Answering Your Questions About IJC's Future

Last week, The Jesuits of Canada made the announcement that Loyola House’s retreats and formation programs will be transferring to other Jesuit centres across the country, effective December 31, 2025. While this marks the end of an era for Loyola House, the Ignatius Jesuit Centre itself will remain open and continue as a vital apostolate of the Society of Jesus. The 600-acre property comprising farmland, forests, and conservation areas will remain under Jesuit ownership and IJC’s role as a place of ecological engagement, community collaboration, and spiritual reflection will continue.

We have received many messages of condolence along with questions about what will come next for IJC. We wanted to share some frequently asked questions along with their responses to provide more clarity about the upcoming details. Please check back as we will update this page with more questions and information as it becomes available.

Now that the decision has been made to transition all retreat activities to other Jesuit facilities in Canada, what will happen at IJC?

Great question! We are currently working towards developing a new strategic direction for IJC. For the remainder of 2025, you can expect all operations — retreat house, farm and conservation work — to remain as before. We are exploring opportunities with future partners to bolster existing and develop new programming that will continue our legacy of ecological stewardship, community farming and education, and spiritual growth. If you’d like to stay connected to learn more as this new strategic direction unfolds, please take a moment to subscribe to our newsletter, IJC Voice.

Will the land at IJC remain open to the public?

Our objective is to keep the land accessible to the public year-round throughout 2025 and continuing into the future. We invite you to support us in maintaining the land and trails through financial contributions or volunteering your time and energy for their care. If you wish to donate, please go to https://archive.ignatiusguelph.ca/donate. For volunteering in tasks like trail maintenance and conservation, visit https://archive.ignatiusguelph.ca/volunteer.

Are retreats continuing for the remainder of 2025?

Yes. We encourage you to visit our website to see what retreats are available for the remainder of the year. You can see all of Loyola House’s upcoming retreats at https://archive.ignatiusguelph.ca/events/category/retreats

Where can I attend a retreat in 2026 and beyond?

Retreatants are encouraged to explore available retreats at one of the Jesuits of Canada’s other retreat houses starting in 2026, which will be adjusting their offerings at that time to make room for many of the retreats that historically would have taken place at Loyola House.
For more details, please contact the follow retreat centres:

Manresa Jesuit Spiritual Renewal Centre in Pickering
2325 Liverpool Rd, Pickering, ON L1X 1V4
https://manresa-canada.ca/
905-839-2864

Villa Saint-Martin in Montreal
21269 boulevard Gouin Ouest, Pierrefonds, QC H9K 1C1
https://ignatiancentremtl.org/villa-saint-martin/
438-377-1597

How are donations being used at IJC for 2025 and beyond?

When you donate to the Ignatius Jesuit Centre, we typically ask you to indicate where you would like us to allocate your gift — whether it is destined for Loyola House, the farm, or our conservation work. Our farming and conservation work will continue as before and all funds from donations are used to support this work.

Donations designated for Loyola House will help us continue delivering the scheduled retreats until the end of 2025, allowing retreatants to connect with their spirituality, find rest and renewal, deepening their relationship with God.

Can I still receive spiritual direction at IJC?

We are currently working towards a transition plan to ensure that individual spiritual direction will continue, where possible, for each of our local directees. Please contact your spiritual director to enquire about this.

Will the community gardens, including the perennial plots, continue into 2026 and beyond?

There are no intentions to halt community gardens and they are a key part of our land access mandate into the future.

Are the farm tenancies continuing beyond the end of the year?

The acreage rental program at Ignatius Farm has a number of contracts with individuals and groups who rent part of the property at IJC. Each rental agreement includes information about the duration and details of the tenancy and those agreements will absolutely be upheld moving into the future. We may also be accepting new tenants for 2026. If you’re interested in learning more about acreage rental from IJC, please visit https://archive.ignatiusguelph.ca/ignatius-farm/acreage-rentals

Are the benches and plaques around IJC still going to be maintained?

Yes, all conservation work including maintenance to plaques, benches, trails, and chairs will continue into 2026 and beyond. If you have made a financial contribution to IJC specifically in connection to a bench or plaque, please reach out directly if you have any questions or concerns.

Additional Questions

If you have additional questions, please send them to us using the form below:

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In addition to this FAQ, we invite you to join us for a Town Hall Meeting on Tuesday, June 10, at 7:00 p.m. at Loyola House, with an option to participate via Zoom. Kevin Kelly from the Jesuits of Canada will provide more details about this decision and answer questions from our community. Additional details about the Town Hall Meeting will be sent in the coming weeks, so please stay tuned. You’re welcome to subscribe to the IJC Voice newsletter to receive information about how to connect to the Town Hall, or check back on our website closer to the date.

Answering Your Questions About IJC’s Future

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