Orchard Park Office Centre History

In 1913, thirteen English-Canadian Jesuits from Sault-au-Recollet, near Montreal, purchased the tract of land that is home to Orchard Park. Renovating an existing farmhouse, the Jesuits opened The St. Stanislaus Novitiate — a house of prayer and a home of peace for English speaking Jesuits.

To meet enrollment interest, in 1934 the Novitiate expanded with the introduction of a new building. Now known as Orchard Park ‘West’, the structure is home to Nature Conservancy Canada.

Expansion resumed in 1949 with the construction of a neo-classic, “federalist-style” building — currently occupied by the Canadian Mental Health Association. The total footprint depicted accounts for approximately 35 percent of the current Orchard Park office complex.

The St. Stanislaus Novitiate was incorporated in 1958 as ‘Ignatius College’. What was to be the final phase in the development of the College was completed in 1960.

In response to a cultural malaise in religious discipline during the latter decades of the 20th century, Ignatius College struggled to fulfill its mandate. No longer in scale with the size of the Jesuit community in the region, the College was forced to close.

Adapting to changing circumstance, current Orchard Park Buildings Director Michael Schweier was retained to transition the Ignatius College to the Orchard Park Office Centre. Michael's efforts during the late-90’s were successful in establishing a thriving community of esteemed businesses.

As an extension of the Ignatius Jesuit Centre of Guelph, Orchard Park is rooted in a tradition of social-justice and loving service to “community”. Although its venerated history is visually manifest in a scattering of historical remnants, its original raison d'etre is still manifest in the community of businesses that make Orchard Park their home. Companies, organizations and entreprenuers that largely work for a common good — whether improving the lives of the individual, or shifting perceptions of society as a whole.