Aylmer, Ontario
Encyclopedia
Aylmer is a town in Elgin County
in southern Ontario
, Canada
, just north of Lake Erie
, on Catfish Creek. It is 20 km south of Highway 401
. The mayor is Jack Couckuyt.
Aylmer is surrounded by Malahide Township
.
, who was Governor General of British North America
from 1830 to 1835. It is sometimes referred to as Aylmer West, to distinguish it from Aylmer East, Aylmer, Gatineau, Quebec. Aylmer was incorporated as a town in 1887.
A Royal Canadian Air Force Training Facility, RCAF Station Aylmer
was located just north of Aylmer in Malahide Township from 1941 to 1961. This station is now home to the Ontario Police College
and The Aylmer Wildlife Management Area.
In 2004, a new arena, the East Elgin Community Complex, was completed to house the many hockey leagues in town. The Old Town Hall which houses the library, also has a restored theatre which houses occasional plays. For history buffs, the Aylmer Museum houses a collection of 19th century Victorian art pieces created from hair.
In 2007, Communities in Bloom
, a nationwide beautification program, awarded Aylmer first place in Canada
in the 5001-10,000 population
category.
-speaking Mennonite
s began migrating to the Aylmer area from Mexico
. The Mennonites were Canadian citizens who had moved to Mexico from Manitoba
and Saskatchewan
during the first half of the 20th century. By the early 21st century, there was a large Mennonite population in Aylmer and the surrounding area. In addition to the Mennonite population there are sizable Dutch, German, and British descended populations in the area.
Just east of Aylmer is a sizable Old Order Amish community. This community was founded by families moving from Ohio
in 1953. They were uncomfortable with a nuclear
facility being constructed close to their community in Ohio. Since that time, the community has grown to encompass three "districts" the surrounding area. A number of members from this community participate in the weekly Aylmer Sales Barn and sell fruit, vegetables, eggs, and animals, such as rabbits and chickens. This particular Amish community eschews the use of automobiles, electricity, and most modern conveniences. A well-known Amish publishing house, Pathway Publishing Company
, is based in this community.
In 2001, Aylmer gained national attention after child welfare
seized 7 children from their home against their will after their parents
, members of the Church of God Restoration in Aylmer, were falsely accused of child abuse. The Family and Children’s Services of St. Thomas-Elgin unlawfully seized the seven children during a Mennonite prayer meeting with the assistance of many police officers and patrol cars. The trial judge found that there was no evidence of "abuse" even though Biblical corporal discipline was practiced. In a few short weeks the children were returned to their home.
growing industry played a large part in the economic development of Aylmer. Imperial Tobacco
Canada built a plant in Aylmer in the mid 1940s. At its peak, Imperial employed more than 800 full-time and seasonal workers. After declining tobacco sales in Canada
, Imperial began downsizing in the 1990s. In October 2005, Imperial Tobacco announced that the Aylmer and Guelph
, Ontario
plants would close. The plant closed permanently in July 2007, putting the remaining 75 employees out of work. The current average wage at Imperial Tobacco in Aylmer was $45 per hour. The town council is putting a plan in place to attract automotive-related industries to its new business park or Imperial's facilities, but is widely viewed in the business community as acting too slowly and has been unwilling to finance a permanent economic development officer to promote Aylmer as an attractive municipality for manufacturing. The facility was purchased in March 2010 by a consortium of investors led by Raymond Dueck of East St Paul, Manitoba and Jack Baribeau of Dorchester, Ontario. The complex was subsequently relaunched as the Elgin Innovation Centre as an industrial centre for lease for a wide variety of uses.
Population trend:
on 105.9 FM (a Low German
radio station), and low-power religious station
VF8016
at 90.1 FM.
Elgin County, Ontario
Elgin County is a county and census division of the Canadian province of Ontario with a current population of approximately 46,000. The county seat is St. Thomas.It consists of:*Town of Aylmer*Municipality of Bayham*Municipality of Central Elgin...
in southern Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, just north of Lake Erie
Lake Erie
Lake Erie is the fourth largest lake of the five Great Lakes in North America, and the tenth largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also has the shortest average water residence time. It is bounded on the north by the...
, on Catfish Creek. It is 20 km south of Highway 401
Highway 401 (Ontario)
King's Highway 401, also known by its official name as the Macdonald–Cartier Freeway and colloquially as the four-oh-one, is a 400-Series Highway in the Canadian province of Ontario stretching from Windsor to the Quebec border...
