In a small community located west of Ottawa, new settlers are transforming the landscape one farm at a time. They are converting the garages into stables, cutting the telephone lines and using horses and buggies to get around.
The new settlers are Orthodox Mennonites. And in Renfrew County, five families have settled in the region, introducing a slower pace of life to the farming community.
"They go back to the horses, back to what my father grew up doing … It's a little blast from the past," local farmer Sean Enright told CTV News.
Unlike the majority of Canadians, Orthodox Mennonites live a life that eschews modern technology. They do not drive vehicles, or use electricity. Household appliances such as a washer and a dryer are foreign to their lifestyle.
The home of the Webers, one of the Mennonite families who recently relocated to Renfrew, was equipped with an electrical system when the family first moved in. Levi Weber removed it before he and his children settled in.
"We didn't really have to do much work to the house. It had electricity of course, but we discontinued that," Weber said in an interview with CTV News.
The Weber family's move to Renfrew is part of a larger movement. In Pennsylvania, many Orthodox Mennonite families are also emigrating, heading west and south in search of more affordable land.
Weber said he moved his family for the same reasons.
"The area where we came from was a little crowded and the land prices were driving us (to) seek other opportunities" Weber said.
Their move has been welcomed by the residents of Renfrew, a community which has been looking for opportunities to grow.
"I think there will be more families (who) come, as I know they're planning on building a school, and that means more kids, more families," Mayor Raye-Anne Briscoe said.
Renfrew officials have even installed a hitching post at the community's town hall so that their new neighbours can tie up their horses whenever they are in town.
With a report from CTV News’ Katie Simpson
