The Salvation Army Canada and Bermuda Territory will merge the Ontario Central-East and Ontario Great Lakes divisions to form the new Ontario Division, Commissioner Floyd Tidd, territorial commander, announced today. This change has been approved by International Headquarters.

“While each division is already doing commendable work, we envision a more unified approach to every area,” says Commissioner Tidd. “We have incredibly gifted officers, employees and volunteers across Ontario. By connecting them under one division, we will strengthen our ministry units as they carry out the mission of The Salvation Army on the front lines.”

A single Ontario Division will:

  • Provide a united Salvation Army voice across the province;
  • Improve social services co-ordination across the province and better leverage our subject matter experts;
  • Enable a consistent approach to increasingly complex regulatory requirements;
  • Increase knowledge-sharing across similar roles;
  • Strengthen our approach to camp ministries; and
  • Improve geographical alignment of the regions managed by each area commander for travel and time efficiencies.

The merger of the Ontario divisions will be effective July 1, 2020, coinciding with the retirement of Majors Everett and Vi Barrow, divisional leaders for Ontario Great Lakes, and the reappointment of Lt-Colonel Sandra Rice, divisional commander, Ontario Central-East Division.

“We want to be clear that this merger is not a cost-cutting exercise,” Commissioner Tidd notes. “The volume of work across Ontario is not decreasing and we need to ensure that we have sufficient resources in place to support ministry units in Ontario.”

The process of connecting the two divisions has not yet been finalized. Territorial leaders will look to the lived-experience and expertise of current divisional officers and employees for insight while determining how roles should be integrated between the two divisions. On Friday, March 6, the territorial commander announced that the divisional leaders for Ontario will be Majors Shawn and Brenda Critch, who will work with a steering committee and current divisional leaders to finalize the details for the creation of the Ontario Division.

Majors Shawn and Brenda CritchMajors Shawn and Brenda Critch
“Providing effective support to our ministry units as they deliver the mission in local communities is a key priority for us all,” says Commissioner Tidd. “We will work to minimize any disruption to the operations of the ministry units during the merger process.”

The integration of roles, procedures and systems will occur over the first 12 months following the formal creation of the Ontario Division in July. There are no changes planned or intended for the ministry units as part of the decision to create the Ontario Division, other than a potential change in who they report to.

“This merger is intended to ensure The Salvation Army is able to do more of what we do best–be a transforming influence in the communities in which we live and work as we share the love of Jesus and meet human needs,” concludes Commissioner Tidd.

Comment

On Sunday, May 2, 2021, John Gallagher said:

Not happy to be part of the Toronto Division

 

On Wednesday, March 11, 2020, Shayne Stanton said:

As a member of Weetamah Corps in Prairie Division and someone who knows both Shawn and Brenda, while I am sad to see them leave the division, I wish them well as they work to merge the two divisions, at least the move is happening after Prairie Divisions Men's Camp and hopefully Shawn will still be at that.

 

On Sunday, March 8, 2020, Lester Phillips said:

I think the merger is good idea Here in Australia we are One Territory and I think it works well. Adelaide Congress Hall corps

 

On Saturday, March 7, 2020, Joan Blanchard said:

Since GTA and Eastern Ontario was combined we in Eastern Ontario have been forgotten. It is like we no longer are part of the Army. this will make it even worse.

 

On Friday, March 6, 2020, Kimberley McLean said:

It's good to have shared resources and to align programmes for consistency

 

On Friday, March 6, 2020, Jeff Brinson said:

A comment above asked about where DHQ will be. Probably safe to say somewhere central...my guess is Toronto.

 

On Thursday, March 5, 2020, Concerned said:

Following the reading of this announcment I consulted a copy of the 1932 ...yes...1932 Yearbook to check how many divisions existed in the province of Ontario at that time. To set the context it is to be remembered that Canada had about 1/3 of the population it has today, and that it the Army work divided into two separate terrritories, East and West.

In any even, the yearbook indicates the following Divisions

Toronto West Toronto East London Windsor Hamilton North Bay Ottawa

Seven divisions in 1932; 88 years later there will soon be one.

Is God telling the Army something?

 

On Thursday, March 5, 2020, Dolores said:

Isn’t this similar to what he did when they were down Australia

 

On Thursday, March 5, 2020, Cynthia Thibert said:

Not the first time division has undergone merger. Curious to see where DHQ will be. Will be praying for all personnel,volunteers, and ministry units.

 

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