. The mayor is Jack Couckuyt.
Aylmer is surrounded by Malahide Township
Malahide, Ontario
Malahide is a township in Elgin County, Ontario, Canada.-History:Malahide Township was named for Malahide Castle in Malahide, Ireland, birthplace of land grant administrator Colonel Thomas Talbot in 1810...
.
History
The town was named after Matthew Whitworth-Aylmer, 5th Baron AylmerMatthew Whitworth-Aylmer, 5th Baron Aylmer
Matthew Whitworth-Aylmer, 5th Baron Aylmer was a British military officer and colonial administrator.- Napoleonic Wars :...
, who was Governor General of British North America
British North America
British North America is a historical term. It consisted of the colonies and territories of the British Empire in continental North America after the end of the American Revolutionary War and the recognition of American independence in 1783.At the start of the Revolutionary War in 1775 the British...
from 1830 to 1835. It is sometimes referred to as Aylmer West, to distinguish it from Aylmer East, Aylmer, Gatineau, Quebec. Aylmer was incorporated as a town in 1887.
A Royal Canadian Air Force Training Facility, RCAF Station Aylmer
RCAF Station Aylmer
RCAF Station Aylmer was a Royal Canadian Air Force training base that was established on July 3, 1941 just north-east of Aylmer, Ontario, Canada. It was one of many built across Canada under the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan during World War II....
was located just north of Aylmer in Malahide Township from 1941 to 1961. This station is now home to the Ontario Police College
Ontario Police College
The Ontario Police College is located in Malahide Township, just east of Aylmer, in Elgin County in Southwestern Ontario, Canada.-Programs:...
and The Aylmer Wildlife Management Area.
Aylmer today
Former mayor (1994–2003) Robert Habkirk was again elected the mayor of Aylmer on November 13, 2006 to a four-year term. He was defeated by the former principal of East Elgin Secondary School, Jack Couckuyt, by a wide margin on October 25, 2010.In 2004, a new arena, the East Elgin Community Complex, was completed to house the many hockey leagues in town. The Old Town Hall which houses the library, also has a restored theatre which houses occasional plays. For history buffs, the Aylmer Museum houses a collection of 19th century Victorian art pieces created from hair.
In 2007, Communities in Bloom
Communities in Bloom
Communities in Bloom is a Canadian non-profit organization that fosters friendly competition between Canadian communities to beautify their civic spaces. It was established in 1995 as a national competition between 29 communities, and has since expanded to include competitions in various...
, a nationwide beautification program, awarded Aylmer first place in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
in the 5001-10,000 population
Population
A population is all the organisms that both belong to the same group or species and live in the same geographical area. The area that is used to define a sexual population is such that inter-breeding is possible between any pair within the area and more probable than cross-breeding with individuals...
category.
Mennonite and Amish communities
In the mid-1970s, many GermanGerman language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
-speaking Mennonite
Mennonite
The Mennonites are a group of Christian Anabaptist denominations named after the Frisian Menno Simons , who, through his writings, articulated and thereby formalized the teachings of earlier Swiss founders...
s began migrating to the Aylmer area from Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
. The Mennonites were Canadian citizens who had moved to Mexico from Manitoba
Manitoba
Manitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other...
and Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of . Saskatchewan is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dakota....
during the first half of the 20th century. By the early 21st century, there was a large Mennonite population in Aylmer and the surrounding area. In addition to the Mennonite population there are sizable Dutch, German, and British descended populations in the area.
Just east of Aylmer is a sizable Old Order Amish community. This community was founded by families moving from Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
in 1953. They were uncomfortable with a nuclear
Nuclear power
Nuclear power is the use of sustained nuclear fission to generate heat and electricity. Nuclear power plants provide about 6% of the world's energy and 13–14% of the world's electricity, with the U.S., France, and Japan together accounting for about 50% of nuclear generated electricity...
facility being constructed close to their community in Ohio. Since that time, the community has grown to encompass three "districts" the surrounding area. A number of members from this community participate in the weekly Aylmer Sales Barn and sell fruit, vegetables, eggs, and animals, such as rabbits and chickens. This particular Amish community eschews the use of automobiles, electricity, and most modern conveniences. A well-known Amish publishing house, Pathway Publishing Company
Pathway Publishing Company
Pathway Publishing Company of Aylmer, Ontario, Canada, is a major publisher of Amish written material.-External links:* at Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online...
