our Downtown for all businesses, residents, and visitors. Let’s work together to create a place for everyone in Downtown Guelph.

The Downtown Infrastructure Renewal Program project is one of many exciting projects under the overarching Downtown Renewal efforts. The overall Downtown Renewal program will transform and revitalize how Downtown looks, feels and functions while still preserving its unique cultural heritage, which will make it future-ready to continue supporting growth to 2051 and beyond.

Planning phase

Planning for Downtown Infrastructure Renewal began in the spring of 2021. During the planning phase, we’re looking at the existing infrastructure and the future needs of Downtown Guelph to determine what needs updating..

As part of the planning work, we initiated two Municipal Class Environment Assessments (EAs). Environmental assessments involve collaborating with the community to support the planning and decision-making for large-scale projects. These EAs looked at various options for traffic flow, pedestrian areas and public spaces in Downtown streets, and the bridge and dam structures along Macdonell.

• The Wyndham Street EA examined the function of the road for all users including the number of traffic lanes and available active transportation infrastructure.
• The Macdonell and Allan Dam structures EA across the Speed River is being completed to confirm required improvements and the preferred solution for each.

In February 2024, City Council approved the Wyndham Street North cross-section and St. George’s Square reconstruction, which came from the original Wyndham EA. The Macdonell and Allan Dam structures EA will be brought to Council for consideration in early 2025, as this work is still being completed.

We expect to start work on the final design of the first phase of construction for Downtown Infrastructure Renewal later in 2024. Construction will start in 2026.

The overall design and construction process for this infrastructure renewal is likely to last over the next few decades.

Project study area

Engagement opportunities

This summer, our project team will be out and about sharing information about this project and talking with the community about design options for St. Georges square in anticipation of our next big engagement push in October.

Watch for our street team at upcoming events including:

• The Ward Night Market Renfaire - August 15 in York Road Park
• Guelph Ribfest - August 23-25 in Riverside Park
• Carden Market - September 7, 12 - 7p.m. along Carden Street
• Ward Night Market - September 19, 5-9 p.m. Guelph Farmers' Market, 2 Gordon Street
• Fourth Friday- September 27 outside the Guelph Museum
• Downtown Guelph Trick or Treat - October 26, location and time to be confirmed, in or near St. George's Square and Old Quebec Shops.
  • At these events, were sharing information and asking the community for ideas to feed into the design process for St. Georges Square
    • Complete the design ideas survey here

Join us for a Construction Café

• On the third Thursday of every month, or project team will be at a different downtown café to meet with businesses, hear your questions and share information. Drop in to have a chat in the morning. Coffee's on us!
  Check out the 'More Information' section below to find out where and when to find us this month!

Attend our Mega Open House

Mark your calendars! On Wednesday, October 2 from 6 to 8 p.m., we’ll be hosting another public open house at City Hall (1 Carden Street) for the Downtown Infrastructure Renewal Program (DTIRP) – a follow-up from our open house in March of this year where we asked the community about fast vs. slow-paced construction.
This open house will focus on the capital implementation plan (i.e., planning) for DTIRP, which will establish how this work will be carried out (what areas in what phases). In addition to display boards and activities, we’ll have a presentation starting at 6:30 p.m. with a question-and-answer component.

We also want to hear from the community on the design and future of St. George’s Square.

We’ll have other Downtown projects there too – like Downtown Solid Waste Collection, Downtown Heritage Conservation District, the Downtown Heights Study, the Community Planning Permit System pilot project, and the Wyndham-Wellington Water and Wastewater Capacity Improvement project. Come out and be part of the conversation for everything Downtown!

Can’t be there in person? Join us virtually on Webex at 6:30 p.m. - to learn about the Downtown Infrastructure project and ask your questions. You can even review the Open House information boards from the event online.

• Join link:https://guelph.webex.com/guelph/j.php?MTID=m4cec4a58784d129ef74756d3ee5be5f4

  Webinar Number: 2342 347 2932

  • Webinar password: City2024 (24892024 from phones and video systems)

Take the open house surveys:

Until October 27, please take some time to share your thoughts with us through two ongoing surveys:

• Construction pace, phase 2 survey
  • Please review the Open House information boards to help inform your responses
• St Georges Square ideas survey

More engagement dates and announcements coming soon!

A summary of past engagement activities and what we heard from 2022 until our most recent phase of engagement can be found in the “Documents” panel on the right-hand side of this page, including:

• Spring 2024 engagement summary
• Fall 2023 engagement summary
• Summer 2023 engagement summary
• Fall 2022 engagement summary
• Summer 2022 engagement summary

How to reach us:

We're always here to answer your questions. Please reach out any time at mydowntown@guelph.ca. We'll get back to you within a few business days.

Sign up to follow the project for regular updates. Simply subscribe using the "stay informed" link in the upper right corner of this page.

Subscribe on this page for updates and to stay informed.