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BRIEF HISTORY
The Guelph Collegiate Vocational Institute (GCVI) is the third oldest continuously operating high school in the province of Ontario, Canada.
The school was founded in the early eighteen hundreds by John Galt (founder of Guelph, Ontario) and originally housed in a small four window building known as the Priory. the school moved in 1854 to its current site on Paisley Road due to the construction of the Grand Trunk Railway.
The original building on the new site was torn down after a few decades and a new school constructed. Eventually a wooden gymnasium was added in 1886, and the school remained the same until 1906, when a large new wing was added to the left of the bell tower.
By this time the school was developing a reputation second to none in the province. Finally, by the nineteen twenty’s there were serious problems with overcrowding. In 1923 a new building opened (constructed at a cost of $400,000) that included modern plumbing, a massive skylight covering the large, two story, open auditorium area. It was called the most modern and upscale school biulding in Ontario.
The older buildings were connected to the school and used periodically before they were torn down in 1962 to facilitate several more additions including a modern gym, business and science wing, and tech wings.
Over the years tens of thousands of students have passed through the halls of GCVI, and many have left a memorable and distinct mark on the history of Canada.
Accomplished alumni include: Col. John McCrea (Author of “In Flanders Fields.”), Hugh C. Guthrie (Canadian federal opposition leader, leader of the Conservative Party), Ed Joliffe (one of three GCVI Rhodes Scholars and founder of the Ontario CCF, and opposition leader in the Ontario House), George Alexander Drew (Mayor of Guelph, Premier of Ontario, Leader of the Opposition in the House of Commons, Leader of the Conservative Party, Ambassador to the UK, founding chairman of the Ontario Securities Commission, World War I hero).
150th REUNION
Following the 140th reunion in 1994, the GCVI Community decided to maintain their alumni committee and begin the planning for a reunion in 2004 to mark the 150th anniversary of the Guelph Collegiate Vocational Institute.
The reunion took place in May 2004. It was deemed a tremendous success. Attended by roughly 2000 people (the oldest being a grad of 1926).
The school initiated a number of projects to commemorate 150 years of amazing history. The Guelph Collegiate Vocational Institute Student Senate led by President Jay Dickieson took on a number of projects. A famous visitor’s wall was established in the main hall, as was a commemorative wall display highlighting many Student Governments since their inception in 1948.
FAMOUS ALUMNI
James Jerome Hill
Arthur William Cutten
Dr. David Ouchterlony
William Ernest Hamilton
Alfred Dryden Hales
Terry Doyle
Carol Anne Wood
Beth Goobie
Andrew P. MacDonald
Donna Strickland
The Honorable Hugh Guthrie, K.C.,M.P.
Christina E. Hill, M.D., F.R.C.S.(C)
Brigadier-General Kenneth Torrance
Jean Little
Joey Slinger
Edward Johnson
Margaret Craig
George Sleeman
Effie Smith
John McCrae
John Kenneth Macalister
Dominic V.P. Cardillo
George Alexander Drew
P.G. Reid
Deborah Whale
Honourable Mr. Justice James M. Farley
Theodore Jewell
John Roe Hanna
Bishop Matthew Francis Ustrzycki
Fredrick Mills
INFLUENCE ON CANADIAN HISTORY:
• Future Prime Minister John Diefenbaker married a GCVI teacher, and made two prominent visits to the school including a stop as opposition leader in 1957, just weeks before being sworn in as Prime Minister, and one as Prime Minister in 1963 just before losing the next election to Liberal Leader Lester B. Pearson
• John Diefenbaker’s first visit launched the 17-year political career of [Alfred Dryden Hales] alumni of G.C.V.I. Hales chaired the Public Accounts Committee for 6 years, and was beloved by his constituents.
• Less than 24 hours before Diefenbaker’s first visit Prime Minister Louis St. Laurent stopped at the school. Diefenbaker drew a much larger and much more enthusiastic crowd (a sure sign of what was to come in the election).
• John Diefenbaker had replaced George Alexander Drew (a former GCVI Student) as leader of the Conservative Party less than a year before becoming Prime Minister in 1957.
• During the Ontario provincial elections of 1943 and 1948, both the Premier ( George Alexander Drew ) and Opposition Leader ( Ed Joliffe ) were former GCVI Students, so regardless of who won the election the Premier of Ontario would have been a student at Guelph Collegiate.
• George Alexander Drew was the second GCVI student to hold the position of Federal Leader of the Opposition, following Hugh Guthrie, who held the post for little under a year in the early half of the 1900’s.
• Future Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson visited G.C.V.I. in 1958.
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The Schools Latin motto, Hic Patet Inganis Campus, translates, “Here lies open the field for the quest of knowledge.”
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