Abp Collins may well have contacted local pastors; since he was tasked with supervising the Ordinariate set-up in Canada he, unlike any normal diocesan bishop, had a vested interest in recruiting those who were already Catholic to consider moving to another jurisdiction. But the "core group" was actually assembled by a clergyman still active in the ACC and consisted of a group of friends of his wife who had all gone to the same Anglican parish before becoming Catholics, plus some "seekers" considering becoming Catholic, including a few "continuing" Anglicans.My correspondent later pointed out,During the formation period now-Fr Hodgins blogged regularly about the Ordinariate as "Peregrinus," as he continues to do. A priest already incardinated in an Ordinariate could of course undertake a much more open recruitment campaign. The administrator of the Vancouver group placed an announcement on the local diocesan website, where it can still be seen.
As one of the largest dioceses in the [Anglosphere]Toronto must be home to literally thousands of former Anglicans, now Catholics; however, ASA at the OCSP mission, St Thomas More, is about 25 or 30. Given dynamic leadership I am sure an Ordinariate parish can grow many times this size, as OLA, San Antonio has done, but I do not think that there is any inherent demand for what is on offer. As you say, what problem is it trying to solve?
To clarify, only two members of the exploratory group who were not Catholics actually went on to become members of St Thomas More, Toronto. The rest (about 10) had previously joined the Church. And Our Lady of Walsingham, Vancouver was not a gathered group in the first instance, but about a dozen members from three area parishes of the ACCC, although the priest did subsequently place the notice which I drew to your attention.Catholics who've never had an Anglican connection have other options if they want a more reverent liturgy. For starters, not all parishes are flip-flops and halter-tops, guitars and tambourines, and Catholics have the option of going to the mass they prefer. Extraordinary Form masses are more prevalent than Ordinariate groups.
As a former Episcopalian, I see little to miss when I find a reverent Ordinary Form mass in which the clergy preaches the faith. Indeed, a parish that fills its pews and generates celibate vocations is something you almost never see in Anglicanism these days.
