Rural Puslinch

Rural Puslinch covers almost all of the township: about 21,700 hectares of farmland, forest, estate lots and lakes between Guelph, Cambridge and Hamilton. About half of the township is forested. Near its western edge, Puslinch Lake is the largest kettle lake in North America, fed by rain, runoff and springs under the water, with homes along much of its shore. Arkell, a village on the township's north edge, sits beside the Arkell Spring Grounds, whose spring water supplies part of Guelph's water. East of Arkell, the Starkey Hill loop trail runs through the woods, and the Arkell Springs trail follows the Eramosa River. Boreham Park in Arkell has a bee-themed playground with swings, slides and climbers.

The township was surveyed from 1828 to 1832 and first known as the Church Lands. Lady Colborne, the wife of the Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada, named it after Puslinch House in Devon, England, where she was born. Many settlers came in the 1830s by the Stone Road from Dundas, and by 1846 the township had about 1,500 people, most of them Highland Scots. Arkell was founded in 1830 by John Arkell, from Gloucestershire in England.

The 2021 census counted about 2,950 homes in Puslinch. The census gives no separate figures for Aberfoyle or Morriston, so these figures cover the whole township, villages included. More than nine in ten are single detached houses. About one in five were built in 1960 or earlier and about one in five between 1961 and 1980. More than a quarter were built between 1981 and 2000, and about a third in 2001 or later.

Highway 401 crosses the middle of the township from Cambridge toward Milton. Highway 6 runs north from Highway 401 as the Hanlon Expressway into Guelph and south toward Hamilton. Brock Road and the Wellington roads link the countryside with Aberfoyle, Morriston, Arkell and Guelph. GO Transit's Aberfoyle Park and Ride is at Brock Road and McLean Road.

Boreham Park on Boreham Drive in Arkell has a playground, a basketball court and picnic tables, and the Starkey Hill and Arkell Springs trails start nearby. The Badenoch soccer pitch is off Victoria Road South. The Township's Optimist Recreation Centre, Puslinch Community Centre and library are in Aberfoyle, and Morriston Meadows Park is in Morriston.

• Aberfoyle Public School — JK to Grade 8. The public school for most of the countryside, including Puslinch Lake, in Aberfoyle.
• Sir Isaac Brock Public School — JK to Grade 8. The public school for Arkell, on Colonial Drive in Guelph.
• Fred A. Hamilton Public School — JK to Grade 6. The French immersion school for most of the countryside, in Guelph.
• École Arbour Vista Public School — JK to Grade 8. The French immersion school for Arkell, and the French immersion middle school for the rest of the township, in Guelph.
• Centennial Collegiate Vocational Institute — Grades 9 to 12. The public secondary school for most of the countryside, and for Grades 11 and 12 from Arkell, in Guelph.
• Two Rivers Secondary School — Grades 9 and 10. The public secondary school for Arkell, on Arkell Road in Guelph.
• St. Paul Catholic School — JK to Grade 8. The Catholic elementary school for most of the countryside, in Guelph.
• St. Ignatius of Loyola Catholic School — JK to Grade 8. The Catholic elementary school for Arkell, on Colonial Drive in Guelph.
• Bishop Macdonell Catholic High School — Grades 9 to 12. The Catholic secondary school for the township, in Guelph.