, is based in this community.
In 2001, Aylmer gained national attention after child welfare
Child welfare
Child protection is used to describe a set of usually government-run services designed to protect children and young people who are underage and to encourage family stability...
seized 7 children from their home against their will after their parents
Parenting
Parenting is the process of promoting and supporting the physical, emotional, social, and intellectual development of a child from infancy to adulthood...
, members of the Church of God Restoration in Aylmer, were falsely accused of child abuse. The Family and Children’s Services of St. Thomas-Elgin unlawfully seized the seven children during a Mennonite prayer meeting with the assistance of many police officers and patrol cars. The trial judge found that there was no evidence of "abuse" even though Biblical corporal discipline was practiced. In a few short weeks the children were returned to their home.
Tobacco industry
The tobaccoTobacco
Tobacco is an agricultural product processed from the leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as a pesticide and, in the form of nicotine tartrate, used in some medicines...
growing industry played a large part in the economic development of Aylmer. Imperial Tobacco
Imperial Tobacco
Imperial Tobacco is a global tobacco company headquartered in Bristol, United Kingdom. It is the world’s fourth-largest cigarette company measured by market share , and the world's largest producer of cigars, fine-cut tobacco and tobacco papers...
Canada built a plant in Aylmer in the mid 1940s. At its peak, Imperial employed more than 800 full-time and seasonal workers. After declining tobacco sales in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, Imperial began downsizing in the 1990s. In October 2005, Imperial Tobacco announced that the Aylmer and Guelph
Guelph
Guelph is a city in Ontario, Canada.Guelph may also refer to:* Guelph , consisting of the City of Guelph, Ontario* Guelph , as the above* University of Guelph, in the same city...
, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
plants would close. The plant closed permanently in July 2007, putting the remaining 75 employees out of work. The current average wage at Imperial Tobacco in Aylmer was $45 per hour. The town council is putting a plan in place to attract automotive-related industries to its new business park or Imperial's facilities, but is widely viewed in the business community as acting too slowly and has been unwilling to finance a permanent economic development officer to promote Aylmer as an attractive municipality for manufacturing. The facility was purchased in March 2010 by a consortium of investors led by Raymond Dueck of East St Paul, Manitoba and Jack Baribeau of Dorchester, Ontario. The complex was subsequently relaunched as the Elgin Innovation Centre as an industrial centre for lease for a wide variety of uses.
Demographics
| Census | Population |
|---|---|
| 1841 | 260 |
| 1871 | 1,400 |
| 1881 | 1,540 |
| 1891 | 2,167 |
| 1901 | 2,204 |
| 1911 | 2,102 |
| 1921 | 2,194 |
| 1931 | 2,283 |
| 1941 | 2,478 |
| 1951 | 3,483 |
| 1961 | 4,705 |
| 1971 | 4,755 |
| 1981 | 5,254 |
| 1991 | 6,244 |
| 2001 | 7,126 |
| 2006 | 7,069 |
Population trend:
- Population in 2006: 7069
- Population in 2001: 7126 (or 7158 when adjusted to 2006 boundaries)
- Population in 1996: 7018 (or 7022 when adjusted to 2001 boundaries)
- Population in 1991: 6244
Media
Aylmer has two local radio stations: CHPD-FMCHPD-FM
CHPD-FM is a low-power Mennonite community radio station broadcasting at 105.9 FM in Aylmer, Ontario, Canada. The Aylmer and area Inter-Mennonite Community Council, was given approval in 2003, to operate a low-power German-Language FM radio station at 107.7 MHz to serve the local...
on 105.9 FM (a Low German
Low German
Low German or Low Saxon is an Ingvaeonic West Germanic language spoken mainly in northern Germany and the eastern part of the Netherlands...
radio station), and low-power religious station
Religious broadcasting
Religious broadcasting refers to broadcasting by religious organizations, usually with a religious message. Many religious organizations have long recorded content such as sermons and lectures, and have moved into distributing content on their Internet websites.While this article emphasises...
VF8016
VF8016
VF8016 is a low-power FM radio station, that broadcasts religious activities at 90.1 FM from Faith Baptist Church of St. Thomas. This station is located in St. Thomas, Ontario, Canada.The station was given approval by the CRTC on November 18, 1997....
at 90.1 FM.