From Worship to Wellness: A Study of the Adaptive Reuse of Historical Churches in Urban and Rural Ontario

Historical churches in Canada are in a time of crisis. The National Trust for Canada estimates that 1/3 of faith buildings will be forced to close before 2030, which translates to the loss of over 9,000 buildings. The heritage values of these unique spaces are well established in Ontario, and churches have come to represent not only a subset of religious ideologies but also the collective memories of rural and urban communities across the province. The rise of the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted pre-existing inequalities and resource gaps in Ontario's healthcare system. As many churches are faced with imminent closure, this thesis questions how these underutilized spaces can reconnect with the church's original values of health and wellness, while also generating a collection of new public health uses and continuing their architectural legacy in Ontario.